Wall Street skids as Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear

Wall Street skids as Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear

By Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian

Fri March 20, 2026

It was another day of a thorough drubbing with major 3-digit losses all around, though losses were far more moderate until about 1 pm. Before 1 pm, it was just the usual war/inflation fears. It was probably right around 1 pm that Trump announced thousands of more Marines being deployed to the war region with no signs of the fighting letting up. It was at that point that everything went even further into hell.  

Sentiment with the Fed also dramatically changed. Not only is the market resigned to no more cuts this year but the potential of dreaded rate increases. The S&P has dropped to its lowest point in six months as the market resigns itself to the likelihood that the war could last for months. Since the war began, the S&P has lost 5.4%, the Dow 7%, the Nasdaq 4.5%. As today was another triple-witching day, the enormous volume of 27.5 billion has to be ignored with more reliable numbers coming Monday. 

DJ: 46,021.43  -203.72        NAS: 22,090.69  -61.73         S&P: 6,606.49  -18.21            3/19

DJ: 45,577.47  -443.96        NAS: 21,647.61  -443.08       S&P: 6,506.48  -100.01           3/20

Fri 3-20-26 5:15 pm Wall Street skids as Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear | Reuters