Wall Street drops again to close its 5th straight losing week and its
worst since the Iran war
[March 28, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks deepened their drops Friday as Wall Street
finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in
nearly four years.
The S&P 500 fell 1.7% to close its worst week since the war with Iran
began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 793 points, or 1.7%, and
fell more than 10% from its record set last month, while the Nasdaq
composite sank 2.1%.
The losses were a break from Wall Street’s pattern this week, where the
U.S. stock market flip-flopped from gains to losses each day as hopes
rose and fell about a possible end to the war.
Moments after the U.S. stock market finished trading on Thursday,
President Donald Trump offered more potential for optimism. He extended
a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants to April 6
if it doesn’t fully allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf through
the Strait of Hormuz to the open ocean.
Oil prices eased immediately afterward in a sign of hope that some
normalcy may return to the strait. It was similar to the relief that
swept markets Monday, when oil prices slid 10% after Trump announced the
first delay to his deadline for clearing the Strait of Hormuz.
But oil prices resumed their climb as trading moved westward Friday from
Asia to Europe and back to Wall Street. Despite Trump’s latest
announcement, fighting continued in the Middle East. Iran gave no signs
of backing down, and Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its
attacks on Iran.
“The diplomatic dissonance this week between the U.S. and Iran dismayed
investors,” said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo
Investment Institute. “By the end of the week, risk appetite could not
withstand the fog of war.”
“Any further statements by Trump about a deal are white noise to the
markets,” Jim Bianco, president and macro strategist at Bianco Research,
wrote in a social media post. “Only if the IRANIANS say the talks are
going well will it impact markets.”
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 3.4% to settle at
$105.32. That’s up from roughly $70 just before the war began. Benchmark
U.S. crude rose 5.5% to settle at $99.64 per barrel.
The fear in financial markets is that the war will disrupt the Persian
Gulf’s energy industry for a long time. That could keep enough oil and
natural gas out of the world’s markets to send a punishing wave of
inflation through the global economy.
Not only would it raise prices for drivers buying gasoline, it could
push businesses that use any trucks, ships or planes to move their
products to raise their own prices. It would also make electricity from
gas-fired power plants more expensive.
If the war continues until the end of June, strategists at Macquarie say
the price of oil could reach $200 per barrel. The record is just above
$147, set during the summer of 2008. That’s when Iran’s testing of
missiles, including one that could reach Israel, and strong demand for
oil from China helped send prices spiking despite the Great Recession.
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Federico DeMarco works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange
in New York, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig
 High gasoline prices and the war are
already hitting confidence among U.S. consumers, whose spending
makes up the bulk of the economy. Sentiment among them fell slightly
more in March from February than economists expected, according to a
survey by the University of Michigan.
On Wall Street, most stocks fell, including three out of every four
in the S&P 500. The index, which is the main measure of the U.S.
stock market’s health, is 8.7% below its all-time high set in
January.
Big Tech stocks were among the heaviest weights on the market,
including drops of 4% for Amazon, 4% for Meta Platforms and 2.2% for
Nvidia.
Companies selling things that are not essentials, which customers
could stop buying if they’re spending much more on gasoline, also
sank sharply. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings lost 6.9%, Starbucks
dropped 4.8% and Chipotle Mexican Grill sank 4.1%.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 108.31 points to 6,368.85. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 793.47 to 45,166.64, and the Nasdaq
composite sank 459.72 to 20,948.36. The Dow and Nasdaq are both down
more than 10% from their records, a steep-enough drop that
professional investors have a name for it: a “correction.”
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a mixed
finish in Asia.
In the bond market, which has helped influence Trump’s actions in
the past, Treasury yields swiveled.
The yield for the 10-year Treasury rose as high as 4.48% before
pulling back to 4.43%. That’s up from 4.42% late Thursday and from
just 3.97% before the war began. The rise has already sent rates
jumping for mortgages and for other loans taken by U.S. households
and businesses, slowing the economy.
High Treasury yields and disruption in the bond market were big
factors that Trump named a year ago when he backed off his initial
threats for global tariffs made on “Liberation Day.” The moves
caused critics to allege Trump always chickens out, or “TACO,” if
financial markets show enough pain.
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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
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