US stocks slid on Friday despite President Trump further delaying promised US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, as oil rallied amid doubts about the chances of a peace deal.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 1%, sinking further into correction territory. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell by about 0.7%, following steep losses for Wall Street stocks on Thursday.

Oil prices pushed over 2% higher on Friday as attacks continued across the Middle East, raising concerns the war could run into April and beyond. Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $103 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) topped $97 as investors eyed the growing economic hit from the halt to Strait of Hormuz traffic.

Trump extended his deadline for Iran by 10 days, giving the country until April 6 to comply with US demands or face strikes on its power plants. The move marks a shift in Trump's tone around the war, showing a potential path toward deescalation. Still, uncertainty lingers over whether Trump's pause will pay off, given Iran's sustained rejection of US efforts to reach a deal.

In the early hours of Friday, the Senate passed a bill that will fund the TSA and other Department of Homeland Security operations, but not ICE. The vote opens the way to an end to the partial federal shutdown that has caused airport chaos and risked damaging the US economy.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped 4% to about $66,650 on Friday, erasing nearly all the gains accumulated during the Iran war.

The selling was due in part to outflows from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, along with the expiration of $14 billion in options contracts, which forced traders to unwind or adjust their positions.

The decline in bitcoin prices comes as investors went risk‑off, pushing stocks lower and bond yields higher, as hopes for a dovish Federal Reserve faded amid rising inflation risks from surging oil prices.

\\"If the dollar continues to strengthen alongside oil and yields, bitcoin may remain pinned or drift lower,\\" Nexo Dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev wrote in a note to clients.

Strategists have highlighted the risk of further declines in bitcoin, even though it has been relatively resilient compared with stocks or gold since the start of the Iran war.

\\"The trend in the data suggests an increasing likelihood of further downside volatility, and the burden of proof remains on the bulls,\\" Sean Farrell, Fundstrat's digital head of assets, wrote on Thursday.

\\"Stay nimble and maintain dry powder,\\" he added.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is monitoring the situation in the Middle East, signaling he is ready to keep interest rates steady as the central bank watches how the war in Iran affects the economy.

Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger reports:

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said Thursday evening that he expects the war in Iran will push up inflation in the near term and that interest rates are \\"well-positioned\\" to respond to a range of economic outcomes.

“At least in the short term, I expect overall inflation to move higher, reflecting a rise in energy prices stemming from the conflict in the Middle East,\\" Jefferson said in a speech in Dallas.

“Looking ahead, I believe that the current policy stance leaves us well-positioned to determine the extent and timing of additional adjustments to our policy rate.\\"

Read more here.

Gold (GC=F) futures rebounded by 3% on Friday, though they still on pace for their fourth week of declines.

The precious metal jumped to around $4,540 per ounce after getting hammered since the war in Iran started.

The recent sell‑off has erased most of gold’s year‑to‑date gains following a strong performance in 2025, as rising bond yields, expectations for higher-for-longer interest rates, and a firm US dollar weighed on the non‑yielding asset.

A liquidity crunch also contributed to the heavy sell-off.

\\"Gold’s decline was triggered by liquidity-driven deleveraging, not by a change in fundamentals,\\" said Sprott market strategist Paul Wong.

\\"Rising cross-asset volatility forced investors to raise cash and reduce exposure, prompting the sale of gold as a liquid source of capital,\\" he added.

Worries about the SaaSpocalypse returned on Friday.

The iShares Software Sector ETF (IGV) fell 2.8% after proving more resilient earlier in the week. Cybersecurity stocks Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) led the way down with declines of more than 5% after details of Anthropic's latest model were inadvertently released.

The broader downturn was driven by a couple of factors.

New agentic capabilities from startups like OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) and Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) continue to send shivers through the software industry amid concerns that companies will replace per-head software contracts with AI agents. As Bloomberg's Rebecca Torrence has pointed out, software contracts have already gotten shorter as enterprise customers no longer want to commit to multiyear agreements, given the fast pace of AI's evolution.

