Dow futures drop 400 points as Iranian war tensions escalate: Live updates – CNBC
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 20, 2026.
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Stocks slipped on Monday after tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend.
The S&P 500 shed 0.24% to close at 7,109.14, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.26% to finish at 24,404.39, with the latter snapping its 13-day winning streak — its longest positive streak since 1992. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4.87 points, or 0.01%, settling at 49,442.56. On the flip side, the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.58% to 2,792.96, scoring a new closing record. The index also hit a new all-time intraday high during the session.
Traders remain hard-pressed to fully price in a worst-case scenario on the war given stocks’ recovery from near correction territory to all-time highs.
“The war with Iran is now in the rearview mirror for the market,” David Wagner, head of equities and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, said to CNBC.
Software stocks climbed, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) gaining more than 1%.
President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. had fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. This comes after Iran declined to join another round of peace talks in Pakistan planned by the U.S.
The Iranian ship “is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Trump also threatened to blow up all power plants and bridges in Iran if the country didn’t agree to a deal with the U.S. A ceasefire between the two countries will expire this week.
Crude prices surged following the developments. West Texas Intermediate futures closed up 6.87% at $89.61 per barrel. International Brent advanced 5.64% to settle at $95.48 per barrel.
Wall Street is coming off a winning week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbing to all-time highs following a ceasefire between Iran and Lebanon. At the time, Iran had declared that the Strait of Hormuz was reopened, though by Saturday vessel traffic through that key shipping lane was restricted again, with state media saying the U.S. “did not fulfill their obligations.”
Trump has reiterated that the U.S. blockade of the strait would remain in place until Iran agreed to U.S. demands, despite the Iranian declarations.
Wagner believes that this rally to new heights has legs going forward.
“A lot of people are calling for some type of valuation reset, because they believe that the market was very expensive for the past few years. I do not believe that that was the case whatsoever,” he added. “The earnings story for the S&P 500 definitely gives the market some insulation or firepower to drive itself higher. … I think there’s actually a pretty good landscape for equity market returns in the near future based off of valuation expansion and earnings growth.”
