NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks retreated early Monday after weekend US-Iran talks failed to produce an accord while Washington moved ahead with a naval blockade, sending oil prices higher.
US President Donald Trump had announced on social media he would blockade the strategic Strait of Hormuz trade route that he had previously demanded Tehran re-open fully, after Vice President JD Vance left negotiations with an Iranian delegation in Islamabad without a deal.
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About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8 percent at 47,546.19.
The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 6,794.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also shed 0.3 percent to 22,826.38.
“Investors look at this and probably hoped for a better outcome, or at least ongoing talks, which seem to have ended abruptly,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
“Therefore, the markets are going to de-risk and reprice lower.”
But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare noted that Monday’s equity loses were moderate and “not proportional to the seriousness of the news.”
That “suggests the market is retaining a sense of hope that a permanent ceasefire will eventually be reached before there is an even more deleterious fallout for the global economy,” O’Hare added in a note.
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