Stock Market Today: Stocks Slip as U.S.-Iran Tensions Drive Oil Higher; Walmart Stock Rises After Earnings

Stocks fell in early trading on Thursday as oil prices rose to a six-month high amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4% shortly after markets opened on Thursday. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was also off 0.3%. The major indexes posted respectable gains yesterday as pressure on tech stocks eased.

Shares of Walmart (WMT) rose after the retail giant reported a strong quarter of sales growth. In other earnings news, Carvana (CVNA) stock skidded after the online used car seller’s missed estimates on some key profitability metrics. Doordash (DASH) stock jumped after the food delivery service said it expects users to spend more on its platform this quarter than analysts expected, a forecast that offset otherwise weak results.

Big tech stocks were mostly lower on Thursday morning amid reports ChatGPT maker OpenAI is set to close a $100 billion funding round. The cash injection will help the unprofitable startup meet its hundreds of billions of dollars in spending commitments. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Tesla (TSLA) were all marginally lower. OpenAI-backer Microsoft (MSFT), the sole outlier, inched higher

Oil prices climbed to their highest level since August as the U.S. built up its military presence in the Middle East amid tense negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were recently up 1.5% at $66.30 a barrel. Gold prices held steady after rising to about $5,000 an ounce as tensions ratcheted up yesterday. Silver was little changed at $77.90 an ounce.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.10%, up from 4.08% at Wednesday’s close.

Bitcoin was recently trading around $66,000, well off overnight highs above $67,000. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.4% to 98.10.