Stocks Fall, Oil Rises on Fears War Is Escalating: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders drove stocks lower ahead of the weekend on concern that a protracted war in Iran will keep oil prices elevated, fueling a simultaneous increase in inflation and a slowdown in growth.
The roughly 1.5% drop in the S&P 500 put the gauge on course for its longest streak of weekly losses since 2022. The Nasdaq 100 fell into correction territory after a 10% decline from its peak. Brent hit $112 a barrel. Treasury 10-year yields climbed toward their highest since July. The yen weakened to 160 for the first time since 2024, raising intervention risks.
The US and Israel bombed several nuclear targets and steel facilities in Iran on Friday, as Tehran continued to launch strikes across the Persian Gulf. The attacks came after President Donald Trump pushed back his deadline for Iran to agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants.
“Risk aversion continues to dominate,” said Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. “Absent full US military control of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran effectively controls the escalation lever of this war, and the balance of risks point to a deeper unraveling.”
The heightened likelihood of a more persistent energy shock raises financial stability risks because it traps central banks in restrictive policy and puts government debt on a more fragile and unsustainable path, he added.
As the war in the Middle East drives up gasoline prices, data showed US consumer sentiment slid to a three-month low in March and year-ahead inflation expectations jumped.
Economists raised their estimates for US inflation through year-end, while trimming consumer spending, growth and employment projections as the war in Iran drives up fuel costs, according to the latest Bloomberg monthly survey.
Heightened uncertainty and headline-driven swings are pushing investors to cut risk, hedge more, and tighten liquidity, according to Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“Markets are reacting more to positioning and volatility than fundamentals,” he said. “The macro and earnings backdrop is still supportive and expectations have reset, but without clear resolution on the conflict and stabilization in energy markets, it’s hard to see a sustained move higher.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk is warning investors not to turn bearish on US stocks, saying current positioning leaves the market vulnerable to a short squeeze if geopolitical tensions ease.
Corporate Highlights:
Carnival Corp. cut its full-year profit outlook as surging crude prices are driving up fuel costs. Anthropic PBC is considering going public as soon as in October, according to people familiar with the matter, as the artificial intelligence company races with rival OpenAI Inc. to hold an initial public offering. Oaktree Capital Management is meeting all redemption requests it received for a $7.7 billion private credit fund aimed at retail investors, siding with managers that have decided against enforcing a cap on withdrawals. Pernod Ricard SA and Brown-Forman Corp., the owner of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, are discussing a merger as the alcoholic drink companies look at ways to consolidate amid an industry downturn. What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Treasury yields are close to entering a precarious zone for stocks, and it will be harder to shrug the move off this time.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 1.5% as of 3 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5% The MSCI World Index fell 1.4% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3% The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1515 The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3272 The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 160.28 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 4.6% to $65,811.04 Ether fell 3.9% to $1,983.39 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.43% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.09% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.97% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 5.2% to $99.38 a barrel Spot gold rose 3.3% to $4,518.37 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
