U.S. Stock Market Recap – March 26, 2026

On Thursday, March 26, U.S. stocks fell sharply. This was a big change from Wednesday's gains. The main reason: talks to stop the fighting between the U.S. and Iran hit a dead end. Investors got nervous and moved away from risky assets.

- Dow Jones: **-1.01%**
- S&P 500: **-1.74%**
- Nasdaq: **-2.38%**. It is now more than 10% below its all-time high. That means it has entered what experts call a "correction."

The VIX, often called the "fear index," went up. That tells us investors are more worried.

---

**How Different Sectors and Stocks Did**

Tech stocks took the biggest hit. Communications services fell 3.46%. Tech fell 2.74%.

- **Meta** dropped nearly 8%. A jury said Meta is responsible for social media addiction and the harm it causes. This creates legal trouble for the company.
- **Alphabet (Google)** fell more than 3%.
- **Nvidia** fell more than 4%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks chip stocks, dropped 4.8%.
- **Tesla** fell 3.59%.

**Energy stocks** went up 1.57%. They were the only big winner. The reason: oil prices spiked.

---

**Commodities: Oil Up, Gold Down**

| WTI Oil | $94.48/barrel | +4.61%
| Brent Oil | $108.01/barrel | +5.66%
| Gold | $4,379.68/ounce | -2.79% | Money may have moved from gold to oil; Turkey's central bank also sold gold |

---

**Economic Data and Bonds**

- **Jobless claims**: 210,000 new people filed for unemployment. That was what experts expected. It shows the job market is still strong.
- **10-year Treasury yield**: Rose to 4.404% (up 0.078%). Higher oil prices make people worry more about inflation. That pushes bond yields up.
- **Rate expectations**: The market now thinks the Fed may raise interest rates by 0.15% this year. All hopes for a rate cut are now gone.