Public Markets 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 15, 2026, 3:32 PM ET
Energy Markets
Oil futures slipped 1.3% nytimes.com in early Asian trade as OPEC+ signaled potential output increases, while gold held near $2,340/oz ft.com as a weakening dollar offset risk-on sentiment. A surge in aluminum prices ft.com pushed China Hongqiao's Zhang Bo past the $48 billion mark, cementing his position among Asia's wealthiest industrialists. In fixed income, Japanese government bonds extended gains wsj.com tracking overnight Treasury rallies as traders increasingly price in a September Fed rate cut.
Geopolitical Developments
As the conflict with Iran expands into its third week, President Trump faces stark choices between fighting on or declaring victory and pulling back, both carrying deeply problematic consequences nytimes.com. India's foreign minister S Jaishankar told the Financial Times that diplomacy "is yielding results" as Trump touted sending warships to the region ft.com. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for oil shipments, remained unsafe for tanker passage as Iran continues firing projectiles and laying mines nytimes.com. The Energy Secretary also signaled the war may last several more weeks bloomberg.com, with oil and gasoline prices elevated as the US and Israel seek to destroy Iranian military capabilities.
Corporate & Market News
European stocks ended the week lower bloomberg.com as oil prices moved back above $100 a barrel and traders reduced risk ahead of the weekend. The rapid surge in oil prices unleashed by conflict in the Middle East is jolting one of the most popular systematic strategies touted by big banks on Wall Street bloomberg.com. Retail traders rushed into oil bets ft.com as the Iran war drives wild price swings, with the biggest US ETF linked to crude prices seeing record inflows as the oil market has its 'meme' moment. Hedge funds turned to exotic options bloomberg.com to play huge cross-asset swings, with institutional investors using hybrid options to trade cross-market gyrations amid the wild swings led by oil since the start of the Iran war.
Aviation & Travel
Travelers are already enduring long wait times at airports at the start of the busy spring travel season as airline executives urged Congress to end wsj.com the partial government shutdown. The war in Iran has grounded Gulf airlines like Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, which have become some of the world's largest and most profitable thanks to their location at the center of busy travel routes nytimes.com. Stranded travelers chartered private jets ft.com to return to Europe as the war in the Middle East prevented tens of thousands of people in Asia from getting home.
Economic Policy
The Trump administration is turning to migrant workers nytimes.com to help farm labor shortage as the president's immigration policies squeeze an already tight supply of farm labor. The administration is making it cheaper to hire foreign farmworkers. Australian households are likely to face increased cost-of-living pressures, with the inflation rate set to rise above 4.5% as the oil price climbs, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday bloomberg.com. The war in Iran has ended Canadian drivers' nearly yearlong sojourn with lower gasoline prices ever since Prime Minister Mark Carney eliminated the country's consumer carbon tax bloomberg.com.
Technology & Innovation
Over the past decade, Wall Street has steadily shortened the lifespan of its trades, with options that once lasted months now sitting alongside ones that last weeks, or even a single day bloomberg.com. The wild swings led by oil since the start of the Iran war have institutional investors turning to exotic hybrid options to trade cross-market gyrations. Polymarket's five-minute bets capture the 'addictive' crypto craze bloomberg.com, reflecting how trading has become increasingly short-term focused.
Private Markets
Blackstone arranged a $1.2 billion credit facility for Air Trunk's expansion into Japanese data centers, part of a broader push by private equity into AI infrastructure assets across Asia-Pacific wsj.com. Private credit funds have turned to retail investors, who are not used to having their money tied up when things go wrong, as fears grow about the $3 trillion risky-lending market bloomberg.com. Financial stocks are off to their worst start to a year since the Covid pandemic, with investors expecting more pain ahead as worries over everything from private credit to the Iran war roil the troubled sector bloomberg.com.
Asia-Pacific Markets
Asian countries are increasingly looking to the US as an energy supplier to reduce their dependence on the Middle East amid regional instability and supply chain concerns, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said bloomberg.com. The Philippines is looking to review a nearly 30-year old law that liberalized its oil industry, as the government aims to have a better grip on fuel prices that have shot higher due to the Iran war bloomberg.com. Nigeria's central bank has prepared contingency measures to stabilize the naira if it comes under pressure, as investors dump riskier emerging-market assets because of the crisis in the Middle East bloomberg.com.
