U.S. equities fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signaled that negotiations with Iran were taking “too long” and threatened more action.
The Dow Jones Industrials sank another 212.45 points to 50,659.66.
The much-broader index dipped 19.8 points to 7,365.85.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ decreased 86.97 points to 25,591.86.
Trump wrote early Wednesday that Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!.”
Tensions in the Middle East ramped up again Tuesday evening, after U.S. forces launched strikes against Iran “in response to [Monday’s] downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter,” U.S. Central Command said. Trump had earlier accused Iran of shooting down the helicopter, which he said was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
Chip stocks came under pressure once again Wednesday, also hitting stocks. Shares of Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom were lower, falling for the fourth day in five.
Equities were off the lows after May’s core consumer price index reading, excluding food and energy prices, was a bit lighter than expected. For the month, core CPI came in at 0.2%, below the 0.3% estimate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Compared to a year ago, core CPI stood at 2.9%, in line with expectations, but above the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were static, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 4.53%.
Oil prices poked up $1.02 to $89.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $94.20 to $4,192.20 U.S. an ounce.
