U.S. stocks are retreating from their records Tuesday as worries worsen about the escalating violence in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 pulled 0.7% lower, a day after setting an all-time high for the 43rd time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 71 points, or 0.2%, in afternoon trading. Both indexes hit records the previous day. The Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower, as of 2:12 p.m. Eastern time, as drops in Big Tech stocks weighed on the market.
Oil prices jumped as worries ratcheted higher that worsening tensions in the Middle East could disrupt the flow of crude from the region. Israel’s military said Tuesday that Iran has fired missiles into the country and ordered residents to shelter in place. A senior U.S. administration official earlier on Tuesday warned of “severe consequences” should a ballistic missile attack take place.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.8% to top $70. Shares of oil companies rose, with Exxon gaining 1.9% and Marathon Oil gaining 3.6%.
Shares of defense contractors also moved higher. Northrop Grumman rose 3%. RTX, which co-produces the “Iron Dome” air defense system used by Israel, rose 2.7%.
The sharp swings halted, at least temporarily, what had been a run to records for U.S. stocks. They had been jumping on hopes the U.S. economy can continue to grow despite a slowdown in the job market, as the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to give it more juice. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years, and it’s indicated it will deliver more cuts through next year.
The question is whether the cuts will ultimately prove to be too little, too late after the Fed earlier kept rates at a two-decade high in hopes of braking on the economy enough to stamp out high inflation.
A discouraging report arrived Tuesday, showing U.S. manufacturing weakened by more in September than economists expected. Manufacturing has been one of the areas of the economy hurt most by high interest rates, and the report from the Institute for Supply Management said demand continues to slow.
A separate report was potentially more encouraging. It showed U.S. employers were advertising more than 8 million job openings at the end of August. That was slightly more than July’s number and better than what economists were expecting. A more comprehensive report on hiring will arrive on Friday, when the U.S. government details how many jobs U.S. employers created in September.
Besides the job market, another threat to the economy could lie in the strike by dockworkers at 36 ports across the eastern United States. It could threaten to snarl supply chains and drive up inflation if it lasts a while.
The workers are asking for a labor contract that doesn’t allow automation to take their jobs, among other things. So far, financial markets have been taking the strike in stride. Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.