US stock markets dip for fourth straight week over US-Israel war on Iran

## Summary
Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP View image in fullscreen Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, March 19, 2026. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP US stock markets dip for fourth straight week over US-Israel war on Iran Markets seem particularly attuned to increasing oil prices, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 1.5% and 2% respectively US stock markets dropped again on Friday, capping off a fourth week of market turbulence as investors worried about the US-Israel war on Iran and its widespread impact on global oil prices. How the Iran war has sent shocks rippling across the globe Read more The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, reached $107 a barrel by Friday afternoon, with prices typically hovering around $70 a barrel before the start of the conflict. Explore more on these topics Stock markets US-Israel war on Iran US economy Donald Trump news Share Reuse this content

## Article Content
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP
View image in fullscreen
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP
US stock markets dip for fourth straight week over US-Israel war on Iran
Markets seem particularly attuned to increasing oil prices, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 1.5% and 2% respectively
US stock markets dropped again on Friday, capping off a fourth week of market turbulence as investors worried about the
US-Israel war on Iran
and its widespread impact on global oil prices.
The Dow lost over 400 points on Friday, with the S&P 500 slipping 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 2%.
The biggest losses of the week were seen in the Russell 2000, which tracks the performance of small-cap companies. The Russell 2000 entered correction territory on Friday after dipping 2.7%, meaning the index fell more than 10% from its most recent high. The small cap index is the first of all the major indices to enter correction territory this year.
Since 28 February, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices have dropped about 7%, 5% and 4.5%, respectively – still far from correction territory, but dips have become a mainstay over the last few weeks.
Markets seem particularly attuned to skyrocketing oil prices, which affects everything from shipping trucks and commercial airlines to
fertilizer
for farming.
How the Iran war has sent shocks rippling across the globe
Read more
The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, reached $107 a barrel by Friday afternoon, with prices typically hovering around $70 a barrel before the start of the conflict. US crude oil reached $98 a barrel, up from an average of $64 a barrel before March.
US gas prices at the pump are an average $3.88 a gallon, according to
AAA
, with averages surging past $5 in states such as California, Washington and Hawaii.
The strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply typically passes through, remains blocked in retaliation of the US-Israel strikes against Iran. Both sides of the conflict have also
targeted
key energy infrastructure in the Gulf states and Iran, which could take years to repair.
After Israel
attacked
Iran’s
South Pars gasfield
, Tehran struck Ras Laffan, the world’s largest liquified natural gas (LNG) facility in the world, earlier this week.
Donald Trump
has spent much of the last week attacking US allies for refusing to help the US reopen the strait of Hormuz,
calling
Nato allies on Friday “cowards”.
“COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” the US president wrote on social media, telling reporters later on Friday that “you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side”.
The Pentagon deployed about 2,200 marines to the Middle East on Friday, though the White House hasn’t specified what missions the deployment will assist.
Explore more on these topics
Stock markets
US-Israel war on Iran
US economy
Donald Trump
news
Share
Reuse this content

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
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### Implications
- Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP US stock markets dip for fourth straight week over US-Israel war on Iran Markets seem particularly attuned to increasing oil prices, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 1.5% and 2% respectively US stock markets dropped again on Friday, capping off a fourth week of market turbulence as investors worried about the US-Israel war on Iran and its widespread impact on global oil prices.
- Both sides of the conflict have also targeted key energy infrastructure in the Gulf states and Iran, which could take years to repair.
- Donald Trump has spent much of the last week attacking US allies for refusing to help the US reopen the strait of Hormuz, calling Nato allies on Friday “cowards”. “COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” the US president wrote on social media, telling reporters later on Friday that “you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side”.
- The Pentagon deployed about 2,200 marines to the Middle East on Friday, though the White House hasn’t specified what missions the deployment will assist.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers iran, friday, oil topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 511.