Stocks slip, with oil prices higher as war uncertainty is high

Stocks slip, with oil prices higher as war uncertainty is high

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Amanda Cooper

Tue March 23, 2026 6:44 PM  

The Dow did better than tech but it was a red-ink rollercoaster all the way for the others, with the Nasdaq down as much as 230 points in both the morning and afternoon. The uncertainty over Iran just continues to escalate with on the one hand Trump saying talks are going well and we’re “talking to the right people” to Iran denying everything and even Trump admitting that nobody knows who the right people are anymore since so much of the leadership has been killed off.  

So yesterday’s optimism was a one-day affair but at least today’s pessimism isn’t nearly as extreme as it was. Another trigger was a previously dovish Fed governor changing his mind from supporting a rate cut to supporting holding steady. The price of oil continues above the $100 mark and as the price goes up, equities follow suit by going down. Nothing is happening to sway any opinion that this will not continue. Per the CBOE, volume at 18.5 billion was below the 20.68 average.  

DJ: 46,208.47  +631.00        NAS: 21,946.76  +299.15        S&P: 6,581.00  +74.52         3/23

DJ: 46,124.06  -84.41           NAS: 21,761.89  -184.86         S&P: 6,556.37  -24.63         3/24

Tue 3-24-26 6:20 pm Stocks slip, with oil prices higher as war uncertainty is high | Reuters