Oil Is Back Near an Unwanted Milestone

Oil is back in the spotlight in a bad way—and pulling stocks down with it, reports the Wall Street Journal. Dow futures slid early Tuesday as the benchmark price for Brent international crude pushed back toward $100 a barrel, reports CNBC. The price rose 2.3% to $99.22 amid new hostilities in the US-Iran war. Dow futures were off more than 400 points, about 0.8%, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures down by lower percentages.

Brent is at a six-week high, as is West Texas Intermediate at $94, after Iran-aligned Houthi militants hit Saudi Aramco facilities, injuring more than 70 and forcing some operations offline. The weekend also saw the US military strike three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian missile attacks on US warships, an exchange Tehran labeled a "war crime." Rising energy costs are driving Treasury yields higher and sharpening Wall Street's focus on upcoming US inflation data.