US stocks dropped on Thursday as crude oil prices jumped and as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure rose to three-year-high in April.
In early trading, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 328 points, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) prices index jumped 3.8% from a year ago, the Commerce Department said, up from 3.5% in March.
The new data comes amid the economic fallout of President Donald Trump’s Iran war hits Americans.
“You can see how Americans are getting squeezed financially right now,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.
Rising fuel prices saw US consumers spend $28.8 billion more on gasoline and related products in April over the same month a year ago, the data showed.
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