U.S. stocks fell after the Consumer Price Index jumped 7.9%, cementing inflation concerns as the Russia-Ukraine conflict raged on.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 112 points or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped by 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. All three major averages closed above the worst levels of the day.
Soaring U.S. inflation remains an overhang for Americans. February’s CPI hit 7.9% year-over-year, amid strong consumer demand and lingering pandemic-related supply chain woes. Energy prices drove a bulk of the increases.
Gold moved back above the $2,000 level.
The Labor Department reported new weekly claims for unemployment benefits were 227,000, slightly higher than estimates. Continuing claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, rose to 1.490 million.
The price of oil closed down 2.5% to $106.02 per barrel, while Brent settled marginally lower at $109.33 per barrel.
Gas prices climbed to a fresh record $4.31 per gallon.
In stocks, Amazon in focus after announcing a 20-for-1 stock split, becoming the second large tech company after Google to split their stock.
Goldman Sachs confirmed to FOX Business it will exit operations in Russia. In addition, financial service companies including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal have also suspended operations in Russia.
Bitcoin traded around $39,000.