Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on March 10, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on Wednesday as investors continued to eye developments in the U.S.-Iran war and oil prices.
The 30-stock index shed 328 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 traded down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%.
West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 4% to around $86 per barrel. Brent crude also traded 4% higher at $91 per barrel. That’s even after the International Energy Agency said it’s going to release 400 million barrels of oil — the largest-ever release from its reserves — to target the disruption in supply triggered by the war.
The decision made by the IEA “doesn’t solve the other issues that are going to affect the global economy,” according to Ron Albahary, chief investment officer at Laird Norton Wetherby. He cited refined products that flow through the Strait of Hormuz such as jet fuel as one of the problems posed.
“I think the markets are wrestling with that idea of what is the off-ramp at this point,” he said to CNBC. “Both sides have dug their heels in, and it’s hard to see how this comes out positively on the other side in the short term.”
A prolonged conflict could keep oil prices elevated. U.S. forces on Tuesday sunk several Iranian ships, including 16 minelayers, near the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran was seeking to mine the critical shipping route at the center of concerns around oil supplies.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations also said Wednesday that three cargo ships off Iran’s coast, one of which was in the Strait, have been struck by projectiles.
This comes just days after President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the war will end “very soon.”
“Trump suggesting the war may be ending soon, post an extraordinary surge in oil volatility, may imply his ‘pain threshold’ has been reached, in our view,” wrote Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays, in a Wednesday note. “The longer the oil spike persists, the higher the downside risk to earnings and valuations.”
The consumer price index increased 2.4% on a year-over-year basis in February. That was in line with what economists polled by Dow Jones anticipated. The report comes after signs of a weakening labor market have grown in recent months.
Oracle shares were a bright spot Wednesday, jumping 7% after the software vendor’s earnings and revenue for the fiscal third quarter exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue forecast.