Oil prices steady, Wall Street retreats as Iran war approaches its 4th week
Mar 19, 2026, 10:06 PM | Updated: Mar 20, 2026, 6:38 am
The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Oil prices stabilized and Wall Street futures fell early Friday as Israel and Iran traded attacks in the three-week old war that has jolted global markets.
Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.3% before the opening bell Friday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched back 0.2%. Nasdaq futures were off 0.5%.
A Kuwaiti oil refinery came under Iranian drone attack early Friday as Tehran shows little signs of letting up on its attacks on Gulf region energy structures.
On Friday, Brent crude fell 78 cents to $107.87 a barrel. It had briefly surged to around $119 per barrel a day earlier as attacks by Iran escalated after Israel hit Iran’s key natural gas field.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Thursday he would hold off on further attacks on Iran’s gas field at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Benchmark U.S. crude was down 88 cents to $94.67 a barrel.
The Iran war, which is in its third week, has sent energy prices soaring and is fueling global inflation worries. Concerns are also growing over the supply of oil and gas with the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the energy supply located between Iran and Oman, largely closed. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday raised the possibility of lifting its sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in a potential attempt to ease oil prices.
In equities trading, FedEx jumped more than 8% after the package delivery company cruised past Wall Street’s sales and profit targets. FedEx also raised its full-year guidance.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX were both unchanged, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2%.
Asian markets were mostly lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 25,277.32, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.2% to 3,957.05.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3% to 5,781.20. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Friday on a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.8% to 8,428.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.4% lower, while India’s Sensex was up 0.8%.
In other trading early Friday, gold gained 1.3% to $4,664.50 per ounce. Silver also rose 1.3% to $72.14 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.61 Japanese yen from 157.76 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1571, down from $1.1589.
