Stock Market News for Mar 16, 2026

U.S. stock markets continued to struggle on Friday due to a precipitous increase in crude oil prices as the conflict between the U.S.-Israel forces and Iran showed no signs of abatement. A series of key economic data released yesterday was mostly disappointing. All three major stock indexes ended in negative territory. The indexes also finished in negative territory, for the week as a whole.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.3% or 119.38 points to close at 46,558.47 after a choppy session. This marked the lowest close of the blue-chip index in 2026. At the intraday high, the index was up more than 446 points. Notably, 15 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory while 15 ended in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 22,105.36, slipping 0.9% or 206.62 points owing to the weak performance by technology bigwigs. This reflected the tech-laden index’s lowest close so far this year.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% to finish at 6,632.19, its lowest close in 2026. The major loser of Wall Street’s main benchmark was Ulta Beauty Inc. ULTA. The stock price of the leading beauty retailer plummeted 14.2%. Ulta Beauty currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Nine out of 11 sectors of the broad-market index ended in negative territory while two ended in positive territory. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) and the Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) tumbled 2.3%, 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively.

The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.4% to 27.19. A total of 18.12 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 19.84 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.90-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.73-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

Crude Oil Prices Continue to Rise

The geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East remained heightened. Iran continued to retaliate against the U.S.-Israel joint attack and the largest crude oil supply line through the Strait of Hormuz remained heavily disturbed. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 3.1% to settle at $98.721 per barrel. The global benchmark — the Brent futures — advanced 2.7% to settle at $103.14 per barrel.

Economic Data

The Bureau of Economic Analysis revised down U.S. GDP growth to a mere 0.7% for fourth-quarter 2025. The initial estimate for the metric was 1.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was 1.5%. Consequently, the economy grew 2.1% in 2025 compared with 2.8% in 2024. The U.S. economy witnessed a record-long government shutdown in the last quarter.

The Department of Commerce reported that personal income increased 0.4% in January compared with 0.3% in December. The consensus estimate was 0.6%. Personal spending increased 0.4% in January, in line with December. The consensus estimate was 0.3%. Personal savings rate came in at 4.5% in January. The metric for December was revised upward to 4% from 3.6% reported earlier.

Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index — popularly known as PCE inflation — rose 0.3% in January, in line with the consensus estimate. The metric for December was 0.1%. Year over year, the headline PCE inflation rose 2.8% in January.

The core PCE (excluding volatile items like food and energy) price index — the core PCE inflation, the Fed’s most sought-after inflation gauge — rose 0.4% in January, in line with the consensus estimate and the metric for December. Year over year, the core PCE inflation rose 3.1% in January, significantly higher than the Fed’s 2% target.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for manufactured durable goods remained unchanged month over month in January. The consensus estimate was for a decline of 0.3%. The metric for December was revised upward to a decline of 0.9% from a decline of 1.4% reported earlier.

Excluding transportation, new orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.4% in January and excluding defense, new orders increased 0.5%. Shipments for manufactured durable goods rose 0.6% in January. New orders for nondefense capital goods rose 0.9% in January. Shipments of nondefense capital goods increased 1.4% in January.

University of Michigan reported that the preliminary index for the consumer sentiment index in March came in at 55.5%, marginally higher than the consensus estimate of 55.3%. The metric for February was 56.6%. The subindex for current economic condition rose to 57.8% in March from 56.6% in February. The subindex for consumer expectations fell to 54.1% from 56.6% in February. The 1-year inflation index stayed at 3.4% while the 5-year inflation index stayed at 3.2%.

Weekly Roundup

Last week was disappointing for Wall Street. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2%, 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively. The S&P 500 posted three straight losing weeks, for the first time in nearly a year. Intensified war and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and soaring crude oil prices significantly dented investors’ sentiment.

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