ISTANBUL

US stock markets closed with losses Thursday as the Middle East tensions ramped the oil prices up amid Strait of Hormuz disruptions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.56%, or 739.42 points, to close at 46,677.85.

The Nasdaq composite declined 1.78%, or 404.15 points, to 22,311.98, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.52%, or 103.18 points, to 6,672.62.

The Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market’s “fear index,” climbed 12.63% to 27.29.

The stock markets in Europe also saw losses Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index falling 0.61% to close at 598.86 points.

The UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.47% to 10,305.15, Italy’s FTSE MIB 30 dropped 0.71% to 44,456.18 and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.71% to 7,984.44.

Germany’s DAX 40 was also down 0.21% to 23,589.65, while Spain’s IBEX 35 posted the sharpest decline, falling 1.22%.

Investor sentiment turned increasingly cautious as energy markets experienced sharp volatility alongside mounting geopolitical tensions.

Even as the International Energy Agency floated plans to release as much as 400 million barrels from emergency oil stockpiles to mitigate supply disruptions tied to the conflict involving Iran, crude prices continued to advance.

Brent futures climbed over 8% to trade near $99.25 per barrel, with traders questioning whether strategic reserve releases would be enough to cushion potential disruptions to global supply.

Market concerns were further heightened by indications from the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed, raising fresh alarms over the stability of global energy flows.

In his first statement as supreme leader, delivered via Iranian state television, Khamenei also warned that all US military bases in the region should be shut down or they could become targets of Iranian attacks.

Additionally, President Donald Trump said Thursday that the US benefits from rising oil prices because of its status as the world’s largest oil producer.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

On the data side, the foreign trade deficit of the US saw a significant decrease of 25.3% to $54.5 billion in January as exports climbed to $302.1 billion, up 5.5%.

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time in the US fell to 213,000 in the week ending March 7.