Stocks open lower as crude oil price turn sharply higher

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street Thursday but are still holding on to sizable gains for the week. Traders are turning cautious as oil prices surge again, pushing U.S. benchmark crude up 7% and back above $100 a barrel. That’s a worrisome sign for inflation, which was already a major concern for markets even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% in the early going. Treasury yields eased back a day after rising sharply as the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2018.