US stocks fall amid rising oil prices and Nvidia CEO's departure

Wall Street closed lower

US stock indices ended Thursday's trading in negative territory as investors weighed rising energy prices, a leadership change at Nvidia, and fresh labor market data, Anadolu reports. The Dow Jones index fell 189.40 points, or 0.36%, to 52,297.09. The S&P 500 lost 0.35% (26.98 points) and closed at 7,592.40, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.39% (100.10 points) to 25,366.09. The VIX volatility index, known as the market's 'fear index,' rose 7.26% to 18.76.

Energy prices rise, precious metals fall

Market sentiment was shaken after US President Donald Trump said that Washington no longer needed a deal with Iran, once again heightening concerns about geopolitical risks to supplies. Following his remarks, benchmark Brent rose 3.22% to $95.75 per barrel, while WTI gained 2.55% to $88.74 per barrel as of 21:45 GMT. European natural gas surged 9.79% to €95.14 ($105.2) per megawatt-hour, and US gas rose 4.68% to $3.37 per million British thermal units. Against this backdrop, gold fell 2.78% to $3,877.12 per ounce — its lowest level since October 2025 — while silver lost 3.22% and dropped to $50 per ounce.

Nvidia and macro statistics

Additional pressure on the technology sector came from a decline in shares of chipmaker Nvidia following the departure of CEO Jensen Huang. In macroeconomic statistics, initial jobless claims in the US for the week ending November 7 rose to 200,000, exceeding economists' expectations of 195,000. European markets closed mixed: the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.14% to 664.01 points, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.25% to 10,863.09, Germany's DAX 40 added 0.41% to 26,771.88, and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.34% to 8,361.36. Meanwhile, Italy's FTSE MIB lost 0.27%, closing at 51,808.67, and Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.31% to 19,965.50.