MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks fell and oil prices rose as the Iran war continued to drag on. Treasury yields jumped following a disappointing two-year auction as markets navigated the uncertainties of the conflict in the Middle East. Silver futures finally ended a 9-session losing streak, while gold fell for the fifth consecutive session. The U.S. dollar strengthened.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
U.S. stocks ended lower Tuesday as headlines out of the Middle East showed slow progress at best toward ending the war in Iran.
The Nasdaq composite led the major U.S. stock indexes lower with a 0.8% fall. The S&P 500 dropped 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 0.2%.
The U.S. is expected to deploy additional troops to the area, though a decision to put boots on the ground in Iran hasn't been made. Iran pressed its assault, hitting Israel as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with fresh attacks.
Investors will be watching for details on a potential in-person meeting later this week between U.S. and Iranian officials. Trump said Tuesday that Iranians were "talking sense" and that "they'd like to make a deal."
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are inching closer toward joining the fight against Iran, and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain paralyzed.
Shares in alternative asset managers fell on news of more investors getting cold feet about private credit and asking to pull their money out.
Earlier Tuesday, equity markets in Asia ended higher.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.8%, the Shenzhen Composite Index increased 2.2%, and the ChiNext Price Index gained 0.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 2.8%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4%.
South Korea's Kospi increased 2.7%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2%.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 1.5%.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures rose as Israel and Iran exchanged strikes and Iran targeted other Gulf states.
"I think there were a lot of people who felt there would be a cooling off period after President Trump said he was giving Iran a five-day grace period to negotiate an end to the conflict and open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping," Mizuho's Robert Yawger said. "The war drags on and threatens to expand even as President Trump tries to find an acceptable off-ramp."
Analysts see prices staying high and supplies disrupted as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to traffic.
WTI settled up 4.8% at $92.35 a barrel and Brent rose 4.6% to $104.49.
Silver futures finally ended a 9-session losing streak. It was the longest consecutive chain of losses in nearly 4 years, with the front-month contract shedding more than 22% during the period.
Silver settled up 0.3% to $69.274 a troy ounce -- its second-lowest settle of the year.
Gold fell for the fifth consecutive session, down 0.1% to $4,399.30/oz -- losing 12% over those five sessions.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Global Business Activity Slows as Iran War Weighs
Business activity in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia slowed this month as energy prices and uncertainty were driven higher by the war in the Middle East, while a cooling of new orders pointed to longer-lasting harm if the conflict continues or escalates.
Data firm S&P Global said Tuesday that its U.S. composite purchasing managers index fell to an 11-month low of 51.4 in March, compared with 51.9 in February.
"The flash PMI survey data for March signal an unwelcome combination of slower growth and rising inflation following the outbreak of war in the Middle East," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Software stocks fall as fear of AI disruption is back in full force
Shares of software companies fell sharply on Tuesday after a release from a major artificial-intelligence player revived investor fears that some of those companies' use cases would become obsolete.
The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV, a proxy for software stocks, dropped 3.8% in recent afternoon trading, to put the exchange-traded fund in negative territory for the month for the first time.
Anthropic announced a new update on Monday that allows its AI agent Claude to utilize a user's computer to complete tasks. Anthropic product drops have rocked the software sector this year, contributing to a wider selloff in the industry.
OpenAI Set to Discontinue Sora Video Platform App
OpenAI is planning to discontinue the app for its Sora video platform, a product it released to great fanfare last year that has since fallen from public view, according to the company.
The move is one of a number of steps OpenAI is taking to refocus on business and coding functions ahead of a potential initial public offering as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.
CEO Sam Altman announced the changes to staff on Tuesday, writing that the company would wind down products that use its video models. In addition to the consumer app, OpenAI is also discontinuing a version of Sora for developers and won't support video functionality inside ChatGPT, either.
Meta Names New Leader of Push to Adopt AI Throughout Its Workforce
Meta Platforms' chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, is taking over supervision of the company's efforts to adopt artificial intelligence throughout its workforce, according to an internal memo that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
He will oversee Meta's 'AI For Work' initiative, which was previously led by a different executive, Guy Rosen, the memo said, as the company seeks to be more nimble to remain competitive with AI native startups with smaller staffs.
"As I've been digging in I've found we have a lot to be proud of. The early pilots, the willingness to pressure-test new ideas, and the speed at which we've enabled teams to embrace AI tools has created real momentum and sets us up for this next phase," Bosworth said in the note to employees.
FedEx Unveils 'SameDay Local' Faster Delivery Service
FedEx is teaming up with last-mile delivery provider OneRail to offer same-day delivery service, on the heels of Amazon.com's recent launch of speedier delivery options.
FedEx on Tuesday said it is rolling out FedEx SameDay Local, a service that will let shoppers choose two-hour or end-of-day delivery directly at checkout. The pilot program is currently limited to several large retailers that the company didn't name, and FedEx plans to later expand it to more shippers.
The same-day option is designed to allow merchants that have items available in nearby stores and distribution centers to get them to customers more quickly-and allow retailers who don't have their own delivery networks to go head-to-head with Walmart, Amazon and other retail giants offering ever-faster shipping.
Apollo to Acquire Nippon Sheet Glass in $3.7 Billion Deal
Apollo Global Management has agreed to acquire Nippon Sheet Glass, marking its largest private-equity investment in Japan to date, totaling about $3.7 billion in enterprise value.
The U.S. asset manager said late Monday that its funds would invest equity to support the Japanese company's financial position and long-term growth.
Apollo said that Nippon Sheet's principal lenders would effectively swap a portion of their outstanding loans for equity to shore up its balance sheet.
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
00:30/AUS: Feb Consumer Price Index
02:00/SKA: Feb Department store sales
05:00/JPN: Feb Supermarket sales
05:00/JPN: Jan Indexes of Business Conditions - Revision
23:50/JPN: Feb Services Producer Price Index
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)
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