Dow drops, oil nears $100

U.S. stock indexes fell to start the week as rising oil prices added to investor anxiety. The Dow industrials led declines, falling about 550 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite were down less than 0.5%. A big drop in Amgen shares contributed to the decline in the blue-chip average and helped make health-care stocks the worst performing sector in the S&P. Brent crude futures meanwhile are rising back to the $100-a-barrel threshold after Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen conducted strikes on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Brent, the international benchmark, jumped above $99—the highest since July—before giving up some of its gains. On social media, President Trump said oil will 'drop precipitously' when the U.S. wins the war with Iran, predicting that gasoline will ultimately fall below $2 a gallon. The national average is currently $4.15. Concerns about energy prices are nudging bond yields higher, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly crossing 4.8% earlier in the session. Elsewhere: The yen is strengthening further, rising to an almost seven-month high against the U.S. dollar. The Japanese currency has been boosted by growing expectations of a Bank of Japan rate rise this month.Copper prices hit a new record amid concerns that President Trump could place new import taxes on refined copper.Canada's retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on certain American products took effect today.The focus for later this week is Friday's consumer price index report for August. Economists expect it to show headline inflation held at an annual rate of 3.4%.