A small motorboat passes ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, on June 17. (Amirhossein Khorgui/ISNA via AP)
| Update:
key takeaways:
- Oil prices continue to fall on hopes of ending the Iran war.
- Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, but US Central Command disputes this.
- Shares fell on Wall Street as a selloff in big tech stocks from Asia led by concerns about potentially higher interest rates.
NEW YORK – Stocks fell on Wall Street on June 23 as a sell-off in big technology stocks spread from Asia to the U.S. on concerns of potentially higher interest rates by the end of the year.
Oil prices edged lower amid talks to end the war between the US and Iran. The price of a barrel of US crude oil fell 1.1% to $73.07. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.2% to $76.97.
Read more: America approves sale of Iranian oil under peace deal
The S&P fell 1% and is coming off 11 of the last 12 weekly gains, led mainly by technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:53 a.m. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%.
Markets across Asia fell, including South Korea’s Kospi down 10%. Shares also fell in Europe.
Technology stocks were the biggest weight on the market, particularly companies that have seen their values surge amid the frenzy over artificial intelligence technology. Their expensive stock prices give them greater influence over the direction of the broader market. The growing possibility of interest rate hikes this year has helped dampen a massive rally in AI-related stocks in recent days as traders worry higher rates could hamper economic growth.
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Micron Technology fell 9.4% and Nvidia fell 2.4%. Samsung Electronics fell 12.3% in South Korea.
SpaceX fell 1.8%, continuing a reversal from the space exploration and artificial intelligence company’s soaring stock debut less than two weeks ago. The company also plans to raise money through a bond offering to partially finance artificial-intelligence development.
Many technology companies are spending heavily on AI technology. The possibility of higher interest rates could deter future spending and hurt investment prices. The Federal Reserve has indicated it may raise interest rates at least once before the end of the year. Wall Street is betting on a nearly 90% chance that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell to 4.48% from 4.51% at the end of June 22. The yield on 2-year Treasuries fell to 4.19% from 4.24% at the end of June 22. However, bond yields remain high amid concerns about inflation.
AP senior producer Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.
