By Dow Jones Newswires Staff
Oil prices edged lower and stocks reversed some of Thursday's losses as U.S. officials sought to calm markets and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Israel would refrain from future strikes against Iranian oil fields.
Brent crude fell back from Thursday's close, the highest since July 2022, though prices held close to $107 a barrel. Qatar said damage to its Ras Laffan liquefied-natural-gas facilities wiped out 17% of the country's export capacity and would take three to five years to repair. A Kuwait oil refinery was struck in a drone attack as attacks on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure continued.
U.S. Treasury yields mostly fell though the dollar rose slightly, as traders look to position themselves heading into a weekend that will likely bring further volatility across assets.
--In early European trade, Brent crude was down 1.6% to $106.92 a barrel, while WTI fell 1.5% to $91.57 a barrel. Still, the international oil benchmark is on track for a weekly gain of 5% as attacks on key infrastructure in the region keep the risk premium high. "The escalation of the attacks on energy assets implies significant risks for not just near-term oil exports from the region, but longer-term oil production capacity," analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
European natural-gas prices are poised for a weekly gain of roughly 20%. "The market is starting to price in a longer supply disruption," ING analysts said. The benchmark Dutch TTF front-month contract fell 2.3% to 60.41 euros a megawatt hour in early trading after hitting its highest level since 2022 on Thursday.
--U.S. stock futures mostly edged higher after dipping into the red earlier in the European morning. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% higher, while the S&P 500 nudged up 0.05%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.1% premarket.
FedEx shares jumped over 10% premarket after the shipping company raised its outlook for the year in earnings released after the bell Thursday. Super Micro Computer shares plummeted just shy of 20% premarket, after a Justice Department indictment accused two employees and a contractor of wrongfully selling billions of dollars' worth of artificial-intelligence-powered servers to China.
--Asian equities saw mixed and relatively stable trade on Friday. South Korea's Kospi ended 0.3% higher, though Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 1.2% lower. Japan's equity market was closed due to a holiday.
Alibaba fell 6.3% after its fourth-quarter earnings disappointed and Xiaomi slid 8.6% after announcing a higher-than-expected price tag for its new SU7 model.
--European stocks mostly rose at the open as all sectors gained except for energy. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 climbed 0.75%. The German DAX rose 1.1% after falling sharply at the last close, with industrial and chemicals stocks rallying as oil prices slipped. Semiconductor company Infineon gained 5.2% after an analyst upgrade.
The CAC 40 was 0.8% higher in Paris, led by a 3.4% gain for steelmaker ArcelorMittal. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, with gains checked by losses for oil majors. Spain's IBEX 35 and the Italian FTSE MIB climbed 1.4% and 1%, respectively, as banks and construction companies rallied.
--The dollar rose slightly, reversing some of its falls the previous day. As a result of oil price uncertainty, "foreign exchange market will therefore have to brace for continued volatility in exchange rates as long as the conflict persists and brings new twists every day," Commerzbank's Volkmar Baur said. The DXY dollar index rose 0.1% to 99.341, having fallen to an eight-day low of 98.975 on Thursday.
--U.S. Treasury yields mostly fell in Asian trade as oil prices have retreated from Thursday's jump. The market's focus will remain on geopolitical developments, "with there again being a high likelihood that participants seek to take down risk levels as we move into the weekend," Pepperstone's Michael Brown said. The two-year Treasury yield fell 3.7 basis points to 3.794%, the 10-year yield declined 0.6 bps to 4.275%, while the 30-year yield was largely stable at 4.856%, according to Tradeweb
--Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $71,250, having fallen to $68,802 on Thursday. The cryptocurrency's falls followed a cautious tone from the U.S. Federal Reserve in response to uncertainties surrounding the war in the Middle East and elevated energy prices, Saxo analysts said in a note. "The key takeaway for investors is that crypto is once again behaving like a macro-sensitive asset, reacting to interest rate expectations, dollar strength, and geopolitical developments rather than purely crypto-specific drivers," they said.
--Gold prices were on track for a weekly fall of more than 7%, pressured by a stronger dollar and dimming interest-rate expectations. New York futures rose 1.7% to $4,682.20 a troy ounce, rebounding from the previous session. However, market watchers say investor demand has weakened and the precious metal has been under pressure from ETF outflows. "Upward momentum has faded," ING analysts say. "Some investors are selling gold to raise cash or rebalance portfolios."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2026 05:22 ET (09:22 GMT)
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