Dow drops 400 after trimming an earlier plunge of 1,200 as oil prices leap even higher

NEW YORK (AP) — A sell-off for stocks wrapped around the world and hit Wall Street Tuesday, while oil prices leaped even higher on worries about the widening war with Iran. But the big moves that rocked markets in the morning eased substantially as the day progressed.

By the late afternoon, the S&P 500 was down 0.8%. That would be a solid loss on a typical day, but the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts had been down as much as 2.5% in the morning because of worries that the war may do more sustained damage to the economy than feared.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 293 points, or 0.6%, with an hour remaining in trading, after plunging more than 1,200 points earlier in the morning. The Nasdaq composite pared its loss to 0.9%.

It was just a day earlier that U.S. stocks opened the morning with a sharp loss, only to recover all of it and end the day with a tiny gain. Helping to support the market was a record showing that past wars and conflicts in the Middle East did not usually mean long-term pain for U.S. stocks.

But that was with the caveat that oil prices did not jump too high, like above $100 per barrel. On Tuesday, oil prices rose again and raised more alarms. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, briefly leaped above $84.

The jump lessened through the day, though, which helped moderate the losses for stocks. Brent settled at $81.40, up 4.7%. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.7% to $74.56.

Oil prices made the moves as Iran struck the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia, part of a widening of targets that also includes areas critical to the world’s oil and natural gas production. Worries are particularly high about the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, a narrow passageway where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Making things uncertain for markets are rising questions about how long this war may continue.

A major attack by the United States and Israel has already killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but President Donald Trump said late Monday night on his social media network, “Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully” with the supply of munitions that the United States possesses.

Some professional investors said again Tuesday they don't think this is the beginning of a long-term down market and that stocks could rebound if the war doesn't last that long, though they acknowledge it could take a while for that to become clear.

In the meantime, the jump for oil prices worsens inflation and puts more pressure on U.S. households and businesses by raising bills for gasoline and to ship products. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. jumped 11 cents overnight to about $3.11, according to data from motor club AAA.

Tuesday's sell-off started in Asia, where the Kospi stock index in South Korea, a big energy importer, plunged 7.2%. That was its worst day since two summers ago as markets reopened after a holiday on Monday. It had been setting records recently.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.1%, even as analysts said Japan has a sizable stockpile lasting more than 200 days. In Europe, where prices for natural gas have soared because of the war, France's CAC 40 lost 3.5%.

On Wall Street, more than two out of every three stocks within the S&P 500 dropped. Unlike a day before, influential Big Tech stocks weren't able to prop up indexes, and Nvidia fell 1.4%.

Among the winners on Wall Street was Target, which rose 7.5% after the retailer reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In the bond market, Treasury yields leaped in the morning with worries about inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly rose above 4.10% before pulling back to 4.05%. It was at 4.05% late Monday and just 3.97% on Friday.

Higher yields can make it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money, affecting everything from mortgages to bond issuances. They also put downward pressure on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

When Treasurys are paying more in interest, they can also undercut the price of gold, which pays its investors nothing. Gold fell 3.5% Tuesday to settle at $5,123.70 per ounce, halting a strong run that had taken it above $5,300 as investors looked for safer places to park their money.

High inflation could also tie the Federal Reserve’s hands and keep it from cutting interest rates. The Fed lowered rates several times last year and indicated more cuts were to come in 2026. That would help boost the economy and job market, but lower rates can also worsen inflation.

Traders are now pushing back their forecasts further into the summer for when the Fed could resume cutting rates, according to data from CME Group. That's even though Trump has been calling for Fed officials in angry and personal terms to cut rates now.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed.