The stock market took a massive dive as the price of oil soared on Thursday following President Donald Trump’s primetime address on Iran.
More than a month into the conflict, the president spoke to the nation in a 19-minute speech where he made his case for why he believes the war in Iran is necessary.
Trump, 79, did not define a clear endgame or timeline for the war beyond saying the U.S. would be hitting Iran hard over the next two to three weeks.
The markets did not take his rambling speech well, as investors had been hoping for signs of de-escalation from the president.
The Dow tumbled more than 600 points at the start of trading. The S&P 500 plunged 1.3 percent while the Nasdaq dropped 1.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the price of crude oil skyrocketed more than 12 percent to $112 a barrel while futures for Brent crude oil, the global standard, rose to more than $109 a barrel, ensuring Americans and consumers around the world feel more pain at the pump as the war continues.
The national average for the price of gas hit nearly $4.07 a gallon on Thursday, according to GasBuddy.com. The national average for a gallon of diesel was $5.49. It’s less than 35 cents from reaching an all-time record in the U.S., which could come in the next two weeks.
According to GasBuddy.com’s Patrick De Haan, if the pace continues, the national average for a gallon of gas could rise to between $4.25 and $4.45 a gallon in the next two weeks.
During his address on Wednesday, the president tried to downplay the economic impact his war was having on consumers’ wallets and blamed Iran.
Trump insisted that stock prices would rapidly go back up and claimed they hadn’t come down “very much.” He even bragged that the markets “had some very good days over the last couple of days.”
The president also addressed the rising oil prices, but he did not inspire confidence with his remarks as he laid blame solely on Iran after launching the war on February 28.
“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,“ the president said. ”This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”
Trump also argued that the U.S. did not need any oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz and indicated it would be up to other countries to take the lead in securing the vital waterway in the future.
“The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it,” the president declared.
He claimed, “Countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Straight must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it.”
