US stocks close lower; Dow Jones loses nearly 800 points

US stocks declined on Thursday after a temporary rebound in the previous session, amid losses in the sectors most closely tied to economic cycles. The decline came as oil prices rose, fueling concerns about mounting inflationary pressures and uncertainty surrounding the outlook for monetary policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.61%, or 784 points, to 47,954 points.

The broader S&P 500 dropped 0.56%, or 38 points, to 6,830 points, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.26%, or 58 points, to 22,748 points.

Companies tied to global economic cycles led Wall Street’s losses, notably Boeing, whose shares fell 2.31% to $222.06, and Caterpillar, which declined 3.54% to $706.08.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.29% to 604 points, with most major bourses and sectors posting negative performance, except for media.

The UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.45% to 10,413 points, Germany’s DAX declined 1.61% to 23,815 points, France’s CAC 40 lost 1.49% to 8,045 points, and Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 1.38% to 17,245 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 1.90% higher at 55,278 points, paring earlier gains after surging more than 4% during the session. The broader Topix index also rose 1.90% to 3,702 points.

Oil and Gold

Regarding oil, Brent crude futures for May delivery rose 4.93%, or $4.01, to $85.41 per barrel.

Meanwhile, US Nymex crude futures for April delivery climbed 8.51%, or $6.35, to $81.01 per barrel.

As for gold, futures for April delivery fell 1.10%, or $56, to $5,078.70 per ounce.

What’s driving the markets?

The continued sharp rise in oil prices has triggered broad volatility across financial markets, amid fears of a potential energy crisis that could intensify inflationary pressures—especially as new signs of resilience in the labor market have reduced hopes that the Federal Reserve will resume interest rate cuts.