Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Longest Losing Streak Since 2022 as Oil Surges

The US stock market continued its downward trend on Friday, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) declining about 1.7% and marking its longest losing streak since 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 1.7%, entering correction territory, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 2.1%, sliding deeper into correction territory amid a broad sell-off in technology stocks.

Oil Prices Surge

Oil prices pushed higher on Friday as attacks continued across the Middle East, raising concerns that the war could run into April and beyond. Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $106 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) topped $100 as investors eyed the growing economic hit from the halt to Strait of Hormuz traffic.

President Trump extended his deadline for Iran by 10 days, giving the country until April 6 to comply with US demands or face strikes on its power plants. The move marks a shift in Trump’s tone around the war, showing a potential path toward deescalation. Still, uncertainty lingers over whether Trump’s pause will pay off, given Iran’s sustained rejection of US efforts to reach a deal.

‘Magnificent 7’ Stocks Shed $300 Billion

The ‘Magnificent 7’ megacap stocks posted a loss of over $330 billion in market cap for the day, with Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Tesla (TSLA) all falling. Meta (META) extended losses from Thursday after a landmark ruling against the company over social media addiction.

Bond yields rose on Friday amid expectations of higher inflation from surging oil prices, as investors anticipate the Federal Reserve will not be able to cut rates this year. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped 4% to about $66,650 on Friday, erasing nearly all the gains accumulated during the Iran war.

Gold Rebounds

Gold (GC=F) futures rebounded by 3% on Friday, though they still remain on pace for their fourth week of declines. The precious metal jumped to around $4,540 per ounce after getting hammered since the war in Iran started.

A liquidity crunch also contributed to the heavy sell-off. ‘Gold’s decline was triggered by liquidity-driven deleveraging, not by a change in fundamentals,’ said Sprott market strategist Paul Wong.

Software Stocks Sell Off

The iShares Software Sector ETF (IGV) fell 2.8% after proving more resilient earlier in the week. Cybersecurity stocks Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) led the way down with declines of more than 5% after details of Anthropic’s latest model were inadvertently released.

New agentic capabilities from startups like OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) and Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) continue to send shivers through the software industry amid concerns that companies will replace per-head software contracts with AI agents.

Carnival Corporation Cuts Outlook

Cruise-liner giant Carnival Corporation (CCL) cut its 2026 full-year outlook on Friday, sending shares falling by roughly 4%. The company noted that it is forecasting fuel costs based on estimates that the price of Brent crude will average $90 per barrel through May, $85 per barrel in the third quarter, and $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter.

10-Year Treasury Yield Jumps

The 10-year Treasury (^TNX) yield jumped to 4.46% on Friday, its highest level since July, as President Trump’s postponement of strikes on Iranian infrastructure failed to calm the bond market and lower oil prices.

Yields move inversely to bond prices. Strategists point to expectations of higher inflation, driven by surging oil prices, as the main force behind rising yields.

Oil Prices Could Hit $200 per Barrel

Oil prices could hit $200 per barrel if the war in Iran persists through the end of June, according to strategists from Macquarie Group. If the war were to stretch well into the summer, the strategists wrote in a client note on Wednesday, prices would need to move high enough to ‘destroy an historically large amount of global oil demand,’ likely requiring Brent crude prices above $200 per barrel and pushing US gasoline prices up to roughly $7 per gallon.

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