Escalating U.S. strikes on Iran and the Pentagon's deployment of additional troops to the Middle East pushed Brent crude above $100, while major U.S. stock indices reversed early gains in a V-shaped pattern. Weak U.S. economic data initially boosted Treasury bonds, but the rally faded. Reinflation expectations supported the U.S. dollar, which rose for three consecutive days to a new yearly high.
On Friday, the S&P 500 erased nearly 1% of its early gains and closed 0.6% lower, ending the week down approximately 1.6%. The three major U.S. stock indices fell for the second consecutive week, hovering near their 200-day moving averages.
The Magnificent 7 index entered correction territory, with Meta closing down 3.83%, marking its largest single-day decline since October 30. Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon have each fallen more than 10% this year.
Weak GDP and stagnant PCE data indicated a slowdown in U.S. economic growth momentum even before the outbreak of conflict. Treasury yields initially dipped but later reversed, with the 10-year yield rising 1 basis point, while the 2-year yield fell 2.8 basis points.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.6%, reaching its highest level since November of last year. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index hit a new closing high for 2026.
Bitcoin surged more than 5% to $74,000 before retreating, while Ethereum rose 2.4% from the previous day's close. Since the escalation of U.S.-Iran tensions, Bitcoin has significantly outperformed gold.
Spot gold fell 1.2%, extending losses for the third consecutive day. Spot silver dropped more than 4%, briefly falling below the $80 mark during the session.
On Friday, the three major U.S. stock indices reversed early gains in a V-shaped pattern. The S&P 500 erased nearly 1% of its early gains and closed 0.6% lower, ending the week down approximately 1.6%. The Magnificent 7 index entered correction territory, with Meta posting its largest single-day decline in over four months. Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon have each fallen more than 10% this year.
U.S. benchmark stock indices: - The S&P 500 fell 40.43 points, or 0.61%, to 6,632.19. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 119.38 points, or 0.26%, to 46,558.47. - The Nasdaq Composite dropped 206.62 points, or 0.93%, to 22,105.36. - The Nasdaq 100 Index fell 152.85 points, or 0.62%, to 24,380.73. - The Russell 2000 Index slipped 0.36% to 2,480.05. - The VIX volatility index fell 0.37% to 27.19.
U.S. sector ETFs: - The AI and Robotics sector fell 2.14%, while banking, consumer discretionary, industrial, and healthcare ETFs declined up to 0.71%. The Solar Energy ETF rose 1.14%.
Magnificent 7 stocks: - The Magnificent 7 index fell 1.56%, bringing its weekly decline to 1.31%. - Meta dropped 3.83%, Apple fell 2.21%, Nvidia declined 1.58%, Microsoft slid 1.57%, Tesla dipped 0.96%, Amazon lost 0.89%, and Google Class A slipped 0.42%. - Year-to-date, Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon have fallen between 10.03% and 18.02%.
Semiconductor stocks: - The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index edged up 0.05% to 7,646.64. - AMD fell 2.20%, while TSMC rose 0.48%.
Chinese stocks: - The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.76% to 7,148.21, gaining 2.69% for the week. - Among popular Chinese stocks, Nio rose 5.5%, Tencent Music gained 3.5%, ZTO Express advanced 2.4%, and Canadian Solar increased 2.1%.
Other notable stocks: - Berkshire Hathaway Class B fell 0.38%, while Eli Lilly rose 0.80%. - Adobe dropped 7.58%, Broadcom declined 4.11%, Salesforce fell 3.24%, Oracle lost 2.54%, Qualcomm slipped 1.01%, and Netflix rose 1.06%. - Year-to-date, Adobe has fallen 28.76%, while Salesforce, Qualcomm, and Oracle have declined between 20.21% and 27.21%.
European markets fell about 0.5% for the week, with real estate stocks down more than 4.3%, construction materials down over 2.7%, and oil and gas stocks rising 5%. German stocks fell 0.6%, Italian banking stocks declined 2%, and Norwegian equities rose over 2%.
Pan-European indices: - The STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.50% to 595.85, down 0.47% for the week, extending last week's 5.55% decline. - The Euro STOXX 50 dropped 0.56% to 5,716.61, falling 0.06% for the week after a 6.82% drop the previous week.
National indices: - Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.60% to 23,447.29, down 0.61% for the week. - France's CAC 40 declined 0.91% to 7,911.53, losing 1.03% over the week. - The UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.43% to 10,261.15, down 0.23% for the week.
European sectors: - The STOXX 600 Real Estate Index fell 4.32% for the week, Construction and Materials dropped 2.74%, Travel and Leisure declined 2.53%, Banking lost 2.23%, Personal and Household Goods fell 2.19%, and Healthcare dipped 2.03%.
Brent crude closed above $100 for two consecutive sessions, gaining about 11.3% for the week. According to the CFTC, speculative net long positions in WTI crude increased by 28,000 contracts to 136,419, an eight-month high.
Oil: - WTI April crude futures rose $2.98, or over 3.11%, to $98.71 per barrel, up more than 8.59% for the week. - Brent May crude futures gained $2.68, or about 2.67%, to $103.14 per barrel, rising over 11.27% for the week after reaching $119.50 on March 9.
Natural gas: - NYMEX April natural gas futures settled at $3.1310 per million British thermal units.
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