US stocks tumbled on Friday, weighed down by intensifying concerns about the US jobs market and rising energy prices triggered by the war in Iran.
The S&P 500 fell 1.3 per cent, taking the loss for Wall Street’s benchmark index to 2 per cent, its worst run since October. Then tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6 per cent.
Fuelling the broad declines were further gains for oil prices. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, settled 12.2 per cent higher at $90.90 a barrel on Friday, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, ended 8.5 per cent higher at $92.69 a barrel.
Prices for WTI and Brent finished at their highest level since September 2023. A 35.6 per cent weekly gain for the former was its biggest since at least 1983, while the 27.9 per rise for the latter was its biggest since at least 1988.