Stock market news for March 6, 2026

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 453.19 points, or 0.95%, to end at 47,501.55. It was down close to 950 points, or almost 2%, at its low of the day. The S&P 500 fell 1.33% and settled at 6,740.02. Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.59% and closed at 22,387.68. The two had shed 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively, at their nadirs.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil broke above $90 per barrel and ended the week with a 35% gain — its biggest since oil futures trading began in 1983 — as investors weighed the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on global energy supply. Oil surged Friday after President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that there won’t be a deal to end the U.S.-Iran war without an “unconditional surrender” from the Middle Eastern country.

Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told the Financial Times that Gulf energy producers may need to call force majeure in the coming days, shutting down production in a move that could send oil to $150 a barrel. The conflict in the Middle East could “bring down the economies of the world,” he warned.

“I’m very cautious,” said Wharton professor emeritus Jeremy Siegel on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “If we don’t get some breakthrough over the weekend, I think we’ll see $100 oil next week.”

The bands between the high end and the low end of oil prices “have widened out significantly,” according to Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. Even if you haircut al-Kaabi’s $150-a-barrel projection by 20%, prices are still at levels that are “scary as hell,” he added.

“If I’m a trader … I’m not real pumped about owning a bunch of economically sensitive stocks through a weekend at war with Iran, with President Trump’s volatility and unpredictability,” Ellerbroek said. “I think the longer this goes on, the more it will seep into stock market behavior.”

Shares of Royal Caribbean, which tumbled more than 10% this week amid increasing fuel costs, fell again on Friday, dropping 1%. Caterpillar shares, which also suffered this week, were down more than 3% at the end of the session.

Equities were also bogged down by the latest jobs data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, a sharp contrast from the downwardly revised January gain of 126,000 and far below the growth of 50,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones expected for the month. The unemployment rate also rose to 4.4% from 4.3%.

“The headline number was very disappointing and will feed worries that the labor market — despite the strong January jobs report — is softening,” said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion. “With energy prices moving higher of late, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear some talk on Wall Street of stagflation — that toxic ’70s mix of slowing growth and rising inflation.”

This week, the S&P 500 shed 2%, while the 30-stock Dow fell 3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.2%.