Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Dow futures tumbled late Wednesday as oil prices continued their surge in extended trading.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 461 points, or nearly 1%. S&P 500 futures lost roughly 0.9%, while Nasdaq 100 futures also dropped 0.9%.
Late Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It will take about 120 days to deliver the fuel. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump said in an interview with Cincinnati broadcaster WKRC that he would tap the reserve.
Oil prices resumed their climb in extended trading, keeping the market under pressure. West Texas Intermediate futures were last up more than 7% and trading at about $93 a barrel.
In the regular session, the S&P 500 and the 30-stock Dow declined, while the Nasdaq Composite eked out a slight gain. Energy, tech and communication services were the only sectors that closed in positive territory, led by gains in artificial intelligence infrastructure giant Oracle and refinery companies Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum.
Investors remained wary of the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on oil prices throughout the day, as higher costs stoke fears of inflation.
WTI futures and Brent crude futures both settled more than 4% higher. Oil prices rose even after the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil in an effort to aid the supply disruption caused by the ongoing conflict.
U.S. forces on Tuesday sunk 16 mine-laying Iranian ships near the Strait of Hormuz, as oil tanker traffic remains stalled amid threat of Iranian attacks. Insurance company Chubb was announced as the lead underwriter for a U.S. government-led program to provide insurance to ships attempting to traverse the strait.
These moves come after Trump earlier this week said that the war will end “very soon,” which had caused a reprieve in surging oil prices after they topped $100 a barrel.
In addition to the conflict in the Middle East, investors are also eyeing weekly jobless claims and housing starts due Thursday morning. The personal consumption expenditures price index reading is due Friday.
Week to date, the S&P 500 is tracking for a 0.5% gain, while the Nasdaq is up nearly 1.5%. The Dow is the laggard of the three major stock indexes, losing almost 0.2% this week.
Atlassian cuts 10% of workforce to ‘self-fund’ investments in AI and enterprise sales
Atlassian said on Wednesday that it’s eliminating 10% of its workforce, or about 1,600 jobs, as the company restructures following a plunge in its stock price driven by developments in artificial intelligence.
“We are doing this to self-fund further investment in AI and enterprise sales, while strengthening our financial profile,” CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said in a blog post. He said employees would be notified of their status by email.
Atlassian has lost more than half its value this year alongside a broader selloff in software stocks brought on by concerns about the competitive threat of generative AI tools such as Anthropic’s Claude Cowork. The stock is down 84% from its peak in 2021. It had been a big winner during the Covid era as cloud-based collaboration tools surged in popularity with office workers stuck at home.
The cuts will result in $225 million to $236 million in charges and should be mostly done by the end of June, the company said in a filing. More here.
— Pia Singh
Trump administration will release 172 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced late Wednesday.
The release is slated to begin next week, and it will take roughly 120 days to deliver the oil, Wright said.
The announcement comes as a spike in oil prices amid the Iran War has kept stocks under pressure.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures continued their ascent in extended trading Wednesday even after news of the oil release: They were last up more than 7% at more than $93 a barrel.
WTI crude futures in the past day
UiPath, Bumble among stocks moving Wednesday evening
Take a look at the stocks moving in after-hours trading Wednesday:
- UiPath — UiPath shares dropped nearly 5% after the company’s first-quarter outlook failed to impress Wall Street. UiPath called for adjusted operating income of about $80 million, about in line with the $80.5 million FactSet consensus.
- Netskope — Shares of the security and networking company plunged 17% on the back of weak guidance. Netskope said it expects to see an adjusted loss between 6 cents and 7 cents per share, while analysts polled by FactSet expected six cents per share.
- Bumble — Bumble shares popped 19% after the dating app reported strong adjusted EBITDA and revenue results for its fourth quarter. Its first-quarter adjusted EBITDA guidance also beat analysts’ consensus expectations, per FactSet.
— Pia Singh
