US stocks today: Dow Jones drops 500 points as oil prices surge despite IEA move to release reserves

Wall Street‘s main indexes dropped on Wednesday as investors assessed a key inflation report and the International Energy Agency’s decision to release an unprecedented amount of crude oil reserves to temper soaring energy prices amid intensifying Middle East tensions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 512.91 points (-1.08%) to 47,193.60, while the S&P 500 declined 33.70 points (-0.50%) to 6,747.78, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 65.42 points (-0.29%) to 22,631.68.

A record release of oil from strategic reserves by members of the International Energy Agency failed to calm markets over the impact of the Middle East conflict, as crude prices continued to climb and equities slipped after Iran’s military leadership warned on Wednesday that oil could surge to $200 per barrel.

Brent oil futures rose back above $90 a barrel to $92.56 while WTI crude futures were also up 5% at $88.96.

The International Energy Agency said its member nations would collectively release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to offset supply disruptions affecting shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told media firm Axios that there is “practically nothing left” to target in Iran and that the war there will end soon.
Expectations of higher gasoline costs in anticipation of an escalating war in the Middle East had already started reflecting in consumer prices in February, a Labor Department report showed. Following the data, investors pushed back expectations for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to October from September earlier, according to LSEG-compiled data.

Spiking oil costs along with ⁠signs of ‌a softening jobs market are likely to further complicate the central bank’s monetary policymaking.

“There’s a lot of apprehension right now about all the economic data because some investors are thinking it may be signaling an inflection point especially ⁠with the surprising job numbers from last week,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.

“The oil prices have kind of eclipsed any of the standard data that the market would trade on, simply because it’s quite an anomaly right now with the volatility that we’re seeing.”

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors slipped, with consumer staples leading losses with a 1.4% fall, while energy stocks gained 1.2%.

Technology stocks also got a lift after Oracle predicted that the AI data center boom ‌will power its revenue above estimates well into 2027, sending its shares up 11.4%.

Investors were also monitoring developments in the private credit space.

JPMorgan Chase marked down the value of certain loans held by private-credit groups and is tightening its lending to the sector, a report said.

Ares Management ⁠fell 4% and Apollo Global dropped 1.5%.

Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index, see-sawed and was last down 0.42 points at 24.51.

Crude price-sensitive travel stocks such as Delta and cruise liner Carnival were down over 1% each.

Among others, oilfield services firm SLB was marginally lower after saying Middle East tensions would hit its first-quarter results.

Campbell’s fell 8.5% after cutting its annual forecasts and warned of increasing pressure in the second half of the year from the revised U.S. tariffs.

Defense company AeroVironment dropped 5.3% after forecasting 2026 adjusted profit below estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and five new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 52 new lows. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Tushar Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)