Stocks Tumble Amid Rising Risks from Auto Strike, Oil Prices

Impact of UAW Auto Strike on Stock Market

Friday witnessed a substantial decrease in stock values, propelled by the escalating risks from the United Auto Workers (UAW) auto strike impacting the market. Remarkably, this is the first instance in the union’s 88-year history that all three major automakers have been targeted at once.

A further contributor to the market downturn was the fall in stocks of chip equipment makers such as Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA Corp. Each experienced a drop of over 4%. This downturn followed a report indicating a delay in deliveries by Taiwan Semiconductor, which ignited concerns regarding a possible slump in consumer demand.

Rising Oil Prices and Their Effects

Adding to the market gloom was the spike in oil prices, which soared above $90 per barrel, establishing a new year-to-date record. A significant surge in oil prices could potentially exert additional strain on economic stability, thus inducing market turbulence.

Along with soaring oil prices, increasing Treasury yields persistently plague the stock market. “The benchmark 10-year yield saw an increase, scaling to 4.32%”, constituting another reason for investor anxiety.

Weekly Performance of Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite

The Dow Jones managed to end the week with a slight gain of 0.1%. Contrarily, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite concluded their second consecutive week with losses, shrinking by 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.