The repricing of software stocks — among shares of other industries — due to AI disruption was the major theme in the market earlier this year until the war in Iran and subsequent rise in oil prices dominated headlines.

This week, that major risk event also hit tech names, as investors began changing their view on the Fed's next interest rate move, expecting a higher chance of rate hikes than rate cuts this year.

Cruise-liner giant Carnival Corporation (CCL) cut its 2026 full-year outlook on Friday, sending shares falling by roughly 4%.

In a press release on Friday, Carnival set its adjusted earnings estimate for fiscal year 2026 at $2.21 per share from a previous forecast in December of $2.48, noting the \\"impact from recent changes in fuel prices.\\"

Analysts are looking for $2.37 per share, according to consensus estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ.

Carnival noted that it is forecasting fuel costs based on estimates that the price of Brent crude, the international pricing benchmark, will average $90 per barrel through May, $85 per barrel in the third quarter, and $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter.

The company also noted that a strong first quarter \\"supported an increase to our full-year operational outlook of nearly $150 million, helping to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.\\"

The 10-year Treasury (^TNX) yield jumped to 4.46% on Friday, its highest level since July, as President Trump's postponement of strikes on Iranian infrastructure failed to calm the bond market and lower oil prices.

The move is significant, given that the 10-year Treasury was around 3.96% before the start of the Iran conflict.

Yields move inversely to bond prices.

Strategists point to expectations of higher inflation, driven by surging oil prices, as the main force behind rising yields. Investors have scaled back expectations for Fed rate cuts anytime soon, as Brent crude remains above $100 per barrel, despite Trump’s suggestions that the US is negotiating with Iran.

\\"After months of expecting the Federal Reserve Board to cut interest rates this year, investors have returned to a familiar refrain: 'Higher for longer,'\\" wrote Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon.

That investor sentiment shift has been the main driver of the 2-year yield, which has climbed to 4%, up roughly 50 basis points since late February.

\\"Given the disruptions to natural gas, fertilizers, helium, etc., markets might also be anticipating a broader commodity shock, which would likely pass through into core inflation,\\" Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave wrote on Friday.

US stocks turned into the red again on Friday as oil rallied despite a second delay from President Trump on US strikes on Iran’s domestic power infrastructure.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 0.8%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost a slightly slimmer 0.7%.

Oil prices rose more than 3% on Friday as investors increasingly view the war through alonger-term lens. Futures on the international benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $104 a barrel, while those on the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crossed $97.

On Friday morning, the Senate passed a bill that will fund the TSA and other Department of Homeland Security operations, excluding ICE. The vote is the first step toward ending the partial federal shutdown that has roiled US airports.

After tracking oil prices through March, short-term Treasury yields have surged ahead of oil since the Federal Reserve's March meeting — suggesting that expectations are shifting hawkish for the Fed.

Over the past 10 days since the Fed's meeting, futures on the US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F), have remained flat, down less than 1% over that period. Those on international benchmark Brent (BZ=F) have lost roughly 3%.

In the rates market, however, two-year Treasurys have split off from oil, gaining roughly 30 basis points since the meeting.

The reaction in Treasurys can be at least partially attributed to more hawkish positioning from the Fed's leadership, Bank of America US economist Aditya Bhave wrote in a client note Friday morning.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the Fed's meeting skewed hawkish, and Fed governor Christopher Waller \\"sounded very concerned about the oil spike\\" in an interview he gave on March 20, Bhave wrote.

Given the post-meeting split between short-term rates and oil prices, \\"We think markets are now anticipating a more hawkish Fed reaction function and, possibly, a broader commodity shock,\\" Bhave wrote.

Oil prices could hit $200 per barrel if the war in Iran persists through the end of June, according to strategists from Macquarie Group.

If the war were to stretch well into the summer, the strategists wrote in a client note on Wednesday, prices would need to move high enough to \\"destroy an historically large amount of global oil demand,\\" likely requiring Brent crude prices above $200 per barrel and pushing US gasoline prices up to roughly $7 per gallon.

