Global bond yields also moved higher this week, after policy announcements from multiple central banks indicated that interest rates were likely to either be on hold, or could potentially move higher should the war keep pressure on prices.
The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate at 2pc this week and warned that the war in Iran was clouding the outlook for growth and inflation in the eurozone.
Eurozone government bond yields rose for a third day in a row, while the British 10-year gilt yield soared to its highest since July 2008. It was last up 17 basis points to 5.018pc.
“People are beginning to worry about inflation because of oil prices, even though we in the US are energy independent,” said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity in Potomac, Maryland.
“And so we’re less affected certainly than Asia and Europe with respect to the Middle East, but we’re not immune to it,” he added.
In Europe, indices were down across the board on Friday.
Germany’s Dax retreated 2pc, France’s Cac-40 was 1.8pc lower and the Ftse-100 shed 1.4pc.
Ireland’s Iseq-20 mirrored those declines, ending the session 1.6pc lower than the close on Thursday.
With fuel prices jumping, shares in Ryanair fell 2.5pc. AIB was 2.3pc lower and Bank of Ireland was down 2.5pc.
Insulation maker Kingspan rose 1.5pc, while ferry operator Irish Continental fell 2.1pc.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3pc lower by early afternoon, while the Nasdaq was down 1.2pc.
FedEx, often seen as a barometer of business activity, issued ?upbeat forecasts and said global demand was holding steady despite geopolitical tensions, sending its shares up 1.9pc. Rival United Parcel Service added 0.6pc.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index, spiked 1.17 points to 25.31.
Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes were in the red. In the US, on Friday also marked the once-in-a-quarter simultaneous expiry of derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures, also known as “triple witching”, which can boost trading volume and aggravate volatility.
Super Micro Computer tumbled 28pc after three people associated with the artificial intelligence server maker were charged with smuggling at least $2.5bn (€2.16bn) worth of AI technology to China. Rival Dell advanced 6pc.
Additional reporting: Reuters
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