Public Markets 3d Briefing
×Market Performance & Volatility
Stocks bloomberg.com suffered their worst weekly selloff since October, marked by a spike in volatility as the escalating war in the Middle East set off fears about surging oil prices and inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6% wsj.com, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite declined 0.3%. Meanwhile, international funds wsj.com have outperformed their U.S. counterparts, gaining 9.3% in 2026 while domestic funds lagged.
Oil & Energy Markets
Oil prices wsj.com surged at their fastest pace on record as the war in Iran throttles global supply, with traders warning that $100 per barrel is imminent if the conflict continues. Gasoline prices nytimes.com in the U.S. rose 14% in a single week, with more increases expected. Crude in Europe surged bloomberg.com as aggressive buying by Asian refiners tightened the global market, while Qatar offered to lease bloomberg.com LNG ships as its massive export facility in the Persian Gulf remains shut.
Economic Data & Policy
U.S. employers bloomberg.com unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, pointing to lingering fragility in a labor market that was thought to be stabilizing. BlackRock's Rosenberg bloomberg.com says the weak jobs report undermines a benign outlook, while State Street's Dixon bloomberg.com warns investors need to come to grips with inflation concerns. The Federal Reserve's preferred price gauge likely diverged bloomberg.com from other inflation measures before the war in Iran began.
Geopolitical Impact
The week of war ft.com has shown significant impact on the U.S. economy, with the conflict unpopular among American public and roiling markets. Global economy bloomberg.com faces widening strains as the Mideast war intensifies, with Europe's weakness bloomberg.com exposed by the energy price shock. The Strait of Hormuz remains near a standstill bloomberg.com for a sixth day, with Iran-linked tankers the only large vessels making the crossing.
Financial Sector
Lloyd Blankfein bloomberg.com sees geopolitical risk amid "an anxious market," warning that "a reckoning" is coming at some point based on his experience. Credit traders bloomberg.com are unwinding long positions worth tens of billions of dollars and jumping into hedging trades as market volatility increases. Goldman Sachs bloomberg.com faced internal blame games after a magazine's photo shoot with junior bankers who discussed their spending and dating habits.