On Friday, Brent (BZ=F) futures traded above $104 per barrel, holding onto roughly 3% gains on the day even after President Trump pushed back his deadline for striking Iranian domestic power infrastructure for a second time. US benchmark WTI crude (CL=F) held onto slightly higher gains to trade above $96 per barrel.

Earlier in the conflict, the two energy products reached prices not seen since the early months of 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Macquarie strategists, led by Vikas Dwivedi, assigned a roughly 40% probability to their bull case of $200 per barrel oil. More likely, the strategists wrote, is a situation in which the war ends by the beginning of April, oil prices moderate, economic costs remain small, and global growth only slightly slows.

\\"The market is still expecting President Trump to soon declare victory, with oil and gas futures heavily backwardated,\\" the strategists wrote. \\"However, given uncertainty about what victory looks like, and recent attacks on energy infrastructure, there is a risk that prices may need to move significantly higher first to incentivise a near-term deal.\\"

The US Senate passed legislation early on Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, creating a path to end the partial government shutdown that created long lines and chaos in some of the nation's biggest airports.

Airline stocks remained in the red in premarket trading despite hopes that the affected airports in Atlanta, Houston, and New York could soon see some relief.

Come with @Pras_S on the ground at JFK checking TSA lines. ???? ???? Travelers think security delays are “insane” and “the worst they’ve ever experienced.” pic.twitter.com/cfvQbjEWCk

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) March 26, 2026

Bloomberg reports:

The bill, which must still pass the House and be signed by President Donald Trump, marks an abrupt reversal for Republicans, who had blocked similar proposals backed by Democrats to partially fund the department for weeks. The legislation passed the Senate by voice vote.

Democrats had previously offered to fund most of DHS with the exception of the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying they wanted to pair funding those agencies with more restrictions on immigration enforcement.

But lengthy lines and historically long waits at airport security checkpoints around the country as unpaid Transportation Security Administration agents called out sick or quit altogether put pressure on lawmakers to find a quicker way to resolve the impasse.

Read more here.

Unity Software (U) stock rose 12% before the bell on Friday after the videogame developer said it now expects first-quarter earnings to come in above its guidance.

TripAdvisor (TRIP) stock rose 3% during premarket hours today. The travel guidance platform recently added two new directors to its board as part of a new plan made in agreement with activist investor Starboard Value.

Coinbase (COIN) stock fell 3% before the bell on Friday. Coinbase and Better Home & Finance (BETR) announced on Thursday they would be teaming up to let homebuyers use their crypto holdings as collateral for down payments.

Bloomberg reports:

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is at the intersection of two troubling trends roiling the technology sector, which has the stock on track for its worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis two decades ago.

First, the software giant is doubling down on capital expenditures as Wall Street increasingly asks when investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure will produce more dramatic payoffs in revenue growth.

And second, investors are selling software stocks over fears that AI startups like Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) are creating agents that can replace products made by companies like Microsoft.

“There is this concern that rather than paying Microsoft, we’ll see more customers go directly to AI vendors, which could disrupt the core business, or at least pressure pricing and margins,” said Jonathan Cofsky, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, which holds the shares.

The company’s stock is down 24% in the first quarter, on pace for its biggest loss since its 27% drop in the fourth quarter of 2008. It’s by far the weakest performer among the Magnificent Seven tech giants to start the year, with an index tracking the group falling 13% over that time.

Read more here.

Video game developer Unity (U) said it was exiting its non-strategic ad business on Thursday, sending its shares up more than 12% in premarket trading.

The announcement came alongside preliminary first quarter results that boosted expectations.

Unity expects to report revenue of $505 million to $508 million, up from previous guidance of $480 million to $490 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow 58% to be between $130 million and $135 million, versus prior guidance of $105 million to $110 million.

The gaming software maker also announced it would divest its ironSource Ads Network by the end of next month to enhance profitability and speed up revenue growth.

Wall Street started 2026 forecasting losses for the dollar (DX-Y.NYB), based in part on expectations that the Federal Reserve would keep cutting interest rates. But that dim view has turned bullish as the Iran war spikes oil prices.

