Stocks tumble as Brent crude closes above $100
Investors were plagued by inflation fears amid rising oil prices and ongoing private credit concerns.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 fell as Brent crude oil closed above $100 per barrel for the first time in over three years after a flurry of attacks on ships sailing through or near the Strait of Hormuz. Energy was once again the best-performing sector, while industrials was the worst.
Inflationary fears due to rising prices have traders pessimistic about the odds of rate cuts this year.
Stocks that moved higher:
Occidental Petroleum continued to surge amid the war with Iran as its stock received a double upgrade and a price target hike from Wells Fargo.
Bumble skyrocketed on better-than-expected Q4 results and a strong first-quarter profit outlook.
Lightwave Logic soared after striking a deal to deploy its modulator technology on Tower Semiconductor’s platform.
Petco surged after forecasting upbeat full-year EBITDA guidance in its Q4 earnings report yesterday.
US chemical-slash-fertilizer companies CF Industries, Mosaic Co. , Dow, Inc., and LyondellBasell — for whom natural gas is a crucial input — rose, as these companies are poised to take advantage of pricing power in the absence of robust global competition as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz cuts off natural gas supply.
Firefly Aerospace soared after successfully launching Alpha Flight 7 as traders snapped up calls.
Stocks that moved lower:
A never-ending stream of private credit conniptions weighed on financial stocks Ares Management, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, KKR & Co., Goldman Sachs, and Apollo Global Management. Deutsche Bank, which revealed a $30 billion private credit exposure, was hit particularly hard.
Dollar General tumbled after issuing mediocre same-store sales guidance in this morning’s earnings call.
Despite a revenue beat, software and agentic automation company UiPath dipped as guidance failed to excite analysts about longer-term growth.
Estée Lauder dipped as spiking oil prices have investors turning up their noses at fragrance stocks.
GlobalFoundries dropped amid a secondary offering of 20 million shares at $42 a share.
