Stocks drop as oil prices top $100 per barrel, Trump defends costs of Iran strikes

Stocks dropped Monday after a weekend of escalating strikes in the Middle East drove oil prices above $100 per barrel and raised fears of a global economic crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 500 points after the opening bell Monday, dropping 1.1 percent. The S&P 500 index opened with a loss of 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7 percent after the opening bell.

The stock market has taken steady losses since the U.S. and Israel began pummeling Iran with air strikes last weekend, prompting the Islamic Republic to respond with its own attacks on American military bases and allies in the region.

Iran’s refusal to allow maritime trade through the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on oil infrastructure around the Persian Gulf have drastically reduced global crude exports and forced gulf states to scale back production, causing prices to skyrocket over the weekend.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $100.25 shortly after the market opened, up 10 percent on the day. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was running at $101.71 per barrel Monday after rising close to $120 over the weekend.

Rising oil prices have already pushed gasoline prices higher in the U.S., and could raise costs throughout the economy as transportation- and manufacturing-intensive industries.

President Trump, however, dismissed concerns about the economic blowback of the conflict Sunday night, arguing that only “fools” would think the costs of toppling the Iranian regime were not worth it.

“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump said in a Sunday evening Truth Social post.

“ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” he added.

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