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Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: US indices fall amid high oil prices, West Asia war concerns

MUMBAI--0730 IST--Major US indices ended lower Monday amid fears that the war in West Asia could escalate. The 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran ended Monday, while truce talks between Washington and Tehran stalled. Crude oil prices rose over 3% and breached the $90-per-barrel mark for the first time this month. All the major indices closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 falling more than the Nasdaq Composite. 

 

"The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon," US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social. In an interview with Fox News, Trump also threatened to attack Oman if it hindered talks with Iran. 

 

All S&P 500 sectoral indices, barring the S&P 500 Energy sector, ended lower. The S&P 500 Communication Services and the S&P 500 Consumer Staples fell 1.5?ch, while the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary and S&P 500 Financials declined more than 1%. The S&P 500 Energy was the only sector in the green, gaining nearly 1%. Shares of Exxonmobil Holdings and Chevron Corp. rose about 1?ch. 

 

The S&P 500 Software and Services index fell nearly 3%, with chip stocks coming under selling pressure. Microsoft and Meta Platforms declined 3?ch, while Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm fell around 2%. Shares of Micron Technology and Applied Materials rose 4% and more than 5%, respectively. 

 

Investors will be cautious as they wait for the quarterly results of retail companies after July's weak retail sales numbers and jobs data. "Concerns about recent softer data have the market being a bit tepid and waiting for retail earnings for direction," Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth, told Reuters. Home Depot, Target, and Walmart will release their earnings this week.  

 

Following are the closing levels of major US indices Monday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	53459.78	(-)0.51
NASDAQ Composite	26644.91	(-)0.32
S&P 500	7745.06	(-)0.52

 

(Vidhi Thacker)

 

US$1 = INR 95.60

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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