Wall Street slips as Middle East escalations lifts oil; Trump-Xi talks in focus

Wall Street's major indices experienced a decline on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching a three-month low due to rising Middle East tensions and the subsequent increase in oil prices. Brent crude futures surged $4 per barrel, reaching $107 after Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Saudi military sites in Jazan. This development heightened concerns about inflation, pushing the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond to its highest level since 2004. The bond prices move inversely to yields, meaning they rose as yields fell.

Technology stocks were among the biggest losers on the S&P 500, with Nvidia, Broadcom, and Microsoft each falling over 1 percent. Despite the overall decline, analysts noted that faith in the AI trade, which drove the Nasdaq to record highs earlier in the week, helped cushion the losses. Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, suggested that investors were less eager to chase stocks, but not necessarily eager to sell them either.

Oracle experienced a 5 percent drop after it reportedly sent a force majeure notice to protect its operations.