US stocks end week in red as oil prices increase

The New York Stock Exchange ended the week’s final trading day with losses as rising oil prices fueled inflation concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.07%, or 537.29 points to 49,526.17.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.24%, or 92.74 points to close at 7,408.50, and the Nasdaq Composite went down 1.54%, or 410.08 points to 26,225.14.

The Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market’s “fear index,” rose 6.78% to 18.43.

As concerns about inflation came to the fore following data released this week in the US, the stock markets saw a negative trend.

Data indicating that price increases in the US have accelerated due to rising oil prices heightened inflation concerns and caused bond yields to rise.

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.59%, reaching its highest level since May 2025.

Data released this week showed that the inflation rate in April hit its highest annual rate since May 2023, while the producer prices hiked with its highest annual rate since December 2022 during the same period.

Following these figures, expectations of interest rate cuts by the Fed weakened, while pricing in the money markets increasingly reflected the view that the Fed would keep its policy rate unchanged through the end of the year.

Amid tensions in the Middle East and concerns over global energy supply, oil prices continued their upward trend, with the Brent crude futures price rising 3.5% to $109.40 per barrel as of 2040GMT.

Meanwhile, the talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which investors were closely monitoring, concluded without the concrete agreement the markets had anticipated.

European stocks

European stocks also saw negative figures, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.76% to close at 616.05 points.

The UK’s FTSE 100 declined 1.71% to finish at 10,195.37, Germany’s DAX 40 was down by 2.07% to 23,950.57, and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.6% to 7,952.55.

Italy’s FTSE MIB 30 dropped 1.87% to 49,116.47, and Spain's IBEX 35 lost 1.05% to 17,622.70.