03:55 PM EDT, 03/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes dropped after midday Thursday as surging crude oil prices fueled inflationary concerns, reflecting Iran's leverage in its war with Israel and the United States.

The Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.7% to 22,327.1, with the S&P 500 down 1.5% to 6,676.9 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 1.5% to 46,730.2.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures jumped 10% to $95.75.

Oil prices climbed after Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first public message, warning that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as a "tool of pressure," CNN reported. Read on Iranian state television by an anchor, the message also said that all US bases in the region "will be attacked" unless they shut down, the news report said.

Based on the US Energy Information Administration's general guideline, a $10 jump in crude would translate into a $0.24 increase in the price of gasoline per gallon, Macquarie said in a Wednesday note. If current crude oil pricing persists, it will boost the US headline consumer price index by 0.6 percentage points and the US personal consumption expenditures price index by 0.4 percentage points in the near term, according to Macquarie.