Stocks Rocked by Oil, Suffer 3rd-Straight Weekly Drop

Wall Street's morning optimism was short-lived, with stocks once more at the mercy of oil price volatility. The Dow and S&P 500 fell for the fourth-straight day, while all three major indexes logged their third-straight weekly drop. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is careening toward 22,000, a level not breached on a closing basis since September, while the blue-chip index felt pressure from Apple (AAPL) and Salesforce (CRM) today.

Despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying people "don't need to worry" about the Strait of Hormuz closure, the vital pipeline remained shut, putting a chokehold on the global economy and helping front-month Brent futures reclaim $100. Lackluster GDP and inflation data failed to prop up sentiment as well. 

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• More highs could be in store for this popular blue chip.
• C-suite update takes down struggling Adobe stock.
• Plus, ULTA's post-earnings selloff; 15 stocks to monitor; and Meta's major AI delay.

5 Things to Know Today

1. Mortgage rates hit five-month highs as bond yields climb. (CNBC)
2. The private credit market is showing more signs of stress. (Barron's)
3. The fallout from Ulta Beauty's earnings bust.
4. Short squeeze table highlights these 15 stocks.
5. AI delays triggered a setback for Facebook parent.

Historic Week For Oil Prices

Oil prices are showing no signs of slowing down, as tanker traffic and supply worries persist, despite several attempts this week to keep costs down. April-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 3.1% to close at $98.71 per barrel for the day and up 8.6% for the week.

The U.S. greenback continued work against the dollar, while inflation and Iran worries also plagued the safe-haven asset. April-dated gold futures fell 1.3% to settle at $5,061.70 an ounce on the day, and marked a weekly drop of 2.8%.