Emerging Markets
Hungary's forint is the worst performing emerging-market currency during the Iran war, as a jump in energy prices amplifies an existing array of risks to its economy ahead of next month's elections bloomberg.com. The worst may soon be over for Asia's emerging-market currencies, which have come under pressure during the Iran war, as central banks have begun stepping up their support, having stashed away extra reserves bloomberg.com. Malaysia's anti-graft chief Azam Baki allegedly owned shares worth 14 million ringgit ($3.6 in nine companies, according to a probe cited by a lawmaker bloomberg.com.
Trade & Manufacturing
Aluminium Bahrain BSC, which runs the world's largest single-site smelter of the metal, started a phased production shutdown to preserve raw materials as the vital Strait of Hormuz remains at a near standstill bloomberg.com. A Eurasian Resources Group unit urged the Democratic Republic of Congo to stop illegal mining activities on one of the firm's copper licenses following a deadly landslide bloomberg.com. South Africa's investment in mineral exploration dropped for a seventh consecutive year, despite the government's ambitions to arrest the decline bloomberg.com.
Financial Services
JPMorgan is making a bold push to offload huge LBO debt as Jamie Dimon has been warning for weeks that the credit cycle will eventually sour bloomberg.com. Financier Paul Regan, whose investment firms Yield Wealth and Next Level Holdings promised investors returns of 10.5%, 15% and higher, has pleaded guilty to felony charges of securities fraud wsj.com. The prospect of a prolonged Iran war and elevated oil prices is prompting stock investors to reassess a broader array of industries, including less obvious targets from food delivery firms to cosmetic companies bloomberg.com.
Real Estate & Infrastructure
The UK government said it would overhaul its nuclear power sector after a review criticized it for being too risk averse and favoring process over outcomes bloomberg.com. GE Vernova Inc. and Hitachi Ltd. agreed to explore opportunities to deploy small modular nuclear reactors in Southeast Asia bloomberg.com. The Swiss government is set to decide in April on how much additional capital it wants UBS Group AG to hold, as the administration finalizes new regulations following the collapse of Credit Suisse bloomberg.com.
Labor Markets
Starbucks Workers United said that it is requesting a contract with a minimum starting wage of $17 an hour, plus 4% annual raises wsj.com. Done With Corporate Life, Black Women Are Starting Businesses in Droves, becoming entrepreneurs at a faster clip than any other demographic—and a chillier corporate world has a lot to do with it wsj.com. The volunteer fire department serving a rural area near Sand Springs declined a $250,000 donation from Google, and now some residents are suing to block the proposed data center development nytimes.com.
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
Danish drugmaker Leo Pharma A/S has invited investment bankers to vie for roles in a potential initial public offering, as the more-than-a-century-old Danish drugmaker edges toward a public listing bloomberg.com. A study tracks how the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade competition with Mexico led to earlier deaths for American factory workers, with researchers finding that NAFTA shortened American life spans nytimes.com.
Legal & Regulatory
A judge ordered that Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat, be given access to documents and have the chance to oppose changes to the Kennedy Center at next week's board meeting nytimes.com. Judge James E. Boasberg derided the U.S. attorney's office in Washington for pursuing a case against Jerome H. Powell that appeared to be motivated by President Trump's desire for vengeance nytimes.com. The school also said that it would review policies about philanthropy and donor engagement after new revelations about the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public nytimes.com.
Media & Entertainment
The provocative broadcaster Piers Morgan broke with Fox to build his own company on YouTube, and now he has hired a former head of MSNBC nytimes.com. Prediction markets have an 83% chance that Oscars pundits hate them, as online wagering is all the rage but the crowdsourced data generally doesn't interest experts who have built a brand predicting Academy Awards races nytimes.com. Film's top stars buzzed over lychee martinis at Chanel's annual Polo Lounge bash, and a Netflix chief mused about Hollywood's biggest drama of the year nytimes.com.
Consumer Markets
Bangladesh lifted restrictions on fuel sales, boosting supplies ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays as well as ensuring there's enough water to irrigate paddy fields bloomberg.com. Retail oil traders sparked an ETF boom bloomberg.com amid an institutional slump, with Anthony Sandford knowing it was time to jump back into the energy sector when US warplanes first cast shadows over Tehran in late February. Lithium-ion battery blazes imperil supply chains, with demand for the storage device expected to double by 2030 as geopolitical risks pile up ft.com.
Environmental Issues
A storm system lashing Hawaii since Tuesday has caused flooding and power outages, with the wettest spot in Maui having gotten nearly two feet of rain in the past 24 hours nytimes.com. Blizzards, wildfires and thunderstorms swirling toward the eastern US have knocked out power to thousands and grounded hundreds of flights across the Midwest bloomberg.com. Soaring temperatures across California and the Southwest are expected to break records for March, with a unusual heat wave affecting the western United States nytimes.com.