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Four Strait. The Nasdaq Composite flirted with a correction on Friday as the major indexes fell for a fourth week in a row. |
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The tech-heavy index dropped 2% on Friday. The S&P 500 dipped 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 444 points, or 1%. |
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Swings in oil prices related to headlines out of the Middle East have been the market’s driver since the war in Iran began on Feb. 28. Stocks fell to session lows today as President Donald Trump told reporters, “I don’t want to do a cease-fire.” |
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After the market’s close—and stocks’ severe reaction—Trump seemed to change his tone somewhat. “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. |
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Iran worries finally caught up to traders betting on the path forward for interest rates. There’s now a 31% chance of a rate a interest-rate hike in 2026, compared with zero chance a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Odds of a quarter-point cut this year were down to 6.1%. |
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The Nasdaq has dropped in nine of the past 10 weeks, something it hadn’t done since 2022. The Dow has now matched its longest weekly losing streak since 2023. |
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At one point today, the Nasdaq was down 10% from its Oct. 29 closing high, the mark of a so-called correction. If it falls 20% from that same high, it enters a bear market. The Nasdaq last entered a correction in March 2025 and a bear market in April. It exited the bear market when it rallied 20% |
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After a stellar start to the year for small-caps, the Russell 2000 did close in a correction today. |
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I asked Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, what he makes of the market’s sudden swings. He points out that the Nasdaq and the Russell contain “a large amount of small, economically sensitive companies.” |
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“With input prices soaring and rate cut expectations evaporating, it’s understandable why it is a poor performer,” he says. “The broader question, which I asked yet again today, is why stocks aren’t actually doing worse, all things considered.” |
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Traders will have the weekend to let that one simmer. |
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| - | Last | Chg% |
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↓ Dow Jones Industrial Average | 45,577.47 | -0.96% | ↓ S&P 500 Index | 6,506.48 | -1.51% | ↓ NASDAQ Composite Index | 21,647.61 | -2.01% |
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3/20/2026, 8:00:21 PM ET |
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The Hot Stock: Marsh & McLennan +3.3%
The Biggest Loser: Super Micro Computer -33.3% |
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Best Sector: Financials +0.2%
Worst Sector: Utilities -4.1% |
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