Stocks Post Worst Week Since Start of Iran War

US stocks deepened their drops Friday as Wall Street finished a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years.

• The Dow fell 793.47 points, or 1.7%, to 45,166.64, down 1.7% for the week.
• The S&P 500 fell 108.31 points, or 1.7%, to 6,368.85, ending the week down 2.1%.
• The Nasdaq composite fell 459.72 points, or 2.1%, to 20,948.36, off 3.2% for the week.

The losses were a break from Wall Street's pattern this week, in which the stock market flip-flopped from gains to losses each day as hopes rose and fell about a possible end to the war.

Oil prices climbed as trading moved west Friday from Asia to Europe and back to Wall Street. Conflicting statements and actions signaling how long the war will go on were a problem, the AP reports. "The diplomatic dissonance this week between the US and Iran dismayed investors," said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. "By the end of the week, risk appetite could not withstand the fog of war." The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 3.4% to settle at $105.32. That's up from roughly $70 just before the war began. Benchmark US crude rose 5.5% to settle at $99.64 per barrel. If the war continues until the end of June, strategists at Macquarie say the price of oil could reach $200 per barrel. The record is just above $147, set in 2008.

Most stocks fell, including three out of every four in the S&P 500. The index, which is the main measure of the US stock market's health, is 8.7% below its all-time high set in January. Big Tech stocks were among the heaviest weights on the market, including drops of 4% for Amazon, 4% for Meta Platforms, and 2.2% for Nvidia. Companies selling items that are not essentials, which customers could stop buying if they're spending much more on gasoline, also sank sharply. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings lost 6.9%, Starbucks dropped 4.8%, and Chipotle Mexican Grill sank 4.1%.