At the opening, the Dow Jones index fell by 0.2 percent to 46,469.36 points.
The S&P 500 index fell 0.95 percent to 6,512.61 points and the Nasdaq index fell 1.68 percent to 21,472.52 points.
While news about the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran in the Middle East continues to be in the focus of investors, a negative trend was observed in the stock markets after US President Trump's speech last night.
Trump, in his “Address to the Nation” at the White House, assessed the current situation regarding Iran's agenda and stated that they have largely completed their military objectives in Iran and will soon “complete” the process. He added: “We are on track to complete all of America's military objectives (in Iran) in a very short period of time, but we will deal a very hard blow to them in the next two to three weeks.” he said.
In addition, Trump stated that if an agreement is not reached within this deadline, it will impact Iran's power plants.
Oil prices, which have been on an upward trend since conflict began in the Middle East but have fallen in the last two days on expectations that tensions in the region could ease, have begun to rise again.
The barrel price of Brent oil rose 8.2 percent to $109.4 at 1630 GMT. At the same time, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose by 12.9 percent and climbed to $ 113.03.
Energy stocks also rose as oil prices rose. Shares of Exxon Mobil, one of the US energy companies, rose more than 2 percent and shares of Chevron rose more than 3 percent.
While rising energy costs have increased concerns that inflationary pressures could rise again, they have also increased uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy outlook.
Money market pricing suggests no easing is expected from the Fed this year.
In macroeconomic data, the number of people filing for first-time jobless benefits in the U.S. fell short of expectations, falling to 202,000 in the week ended March 28.
While investors seeking more information about the state of the U.S. labor market await tomorrow's release of non-farm payrolls data, markets in the country will remain closed tomorrow due to the Good Friday holiday.
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