Market Review: March 27, 2026

Closing Recap

Friday, March 27, 2026

Index	Up/Down	%	Last
DJ Industrials	-793.78	1.73%	45,166
S&P 500	-108.62	1.68%	6,368
Nasdaq	-459.72	2.15%	20,948
Russell 2000	-43.63	1.75%	2,449

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US equity futures went green overnight following Trump’s extension of a pause on attacking Iranian energy facilities to April 6, but the celebration was short-lived. Iran’s revolutionary guard later stated the Strait of Hormuz is closed and any transit would face harsh measures. We’ve seen this movie before, and futures slid to red while oil popped. Later headlines indicated two Chinese container ships had been turned back after trying to exit the gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. Equities faded further and oil continued to climb. Sentiment, as measured by the Fear & Greed Index, held at 15/100 (Extreme Fear) versus last week’s 16 (Extreme Fear) and still well below last month’s 38 (Fear). Mid-morning breadth favored decliners by a bit more than 3:1 as small caps were mixed versus large caps with IWM (-1.23%) versus SPY (-0.98%) and QQQ (-1.36%).  Energy (+1.35%), Utilities (+1.10%) and Consumer Staples (+1.02%) were early outperformers among S&P sector ETFs, while Financials (-1.32%), Technology (-1.56%) and Consumer Discretionary (-1.89%) led the underperformers with only three sectors gaining versus eight declining in a very similar start to yesterday morning.

 

In data of note, at least it’s no longer Thursday. Per @bespokeinvest, yesterday’s decline was the 9th consecutive drop on Thursday and tied the longest Thursday streak from 1998. Thursday has been the worst day of the week for the market this year, last year and over the past ten years. Separately, the S&P 100 ETF marking the largest of the large-cap stocks, has declined 8.2% ytd making it the largest decline of the major US index ETFs and putting large-caps into extreme oversold territory. Lastly, on rates, the Fed is no longer projected to cut rates until December 2027 and there is a 51% potential for a rate hike by March 2027.

 

Heading into the final hour of trading, equities continued to retreat while oil continued to hold big gains. More headlines out of Iran did nothing to calm the markets or give hope to quick resolution following earlier Israeli strikes. Any Iranian response to the recent US proposals also seems on hold for now. U.S. markets ended the day near the lows with the Nasdaq falling over -2% and the S&P 500 down -1.65%, and the Dow tumbling with all three major averages posting a 5^th straight week of losses heading into the last two trading days of the month next week (longest losing streak since May 2022). The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes ticked up and was last up 2.8 basis points at 4.444%. Yields had earlier reached as high as 4.482%, their highest since July. The S&P 500 down 9.2% from its January record high, approaching correction territory where the Nasdaq is already more than 10% off its recent record highs and both well below their respective 200dma supports. The Dow Jones industrial average ends down 10% from Feb 10 record high, confirms correction. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 2.12%, the Nasdaq declined 3.23%, and the Dow fell 0.9%.

• University of Michigan 1yr and 5-yr inflation expectations: 1-yr March 3.8% versus preliminary 3.4% and February 3.4%
• University of Michigan 1yr and 5-yr inflation expectations: 5-yr March 3.2% versus preliminary 3.2% and February 3.3%
• Baker Hughes Weekly rig count: US oil drilling rig count down 5 at 409 (down 75 vs year ago), with US nat gas drilling rig count down 4 1t 127.

• WTI crude futures climbed again on a variety of familiar factors: Israel was said to escalate and expand attacks on Iran, two Chinese container ships were turned backed after trying to exit Gulf via strait of Hormuz, and comments from the IRGC indicated intent to keep the Strait closed. Oil did see some midday reprieve on G7 comments reiterating the need to allow freedom of navigation through the strait, reports the White House is cautiously hopeful the latest negotiations are making progress. Despite those and a later headline the US signals to allies no immediate plans for an Iran Invasion, May futures still settled +$5.16/bbl, or +5.46%, at $99.64.