From Bloomberg:

The dollar is on track for its best month since July as the conflict in the Middle East scrambles Wall Street’s playbook for the world’s dominant reserve currency.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up more than 2% in March, buoyed by haven flows and diminished expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts after the war caused energy prices to soar.

It marks a sharp reversal for the greenback, which on the eve of the conflict had just logged its fourth straight losing month. As the hostilities drag on, it’s ramping up pressure on banks and investors who’ve had a dim view of the currency’s prospects.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists, for example, turned bullish for the first time in a year. In the futures market, speculators flipped to betting on greenback gains, whereas in mid-February they were the most bearish in about five years.

“The short dollar positions of early 2026 were caught offsides,” said Steven Englander, head of G-10 foreign-exchange research at Standard Chartered Bank.

Read more here.

Gold (GC=F) continued to march higher on Friday after President Trump reset the deadline for Iran to come to the table to agree on a ceasefire deal.

Bloomberg reports:

Bullion rose as much as 2.3% to top $4,475 an ounce, having fallen almost 3% in the previous session as doubts grew over a potential ceasefire agreement. Trump pledged to refrain from attacks on Iranian energy sites for a further 10 days, offering a brief respite to markets jolted by nearly a month of conflict.

Since the war began nearly a month ago, gold has fallen about 15%, moving largely in tandem with stocks and in an inverse relationship with oil. Spiking energy prices have raised the risk of inflation and led investors to bet that central banks will keep interest rates unchanged, or hike them. That’s a headwind for non-yielding bullion.

Adding further downward pressure, Turkey’s central bank sold and swapped about 60 tons of gold – worth more than $8 billion – during the first two weeks of the war, marking a sharp drawdown in reserves, according to people familiar with the matter. Elevated central-bank buying had been a pillar of bullion’s rally over the last couple of years.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Oil fell as President Donald Trump again pushed back a deadline for striking Iran’s energy, offering the market near-term respite while prolonging uncertainty over the course of the war well into April.

Global benchmark Brent shed as much as 2.7% to near $105 a barrel, before paring losses, while West Texas Intermediate was near $93. Trump said that while Tehran had requested a seven-day period, he’d allowed 10 days. The newly-revised timeline stretches to April 6.

The extension allows more time for talks, as well as for the US to amass additional forces in the region. These already include Marine Expeditionary Units and soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, according to people familiar with the matter. Separately, the Wall Street Journal said the Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 extra ground troops.

Brent crude is on pace for a record monthly gain in March, as the war between the US, Israel and Iran rocked the oil-rich Middle East. With Tehran forcing the near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict has severely restricted flows of energy that are vital to the global economy.

Read more here.

OpenAI's ChatGPT ads pilot in the United States has crossed the $100 million annualized revenue mark within six weeks of ‌launch, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, pointing to robust early ‌demand for the AI startup's nascent advertising business.

Sam Altman-led OpenAI had said in January that ​it would start showing ads in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, ramping up efforts to generate revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high costs of developing the technology. The ads were to be tested with users on the ‌company's free tier and ⁠the lower-priced Go plan.

The ads are separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT and do not influence its outputs. User ⁠conversations are not shared with marketers, the company said at the time.

OpenAI has now expanded to over 600 advertisers, ​with nearly 80% of small- and medium-sized ​businesses signaling interest in ChatGPT ​ads, the spokesperson said.

Reuters reports:

Netflix (NFLX) has increased prices on all its plans in the U.S., as ‌the streaming giant pushes into new programming formats ‌such as video podcasts and live sporting events.

The company's ad-supported ​tier will now cost $8.99 a month, compared with $7.99 earlier, while prices for its standard plan rose $2 per month to $19.99, according to its website.

The premium plan now costs $26.99 ‌a month, up ⁠from $24.99 earlier. Netflix has also increased the price of adding an extra member ⁠to $7.99 for ad-supported plans and to $9.99 for ad-free plans.

With the new prices, the company's average revenue per subscriber in the U.S.-Canada region will rise 6% year-over-year in ‌2026, according to estimates from ​TD Cowen analysts.

Read more here.