Asset managers receive benefits after the 401(K) guidelines of the labor department
The Fed’s Powell flags confirmed inflation expectations
Consumers are weighing Trump’s stance on Iran
Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.4%, Nasdaq down 0.7%
March 30 (Reuters) – Major US indexes fell on Monday as US President Donald Trump’s new warning to Tehran and the escalation of conflict in the Middle East dampened confidence in his views on US-Iran talks.
Trump said the US was in serious talks with a “reasonable government” to end the war, but reiterated his threat to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk US attacks on Iran’s oil wells and power plants. Iran described the US peace proposals as unreasonable.
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At the same time, the conflict is increasing. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias went into battle over the weekend.
Investors have been rattled by uncertainty about the Middle East war, which has sent oil prices soaring and fueled fears of inflation.
“Management continues to send mixed messages,” said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
“When the messages seem positive, as far as they are believed, it helps the market. If what they are saying is aggressive, the market sells.”
Meckler said investors may be looking for a technical “bottom” after the recent selloff.
The three major indexes started the day higher after logging fell sharply earlier in the day. Since the start of the war, the Dow, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 small (.RUT)opens a new tab they have all proven correction areas, ending up 10% below their record highs.
Material Technology (.SPLRCT)opens a new tab were among the biggest gains of the day in the S&P 500, with the semiconductor index (.SOX)opens a new tab down 4.2%.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rightsopens a new tab
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI)opens a new tab The S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 49.50 points, or 0.11%, at 45,216.14.opens a new tab lost 25.13 points, or 0.39%, to 6,343.72 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC)opens a new tab lost 153.72 points, or 0.73%, to 20,794.64.
Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell provided support to stocks. Powell said that long-term inflation expectations appear to be continuing despite the current energy crisis, and the Fed has not yet needed to decide how it will react to the latest crisis.
Financial market participants have priced out any rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, compared to two cuts expected before the war, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
S&P 500 Power Index (.SPNY)opens a new tab it fell by 0.9% even as oil prices rose on the day. Brent crude is on track to rise to a monthly record and US crude
On the other hand, the financial index (.SPSY)opens a new tab gained 1.1% after the US Department of Labor issued long-awaited guidelines intended to clarify whether managers can add more assets to 401(k) retirement plans.
Shares of asset managers rose, with Blackstone (BX.N)opens a new tab up 3.3% and KKR (KKR.N)opens a new tab to gain 2.1%.
Bearish news outnumbered advancers by a 1.14-to-1 margin on the NYSE. There were 147 new highs and 340 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 2,021 stocks advanced and 2,794 declined as the news outnumbered the advanced by a ratio of 1.38 to 1.
Volume on US exchanges was 18.85 billion shares, compared with an average of 20 billion for the full session over the past 20 trading days.
Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Edited by Devika Syamnath, Shinjini Ganguli and Aurora Ellis
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