S&P 500 futures are flat ahead of key inflation data; traders monitor oil prices and Iran war: Live updates – CNBC
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York on March 12, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary | Afp | Getty Images
The S&P 500 fell on Friday, while oil prices extended their gains as investors awaited further developments in the Iran war.
The broad-based index shed 0.61%, putting it 5% below its recent high and closing at 6,632.19. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.93% to end at 22,105.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 119.38 points, or 0.26%, and settled at 46,558.47.
The S&P 500, which scored a new low for 2026 on Friday, posted a 1.6% loss this week and notched its first three-week losing streak in about a year. The 30-stock Dow slid about 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.3% week to date.
S&P 500, year-to-date
The recent rally in oil prices continued on Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 3.11% at $98.71 per barrel. Brent futures settled higher by 2.67% at $103.14 a barrel. Brent had closed above $100 for the first time since August 2022 on Thursday.
Stocks came off a losing session as oil spiked in the previous session after Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route, should remain shut as a “tool to pressure the enemy.” Traffic in the Strait has virtually been halted since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February, leaving investors anxiously awaiting progress on that front.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed concerns that the passageway’s closure in the wake of the war breaking out would remain a problem, saying during a press briefing at the Pentagon, “We have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it.”
This comes amid increasing fears on Wall Street that rising oil prices will lead to a stagflationary environment of higher inflation and slower economic growth. Those fears have even prompted investors to dampen their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year, as fed funds futures trading is no longer anticipating an interest rate cut in September.
“Earnings are pretty good, but sentiment is difficult,” said David Aspell, chief investment officer of global macro at Mount Lucas Management. “The oil part of the sentiment and equity valuation embeds an interest rate path which is now being questioned.”
