Stocks sink and oil prices rise as worries about AI, inflation, and possible war hit Wall Street

Stocks sank Friday as Wall Street kept punishing companies that could become losers in the artificial-intelligence revolution. A surprisingly discouraging update on inflation also hurt the market, while oil prices climbed with worries about tensions between the United States and Iran. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.4% and staggered to the finish of just its second losing month in the last 10. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 521 points, or 1.1%, the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%. The losses came as investors returned to knocking down software companies and other businesses they suspect could get supplanted by AI-powered…