Dow closes down nearly 800 points as Iran war hits one-month mark
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.
Photo of Wall Street (Matteo Colombo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks slid on Monday morning in the first trading session since President Donald Trump announced a new 15% tariff on most imported goods, intensifying his effort to impose levies that were struck down by the Supreme Court.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 90 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.1%.
Cryptocurrency prices tumbled in early trading on Monday. The price of bitcoin fell nearly 2%, putting it at about $66,075.
Gold prices jumped to their highest level in three weeks as investors sought the safe-heaven asset amid heightened uncertainty.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, Trump said, “accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior.”
Trump retains the power to levy a 15% tariff for up to 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to address trade disparities with other countries.
Hours after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Trump said he would sign an executive order enacting a new 10% “global tariff,” invoking authority under Section 122. On Saturday, Trump escalated the tariff to 15%.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House, Washington, D.C., US on February 20, 2026. Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump rushed to enact new tariffs and vowed to preserve others after a recent Supreme Court ruling knocked out most of his levies.
Businesses and consumers now face a different set of tariffs, which amount to taxes paid by importers for goods shipped into the U.S. Oftentimes, importers pass along tariff-related costs to consumers, raising retail prices.
The nation’s overall tariff rate has dropped, meaning some products have gained relief from tariff-related price pressures, some analysts told ABC News. But levies remain in place for nearly all imported goods, including duties as high as 50%, hiking costs for some companies and shoppers, they added.
“In general, we’ve seen tariffs pushing up on prices. That won’t go away,” Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, told ABC News.
The high court ruled on Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) does not authorize Trump to impose levies, nullifying 70% of Trump’s tariffs after they collected more than $140 billion through December, the Yale Budget Lab found.
During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Trump criticized the Supreme Court decision, describing at as a “very unfortunate ruling,” and asserting that he retains the ability to impose tariffs under “fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes.”
In a social media post on Monday, Trump affirmed what he said was his authority to issue tariffs, saying he does not need to consult Congress before erecting new trade levies.
Trump also reiterated his commitment to his policy approach, warning other countries that they may face a “much higher Tariff, and worse.”
A 10% global tariff took effect on Tuesday, marking the first duty enacted by Trump since the high court’s decision. Trump issued the levy under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to hike tariffs for 150 days as means of addressing “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits, or disparities between a country’s total payments in transactions with other nations and its total earnings. In order to extend the Section 122 tariffs beyond 150 days, Trump would need to secure congressional approval.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said this week that Democrats would oppose an extension of Section 122 tariffs, which could deny Trump the 60 votes necessary to overcome a potential Senate filibuster.
Trump has vowed to hike the Section 122 tariff to 15%. As of Tuesday, however, the president had not issued an order formalizing that increase.
A 15% Section 122 tariff would result in price increases amounting to $800 in additional costs for an average U.S. household over the next 150 days, the Yale Budget Lab projected.
“That’s hundreds of dollars that you’re going to be paying as a result of these tariffs,” Raymond Robertson, professor for trade, economics and public policy at Texas A&M University, told ABC News.
Robertson noted the ultimate cost impact may be slightly lower than projected as consumers shift away from products that display noticeable tariff-induced price hikes. But, he added, tariff-impacted products will be all but impossible for shoppers to avoid.
“These tariffs are hitting across the board,” Robertson said.
The Trump administration also plans to maintain sector-specific tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and conclude pending investigations that could authorize additional levies, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Friday.
That statute permits the White House to levy tariffs on products of importance to national security. Under the law, the White House must await the result of an investigation undertaken by the Commerce Department before imposing a tariff.
Under Section 232, for instance, steel and aluminum face a 50% tariff, putting upward pressure on prices for tableware, motorcycles, canned goods and assorted children’s products, analysts previously told ABC News.
A 50% tariff also applies to some copper products, while 25% tariffs remain for cars and auto parts. Those levies exclude a host of goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, a free trade agreement.
To be sure, some products will experience a reduction of tariffs in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision. Products from China, Brazil, Vietnam and India will likely gain notable tariff relief, since those nations faced significant tariffs under the legal authority that was struck down by the Supreme Court, Miller said.
Electronics and clothing are among the products that could benefit from softer tariffs.
If the Supreme Court had opted to uphold tariffs issued under IEPPA, the nation’s effective tariff rate would have remained at 16%, the Yale Budget Lab said. Taking into account Section 122 tariffs, the effective tariff rate now stands at 13.7%, the group said.
“The good news for consumers is there’s an overall decrease in tariff rates,” Miller said. “What creates a challenge is we don’t know exactly what the new landscape will look like.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday is set to announce its latest decision on the level of interest rates, marking its first rate move since news surfaced of a federal criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The investigation ratcheted up an extraordinary clash between the nation’s top central banker and the White House, which has urged the Fed to significantly reduce interest rates.
The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday. The anticipated move would end a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts, aligning with a cautious approach outlined by Powell last month, before reports of the investigation into his conduct.
“We’re well positioned to wait and see how the economy evolves,” Powell said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10.
Futures markets expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts this year, forecasting the first in June and a second in the fall, according to CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
The federal probe appears to center on Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about cost overruns in a multi-billion-dollar office renovation project. Powell, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, issued a rare video message earlier this month rebuking the investigation as a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed’s interest rate policy.
The investigation follows months of strident criticism leveled at the Fed by Trump. The president denied any involvement in the criminal investigation during a brief interview with NBC News hours after the Fed posted Powell’s video.
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 Fed 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, Powell noted last month.
“There’s no risk-free path for policy as we navigate this tension between our employment and inflation goals,” Powell said.
If the Fed raises interest rates as a means of protecting against elevated inflation, it risks a deeper slowdown of the labor market. On the other hand, by lowering rates to stimulate hiring, the Fed threatens to boost spending and worsen inflation.
The criminal investigation into Powell raised concern among some analysts and former top Fed officials, who said it poses a threat to central bank independence.
In the event a central bank loses independence, policymakers tend to favor lower interest rates as a means of boosting short-term economic activity, analysts previously told ABC News. Such a posture could pose a major risk of yearslong inflation fueled by a rise in consumer demand, untethered by interest rates.
Federal law allows the president to remove the Fed chair for “cause” — though no precedent exists for such an ouster. Powell’s term as chair is set to expire in May, but he can remain on the Fed’s policymaking board until 2028. Powell has not indicated whether he intends to remain on the board.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated, and will be updated again with the Fed’s rate decision.
