The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6 percent, the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.1 percent, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index bucked the trend and gained 0.1 percent.
Wall Street thus largely followed the same downward trend as the major European stock exchanges.
On Wednesday afternoon, Western countries announced they would release 400 million barrels of crude from their reserves to dampen price increases amid the US and Israel's war against Iran. But by 9 p.m., Brent was holding above $90 per barrel, a high level.
According to analyst Ron Albahary, trading remains dominated by concerns about how long the war in the Middle East will last.
"I think the market is still grappling with what an exit could look like. Both sides have dug in, and it's hard to see how this can end positively in the short term," he told CNBC.
