Stocks tumble after Trump vows to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ in coming weeks
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, March 31, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks tumbled worldwide on Thursday after President Donald Trump delivered a televised address vowing to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 600 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.6%.
The selloff followed losses across Asian and European markets. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 2.3% and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.3%.
Oil prices, meanwhile, surged as traders feared a persistent supply shortage amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. U.S. oil prices climbed more than 10% on Thursday, registering at $112 a barrel.
Gasoline prices in the U.S. ticked up to $4.08 on average per gallon, marking a leap of $1.09 over the past month, AAA data showed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Anthropic logo displayed on the stage during the company’s Builder Summit in Bengaluru, India, on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Artificial-intelligence firm Anthropic sued the Trump administration on Monday over the Pentagon’s choice to designate it a “supply-chain risk,” legal filings show.
A spokesperson for Anthropic said the legal action “does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners.”
A Department of Defense spokesperson told ABC News: “As a matter of Department of War policy, we do not comment on litigation.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on January 28, 2026 in Washington, (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Inflation cooled in January, dropping price increases to their lowest level in nine months and defying fears of a tariff-induced hike in overall costs.
Prices rose 2.4% in January compared to a year earlier, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Tuesday showed. The reading came in lower than economists had expected.
Inflation stands at its lowest level since May, but it remains a half-percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
Affordability remains a concern for many Americans as the political calendar turns closer to election season.
The data arrived days after fresh hiring figures showed stronger-than-expected job growth in January, even though an updated estimate released at the same time indicated a near-paralysis of the labor market last year.
The murky hiring picture marked the latest in a recent series of mixed signals in economic data, which have left observers uncertain about the potential risk posed by elevated inflation alongside sluggish hiring.
Observers closely watched price movements for some household staples, which have faced sharp increases of late.
Coffee prices surged about 18% in January compared to a year earlier, while ground beef prices climbed more than 17% over that span, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
Grocery prices rose at a faster pace than prices overall, climbing 2.9% over the year ending in January, BLS data showed.
Over the past year, hiring has slowed dramatically while inflation has remained elevated, risking an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation.” Those conditions have put the Federal Reserve in a difficult position.
The central bank must balance a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment. To address pressure on both of its goals, the Fed primarily holds a single tool: interest rates.
The strain on both sides of the Fed’s mandate presents a “challenging situation” for the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in December.
The Fed held interest rates steady at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts.
The benchmark rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Futures markets expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts this year, forecasting the first in June and a second in the fall, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), March 27, 2026, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks closed significantly lower on Friday as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran showed little sign of an imminent resolution that would end one of the worst global oil shocks in decades.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 790 points, or 1.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.1%.
The session on Friday marked the end of a woeful week for the major stock indexes. The Dow declined 1% this week, while the S&P 500 fell 2%. The Nasdaq decreased 3%.
Late Thursday, President Donald Trump postponed U.S. attacks on power plants in Iran in an apparent effort to avoid escalation of the Middle East conflict.
In a post on social media on Thursday, Trump said he was “pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction” until April 6.
In the event of such an attack, Iran has said it would carry out strikes against energy infrastructure in neighboring countries, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency state media.
Wall Street appeared to find little solace in the reprieve from large-scale tit-for-tat attacks on infrastructure.
Iran continues to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil delivery. The strait facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global supply of crude oil and natural gas.
Global oil prices stood at about $113 a barrel on Friday, marking a staggering 61% rise since war with Iran began a month ago.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), earlier this week said the current oil crisis had surpassed the combined effect of worldwide energy shocks in the 1970s.
The global economy faces a “major, major threat,” Birol said at an event in Canberra, Australia, noting that no country would be “immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction.”
U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Thursday, suggesting concern about economic instability and inflation stemming from the Iran war.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, or the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.45%, marking a nearly half-percentage point jump from a month earlier.
On Friday, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs last April, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher prices that would eat away at those annual payouts.
In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