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
WTI Crude	5.16	99.64
Brent	4.56	112.57
Gold	116.20	4,492.50
EUR/USD	-0.0011	1.1514
JPY/USD	0.37	160.19
10-Year Note	0.0024	4.44%

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

Autos:

• VWAGY VW’s software partnership with Rivian clears investment hurdle, bringing Rivian closer to the next tranche of funding.
• TSLA Wedbush expects Tesla and SpaceX to merge by 2027 as ties between Elon Musk’s companies deepen.

 

Retail, Consumer Staples & Restaurants:

• NSRGY Nestlé pushes ahead with €5B Perrier and San Pellegrino deal per FT.
• SONY Raising Prices of PS5, PS5 Pro, PlayStation Portal.
• BFBrown-Forman shares continued higher a 2^nd day after they confirmed merger talks with France’s Pernod Ricard.

 

Leisure, Gaming & Lodging:

• NCLH Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announces board refreshment; appoints five new independent board members; enters into cooperation agreement with Elliott Mgt.
• CCL Carnival reports Q1 earnings: Adj. EPS $0.20 vs est $0.18 & Sales $6.165B vs est $6.134B; Approves Initial $2.5B Buyback Plan; Sees Q2 Adj EPS $0.34 vs $0.42 Est; Shares were off by over 4% in midday trading.
• ABNB Stocks of travel and leisure-related companies are trading lower as higher energy costs and inflation worries cloud the outlook for disposable income ahead of the summer travel season.
• Kalshi The National Futures Association approves Kalshi predictive markets for margin.

 

Energy

• FRMI Fermi America secures $165M Equipment financing facility from CSG Investments, an affiliate of Beal Bank USA, to accelerate delivery of six SGT-800 gas turbines for 2028 delivery at Project Matador.
• ETR Entergy shares are traded higher after the company announced its expanded agreement with META to support the hyperscale data center in Northeast Louisiana.
• TTE TotalEnergies and EDF sign a long‑term partnership to secure low‑carbon electricity supply for TotalEnergies’ refining & chemicals sites in France.
• LNG Train 5 of Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi expansion project is now fully operational the company notes.

 

Financials

Banks, Brokers, Asset Managers:

• BUR U.S. Appeals Court reverses judgment for plaintiffs on breach of contract claims against Argentina in lawsuit that led to $16.1B judgment, court records show; BUR shares lost over 1/3 of their value on the news.
• C Shares of Citigroup fell after Bloomberg reported that the bank was looking to acquire a regional-based US bank. The report included an adamant denial by Citi.

Bitcoin, FinTech, Payments:

• ICE Intercontinental Exchange announces new $600M investment in Polymarket.
• KLAR Klarna Group Plc – announces partnership with Europarcs for flexible payments.

 

REITs:

• TWO Two Harbors investment Corp and Crosscountry Mortgage announce definitive merger agreement; stockholders to receive $10.80 per share; terminates TWO’s prior agreement with UWMC.

 

Healthcare

Biotech & Pharma:

• NVS Novartis to buy private biotech company Excellergy for up to $2B.
• RCKT FDA approves Rocket Gene therapy for rare immune disorder; Approval comes two years after rejection for manufacturing issues; after trading higher in the pre-market; shares fell ~15% in regular trading.
• AZN AstraZeneca shares are traded higher after the company announced results from its Phase III OBERON and TITANIA trials in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which showed that tozorakimab reduced the annualized rate of moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbations compared with placebo.
• ADMA ADMA Biologics issues statement refuting unsubstantiated, misleading and inaccurate allegations by Culper Research, published in a short report yesterday.
• LTRN Lantern Pharma and Starlight Therapeutics announce FDA clearance of IND for a planned phase 1 pediatric CNS cancer trial of Star-001; Shares fell over -15% on the FDA news.
• VNDA EMA’s CHMP recommended granting marketing authorization for imdylltra (tarlatamab) for treatment of relapsed extensive-stage small cell lung cancer; EMA’s CHMP: positive opinion adopted for zepzelca (lurbinectedin) for maintenance treatment in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
• AMGN EMA’s CHMP: joenja (leniolisib) received positive opinion for marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances.
• SPRY Ars Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval to remove age requirement from neffy® 1 mg (epinephrine nasal spray) label.
• SNY Sanofi’s sarclisa subcutaneous formulation administered via on-body injector recommended for EU approval by the CHMP to treat multiple myeloma.
• OGN Organon Debuts New Analysis of VTAMA® (tapinarof) cream, 1%, Phase 3 Pooled Data Demonstrating Early and Consistent Skin Clearance and Itch Improvement in Atopic Dermatitis Patients Down to 2 Years of Age.
• LLY Lilly’s ebglyss (lebrikizumab-lbkz) delivered up to 4 years of durable disease control for patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis; shows consistent safety profile with no new safety signals in first year.
• ANAB Anaptys announces $100M stock repurchase plan and provides a business update to spin-off biopharma operations into First Tracks Biotherapeutics on April 20, 2026. Shares dropped by ~10% on the news.
• TRIN Trinity Capital provides $50M in growth capital to Sage Health to expand senior-focused primary care wellness centers.

