US crude tops $110 per barrel and Wall Street tumbles after Trump vows to escalate attacks on Iran

The broad slide for U.S. and global stocks follows a national address from Trump on Wednesday where he said the U.S. will continue to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.” Markets had been mostly gaining ground throughout the week on hopes that the war would conclude soon. Major indexes are still on track to close out the week with gains.

Thursday is the last day of trading on Wall Street this week with with the stock market closed on Good Friday.

Crude oil prices have been the main force behind the sharp swings for stocks globally. Shipping traffic has been severely curtailed in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through during peacetime.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.10. per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude surged 11.7% to $111.92 a barrel. Prices had been sliding back toward $100 per barrel prior to Trump’s address on Wednesday.

Markets have been broadly sliding since the war began, with indexes often rising and falling sharply along with statements from Trump about the direction of the war. Just on Monday, the S&P 500 briefly neared a 10% drop from its record, a steep-enough fall that professional investors have a name for it: a “correction. It gained ground Tuesday and Wednesday on hope that the war could end soon.

Airlines and other travel-related companies were among the biggest losers on Thursday. United Airlines fell 6.1% and Carnival shed 5%. Energy companies gained ground, with Exxon Mobil rising 2.3% and Chevron gaining 3.4%.

Treasury yields remained relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.33% from 4.32%.

Associated Press journalists Chan Ho-Him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.