Wall Street indices tumble 2%

WALL STREET'S MAIN indices fell more than 2% on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 hitting its lowest in over two months, as investors braced for the impact of a widening West Asia conflict on oil prices, inflation and global trade.

- JOHANN M CHERIAN & RAGINI MATHUR

Tehran’s threat to attack any vessel attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, combined with production halts by several Middle Eastern oil and gas producers, has driven up global shipping rates and prices of crude and natural gas.The strait, a critical choke-point, carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s total oil consumption.