Wall St opens lower as oil prices gain
Published Thu, Mar 19, 2026 · 09:50 PM
[NEW YORK] Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on Thursday (Mar 19) as crude prices soared on intensifying Middle East hostilities, reviving inflation worries that have prompted the Federal Reserve to take a more cautious stance on interest rate cuts.
The rate-sensitive small-caps Russell 2000 index dropped 10 per cent from its all-time intraday high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 90.3 points, or 0.20 per cent, at the open to 46,134.87.
The S&P 500 fell 41.6 points, or 0.63 per cent, at the open to 6,583.12, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 281.4 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 21,871.037 at the opening bell. REUTERS
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