Stocks fell for a second straight day on Thursday, but pared some of the losses from earlier in the session, as market participants continued to assess the potential long-term impacts of the United States-Israeli war with Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ) sunk over 200 points to settle at 46,021.43 on Thursday, while the S&P 500 Index (SPY  ) and Nasdaq Composite (QQQ  ) were each down about 0.3% to close at 6,606.49 and 22,090.69, respectively. At session lows, the Dow was down almost 500 points, while the S&P 500 had fallen about 1% and the Nasdaq lost 1.4%.

Crude oil futures eased on Thursday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country will help the U.S. open the Strait of Hormuz to support global shipping routes. International benchmark Brent crude futures advanced about 1% to settle at $108.65 per barrel following the announcement, but spiked by as much as 10% earlier in the session due to continued investor uncertainty. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate ticked down to $96.14 on Thursday.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims fell below expectations for the week ended March 14, data from the Labor Department showed on Thursday. First time filings totaled 205,000, declining from the previous week's print of 213,0000. Continue unemployment claims, which are tracked a week behind, totaled a more-than-expected 1.86 million, increasing by 10,000 over the prior week.

In earnings news, Micron Technology (MU  ) shares rose on Thursday after the chipmaker almost tripled its revenue in its second-quarter, as demand for Nvidia's (NVDA  ) graphics processing units was met with a large supply crunch. For the current quarter, Micron guides for about $33.5 billion in revenue, implying annual growth of over 200%, and adjusted earnings per share of about $19.15.

"The step-up in our results and outlook are the outcome of an increase in memory demand driven by AI, structural supply constraints and Micron's strong execution across the board," CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement.

Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve on Thursday released its proposal to lower capital requirements for financial institutions in an effort to increase lending to support the U.S. economy. Under the proposal, JPMorgan Chase (JPM  ) and Bank of America (BAC  ), the nation's largest banks, would see their capital fall by 4.8%, while other large bank -- with assets between $100 billion and $700 billion -- would see their requirements reduce by 5.2%. Bank with less than $100 billion in assets would see their capital requirements decline by 7.8%.

"Calibration is important, however, over-calibration can harm bank competitiveness and the ability to serve customers, limit the availability of credit, and stifle economic growth," said Michelle Bowman, vice chair of supervision at the Fed and the top official leading the capital overhaul.

For Friday, investors will continue to monitor developments in the Middle East. Key earnings for the session include FedEx (FDX  ) and XPeng (XPEV  ).