Wall Street Under Pressure, Negative NFP and Oil Spike Drive Risk-Off
US stocks fell on Friday (March 6), deepening their weekly decline, as oil prices surged and the market reacted to unexpectedly weak US jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 673 points, or 1.4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively.
Pressure increased after the employment report showed nonfarm payrolls (NFP) fell by 92,000 in February, reversing from January's downwardly revised increase of 126,000 and well below expectations of +50,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3%, adding to market concerns about the resilience of the labor market amid geopolitical uncertainty.
In energy markets, oil rallied sharply and became a major channel for risk-off. The WTI contract surpassed US$88/barrel, while Brent traded above US$90/barrel as investors assessed the impact of the US-Iran war on global energy supplies.
Oil prices reached intraday highs after President Donald Trump wrote in an article on Truth Social that there would be no deal to end the US-Iran war without an "unconditional surrender" from Iran. This statement increased the geopolitical risk premium in energy markets and prompted a repricing of riskier assets.
From the Gulf region, additional warnings came after Qatar's Energy Minister told the Financial Times that Gulf energy producers may need to declare force majeure in the coming days, leading to production shutdowns, and warned that oil prices could reach US$150/barrel if disruptions worsen.
Source: Newsmaker.id
