WALL Street stocks finished a volatile week sharply lower, falling on Friday on anxiety over a potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

Market watchers cited worries about an imminent attack on Israel by Iran to retaliate for a strike in Damascus - a possibility also raised by President Joe Biden, who urged Iran against the move.

After spending the entire session in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.2 per cent, or 475 points, at 37,983.24.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.5 per cent to 5,123.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.6 per cent to 16,175.09

The geopolitical angst came after a hot consumer price report on Wednesday sent stocks tumbling only to be reversed on Thursday in a move seen as a relief rally.

Equities have been under pressure in recent weeks as traders bet that the Federal Reserve will push back interest rate cuts due to inflation.

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JPMorgan Chase on Friday sank 6.5 per cent despite strong first-quarter earnings as the large bank highlighted worries over geopolitics and inflation.

“The market is probably too happy,” CEO Jamie Dimon said on a conference call with reporters. “I think the chance of bad outcomes is higher than other people think.”

Among other large financial companies reporting results, Citigroup fell 1.7 per cent, Wells Fargo dipped 0.2 per cent and BlackRock dropped 2.9 per cent. AFP