nuclear-news

‘Worst case scenario’: Wall St craters, oil surges as nuclear sites hit.

Wall St is imploding and oil is surging again as experts warn of a “worst case scenario” over frightening new strikes on nuclear facilities.

Ben Graham, March 28, 2026, https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/worst-case-scenario-wall-st-craters-oil-surges-as-nuclear-sites-hit/news-story/c19242591d70011f0f733addaf27be51

Wall Street sunk to its lowest level since September 2025 as oil prices soared again overnight as investors mash the panic button amid strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

The Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.2 per cent in New York, the S&P 500 fell by 1.67 per cent following on from heavy losses in recent weeks, while oil shot up 4.2 per cent to $112.57 a barrel.

The drop came after US President Donald Trump extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy grid, pushing it from Friday to April 6.

The 10-day extension was his second since last week’s threat to destroy the infrastructure if Tehran didn’t reopen the critical waterway, a chokepoint that’s become increasingly urgent with global energy and commodity shortages mounting.

But with Iran maintaining a hold on the strait and intense hostilities continuing, Mr Trump’s announcement failed to lift the mood on markets.

Nuclear sites struck

One of the key reasons for the latest sell-offs of global stocks is due to a concerning escalation in the war as Israel’s military says it struck a heavy water reactor and a uranium processing plant in Iran.

“A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force… struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran,” the military said in a statement, describing the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons”.

Iranian media had earlier reported that US-Israeli strikes hit the Khondab heavy water complex, saying they caused no casualties or radiation leak from the site.

March 31, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs