Markets News, March 6, 2026: Stocks Slide to Close Out a Volatile Week as Oil Hits $90/Barrel; Dow Has Worst Week Since April

Major stock indexes fell Friday to post losses for a second straight week after a weak jobs report, while oil futures soared as the war in the Middle East intensified.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down a respective 1.6%, 1.3% and 1.0%. The Dow shed 3% this week, its worst weekly performance since last April.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment reading indicated that U.S. employers shed 92,000 jobs in February when a rise of 50,000 jobs was expected by economists. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.4% when it was expected to stay at 4.3%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all sorts of consumer loans, ticked higher to about 4.15% at 4 p.m. ET from Thursday’s close of 4.14%. The yield ended last week at 3.95%.

Oil prices jumped yesterday after Iran claimed to have attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, surged as high as $92.61 a barrel—their highest level since September 2023—after President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social network today that “there will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Futures, which recently were up nearly 12% to $90.65, soared 35% this week—their biggest weekly gain since they began trading in 1983, per CNBC.

“If Trump pulls out within the next week or two, then we can snap back big time,” Mahoney Asset Management CEO Ken Mahoney said in written commentary. “We have seen him create crises, and then quickly reverse course and the market has rewarded that every time which he is well aware of. We have seen some very negative positioning, huge skews in put buying so we are like a rubber band ready to snap if we get some light at the end of the tunnel. For now though, we do not have that and remain cautious.”

With the conflict in the Middle East in its seventh day and tanker traffic essentially halted through the important Strait of Hormuz, Danish shipping giant Maersk on Friday suspended a pair of services that link the region to Europe and Asia.

Gold futures were up 1.7% at $5,165 an ounce, while silver futures were 2.5% higher at $84.25 an ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, was 0.3% lower at 98.97.

Bitcoin, which sank to as low as $63,000 in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran on Saturday, was trading around $68,100, down from overnight highs near $71,600.

Shares of all the Magnificent Seven tech giants closed lower. In post-earnings moves, shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) soared 18% to pace the Nasdaq, Gap (GAP) dropped 14%, and Costco Wholesale (COST) rose 1.6%.