All three major stock indexes on Wall Street fell more than 1%.
On the 18th (U.S. Eastern time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 768.11 points, or 1.63%, to close at 46,225.15. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 91.39 points, or 1.36%, to 6,624.70, and the Nasdaq composite lost 327.11 points, or 1.46%, to finish at 22,152.42.
The market was filled only with bad news that day. Stocks wobbled before the open after reports that the United States and Israel bombed Iran's South Pars gas field. This is the first time in this war that Iran's energy facilities have been hit.
The United States explained it did not directly bomb Iran's gas field, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, "As enemy missiles struck the Asaluyeh gas processing facility, the pendulum of war has effectively shifted from limited combat to a full-scale economic war. From tonight, the red line has changed."
The IRGC warned it would carry out retaliation against major energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. As reports that pressure oil prices continued, Brent, the global benchmark, at one point topped $110 per barrel that day.
On top of that, hawkish remarks by Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed), at a press conference after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that sets the benchmark interest rate also dampened investor sentiment. Asked whether the possibility of a rate hike had been discussed, Powell said, "The possibility was raised that the next move could be an increase," adding, "We are not ruling anything out."
All mega-cap tech companies with market capitalizations above $1 trillion fell. Nvidia slipped 0.8%, and Amazon dropped more than 2%.