Oil prices surge, stocks fall as Israel, Iran clash

Oil prices surged and stocks tumbled in the wake of Israel's strikes on Iran's top military officials and nuclear sites.
Oil prices surged and stocks tumbled Friday in the wake of Israel's strikes on Iran's top military officials and nuclear sites.
Losses in stock markets accelerated in the afternoon after Iran began retaliating by launching air strikes on Israel. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the day down by more than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by nearly 770 points, a 1.8% decline. It was the worst percentage drop for all three indexes since May 21.
U.S. oil benchmark prices climbed roughly 7% to about $73 a barrel, the highest level since early April. U.S. government borrowing costs climbed. Tech stocks like Nvidia and Tesla moved lower, while shares in oil and defense-industry firms like Chevron, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir traded up.
Gold prices also neared all-time highs, rising more than 1% to $3,449 an ounce. The price of bitcoin fell more than 1% to less than $105,000.
Israel launched strikes on Iran early Friday local time, a dramatic escalation of long-running tensions between the two countries. Israel officials have warned of a "lengthy operation," while President Donald Trump said there was "much more to come" from Israel and that Iran should make a deal. Iran has so far retaliated by launching drones toward Israel while also threatening U.S. assets in the region.
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