Talk of the Town
(NEW YORK) — Live Nation illegally monopolized the market for tickets, protecting its position through pressure and leverage, jurors in Manhattan federal court found Wednesday.
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(NEW YORK) — Stocks ticked lower in volatile trading on Thursday after President Donald Trump delivered a televised address vowing to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 75 points, or 0.1%, after opening down by 600 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.06%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.1%.
Each of the major indexes tumbled more than 1% in early trading, but they quickly recovered most of those losses.
The rollercoaster trading followed losses across Asian and European markets. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 2.3% and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.6%.
Oil prices, meanwhile, surged as traders feared a persistent supply shortage amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. U.S. oil prices climbed more than 10% on Thursday, registering about $111 a barrel.
Gasoline prices in the U.S. ticked up to $4.08 on average per gallon, marking a leap of $1.09 over the past month, AAA data showed.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump voiced mixed messages about his plans for the Middle East conflict. He said Iran is no longer a threat to the U.S. and the war in Iran is “nearing completion.” However, he added, the U.S. plans to continue striking Iran over the next two or three weeks.
“We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong,” Trump said.
The trading volatility on Thursday interrupted an upswing for markets earlier in the week. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points, adding another 220 points on Wednesday as traders anticipated Trump may signal an off-ramp from the war in his evening remarks.
Since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, Trump has issued conflicting signals about the expected duration of the war. On several occasions, stocks have climbed or fallen as markets weighed the implications of Trump’s comments.
The war prompted Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
The vast majority of fuel delivered through the strait is bound for Asia, placing the heaviest pressure on energy supply in that continent. Since oil and gas are sold on a global market, however, the shortage has sent prices rising for just about everyone.
On Wednesday night, Trump urged other countries to take responsibility for reopening the strait.
“The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Straight must take care of that passage,” Trump said. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.”
A potential U.S. exit from the war without ensuring that the strait is open could cast uncertainty over the path to a resumption of normal tanker traffic and a remedy for the current global oil shortage.
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(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday crossed above 50,000, shrugging off a renewed bout of inflation and an apparent impasse in negotiations over the Iran war.
The rise in shares came as President Donald Trump visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in a high-stakes summit between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
The Dow climbed 370 points, or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 jumped 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.1%. The Dow first topped 50,000 in February.
A group of corporate executives joined Trump on the trip, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
After a dramatic welcoming ceremony, Trump sat down with Xi on the first day of a multi-day summit, during which Trump said he’d seek to deepen diplomatic and economic ties.
The trip came at a crucial time for Trump as the war with Iran drove up prices for Americans at home due in large part due to Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. China is Iran’s principal oil consumer.
Inflation rose for a second consecutive month as the war continued to send gasoline prices surging in April, government data this week showed.
Annual inflation jumped to its highest level in three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sunny investor attitudes stem from robust corporate earnings, as well as milder economic fallout from the war than some forecasters feared, some analysts previously told ABC News.
Trump, they added, has displayed a willingness to back off of actions if they threaten a severe market reaction, reassuring investors wary of a prolonged conflict.
Despite the disruption, some measures of economic health have proven resilient.
Hiring slowed in April but remained solid, exceeding economists’ expectations, government data last week showed. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in April, a low level by historic standards.
Additionally, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2% in the first quarter of 2026, marking an acceleration from 0.5% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey and Jon Haworth contributed to this report.
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(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial average soared more than 1,000 points on Monday after President Donald Trump claimed “productive conversations” had been held between the U.S. and Iran.
The major stock indexes shed some of the morning’s gains by midday as a flurry of headlines about the Middle East conflict appeared to elicit volatile price fluctuations.
The peace talks — which Iranian officials denied — sent the price of oil plunging on Monday on hopes that negotiations could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end a weeks-long global energy shock.
The Dow surged 700 points or 1.5%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.3%.
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