US stocks drop as Trump doubles down on Iran threats

NEW YORK (April 7): Wall Street stocks retreated early Tuesday while oil prices pushed higher as President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to massively bomb Iran if it doesn’t accept US war demands.

“A whole civilization will die tonight,” Trump said on social media, amplifying an earlier vow to level bridges, power plants and other civilian infrastructure if the country does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil-tanker traffic.

Stocks had risen Monday on hopes for a ceasefire, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 per cent early Tuesday to 46,368.33.

About 10 minutes into trading, the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5 per cent to 6,576.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.6 per cent to 21,859.32.

Markets view Trump’s extreme rhetoric as a negotiating tactic, said David Waddell, chief investment strategist at Waddell & Associates.

“The markets are taking it in stride because they’ve learned not to over-index Trump’s threats, recognizing it’s probably more negotiation than reality,” Waddell said. – AFP