Oil prices resume their rise, but US stocks hold steadier this time
around
[March 18, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices resumed their rise on Tuesday because of the
war with Iran, but U.S. stocks held steadier this time around.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to add to its gain from the day before, which was
its biggest since the war began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
climbed 46 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%.
It’s a break, for now at least, from the usual playbook since the start
of the war, where stock prices have tended to go in the opposite
direction of oil prices. The fear in financial markets has been that a
long-term disruption to the global flow of oil could send prices so high
for so long that it damages the global economy. Not only would higher
gasoline prices sap households’ budgets, it could also push companies to
pass on their own higher transportation costs to customers.
On Tuesday, the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.9% to
settle at $96.21. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 3.2%
to $103.42. But they pared even bigger gains from earlier in the
morning, and they’re either roughly where they were at the end of last
week or below.
Delta Air Lines offered an encouraging signal about the strength of the
economy after raising its forecast for revenue for the first three
months of 2026. It said it’s seen demand to fly accelerate into March
from both businesses and households.
And that looks to be enough to offset higher prices for jet fuel because
of the spike in oil prices. Delta said it still expects to report a
profit for the start of 2026 that’s in line with its earlier forecast.
Delta’s stock flew 6.6% higher, and it helped other airline stocks trim
their own sharp losses for the year so far. United Airlines climbed
3.2%, and Southwest Airlines rose 2.2%.
American Airlines gained 3.5% after saying it’s also likely to report
stronger revenue growth for the start of this year than it had forecast
earlier.
Another big winner was Uber Technologies, which drove 4.2% higher after
announcing an expansion of its partnership with Nvidia. They plan to
launch a fleet of autonomous vehicles using Nvidia’s technology,
beginning with Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of next
year.
Some beaten-down stocks in the financial industry, meanwhile, recovered
losses from earlier in the year. That includes several that got swept up
in worries about whether software businesses and others potentially
under threat by AI-powered competitors will pay back all their loans.
Blue Owl Capital gained 4.5%, and Ares Management rose 6.6%.
[to top of second column] |
Philip Finale works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in
New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
 They helped offset a 3.2% drop for
Cencora after the pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services
company said it’s looking for a new chief financial officer. Its
current CFO, James Cleary, will retire at the end of June.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points to 6,716.09. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 46.85 to 46,993.26, and the Nasdaq
composite gained 105.35 to 22,479.53.
The U.S. stock market has a track record of bouncing back relatively
quickly from military conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, as
long as oil prices don’t stay too high for too long. Many
professional investors are expecting that to be the case again,
which has helped keep U.S. stock prices near their record levels.
For all its dramatic swings over the last couple weeks, including
several that struck hour to hour, the S&P 500 is less than 4% below
its all-time high.
That’s even as Treasury yields have climbed on expectations that
higher oil prices will prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting
interest rates for a while. Higher yields push downward on prices
for stocks and all kinds of investments.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.20% from 4.23% late
Monday, but it remains well above the 3.97% level it was at before
the war with Iran began.
The Fed will make its next announcement on interest rates Wednesday
afternoon, and traders see virtually no chance of a cut, according
to data from CME Group.
Cuts to interest rates by the Fed would give the economy and job
market a boost, and President Donald Trump has angrily been calling
for them. But reductions would also worsen inflation.
In Australia, the central bank is actually raising interest rates.
Citing higher fuel prices, the Reserve Bank of Australia made its
first hike since November 2023.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes rose following a mixed
finish in Asia. Indexes climbed 0.8% in London and fell 0.9% in
Shanghai for two of the world’s bigger moves.
___
AP Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Rod McGuirk contributed.
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