 

Industrials & Materials

Transports

• DAL Overnight US Senate agrees to fund DHS, except ICE and Border Patrol, in bid to end 40-day shutdown.
• LGN Legence shares rose after reporting earnings including a large revenue beat; BTIG reiterated their buy rating and raised their PT to $75 from $45.

 

Aerospace & Defense

• VWAGY VW CEO Blume says Osnabrueck factory could be used for defense production; confirms talks with multiple defense firms.
• BX Blackstone in advanced talks for UK aerospace parts maker Senior.

 

Materials, Metals & Mining

• HBM Hudbay provides annual reserve and resource update with mine life extensions and improved three-year production outlook; expects +24% in copper production to 147,000 tons/year over next 3 years and to average 159,000 tons/year in 2027-2028, +28% from 2026.
• TMC Shares of The Metals Co. slide to June 2025 levels after reporting an EPS miss and total cash of approximately $117.6 million as of December 31, 2025.
• TEL Credo and TE Connectivity reach settlement in active electrical Cable disputes
  Credo technology group holding Ltd – all lawsuits between to be promptly dismissed.
• DE President Trump states that he wants John Deere, Caterpillar to give farmers lower tractor and equipment costs. The shares accelerated their selloffs on Trump’s comments.

 

Technology

Internet, Media & Telecom

• SFTBY Softbank announced it has entered into a $40B loan to further fund its OpenAI investment.
• Anthropic Discusses going public as soon as the fourth quarter per The Information.
• PSKY U.S. Department of Justice has sent subpoenas to third parties in probe of Paramount-Warner deal. Per Reuters.
• VSNT Versant pursues a deal for private co. Vox Media’s podcast business per NYTimes.
• GOOGL Google nears deal to help finance an Anthropic data center
• TIIAY Telecom Italia prepares to scrap INWIT renewal at Sunday meeting per Bloomberg;
  For Telecom Italia, the current agreement with INWIT is worth about €2B ($2.3B) from 2026 through 2030

Hardware & Software movers:

• PANW Cybersecurity stocks plunge as Anthropic’s ‘Claude Mythos’ leak sparks Ai fear. The declines appeared tied to reports that Anthropic’s latest Ai model was leaked before launch after descriptions were stored in a publicly accessible data cache, first reported by Fortune. Details about the new model, codenamed "Claude Mythos," were reportedly stored in a draft blog available in an unsecured and publicly searchable data store per Fortune.
• MSFT Crusoe announces new 900 mw Ai factory campus in Abilene, Texas to support Microsoft Ai infrastructure.
• AAPL Apple notes it has hired ex-Google executive Lilian Rincon as the vice president of product marketing for AI.

 

Semiconductors:

• NVDA Quantum names continued their YTD selloff, aided today by today’s overall market weakness and comments from Nvidia: Nvidia says Quantum Computing will not replace GPUs per DigiTimes.
• NVDA Huawei Huawei’s new AI chip finds favor with ByteDance, Alibaba which plans to place orders, sources say per Reuters.
• SSNLF Samsung Electronics’ Unionized Workers Halt Talks With Management per Yonhap.