Markets News, March 13, 2026: Equities Finish Lower as Oil Resumes Ascent; Indexes Record 3rd Straight Week of Declines

The leading U.S. stock indexes closed lower for a third straight week as oil prices continued to climb.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday down a respective 0.9%, 0.6%, and 0.3% to set fresh closing lows for the year.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil-price benchmark, were up about 2.5% to $98 a barrel at 4 p.m. ET, well above the roughly $67-a-barrel level before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, ticked lower to about $103 a barrel after closing above $100for the first time since August 2022 yesterday.

High oil prices have spurred responses from policymakers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the U.S. would temporarily let countries buy Russian oil already at sea. In addition, the International Energy Agency said it would release a record 400 million barrels of strategic reserves to stabilize prices amid “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”

Investors on Friday digested the delayed release of the January Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge indicated inflation rose 2.8% year-over-year in January, below economists’ expectations for a 2.9% rise, and 0.3% month-over-month, down from 0.4% in December and matching estimates. “Core” inflation ticked higher to 3.1% year-over-year and remained at 0.4% month-over-month, matching expectations. Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP was revised down to 0.7% growth, half its previous reading.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all sorts of consumer loans, edged higher to near 4.29% from Thursday’s close around 4.27%—its highest closing level since Feb. 4.

Gold futures were down almost 2% to $5,030 an ounce, while silver futures fell 5.5% to around $80.30 an ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.7% to 100.44. Bitcoin was trading around $71,200, up from overnight lows around $70,000.

In post-earnings moves, shares of Adobe (ADBE) slumped 7% after CEO Shantanu Narayen plans to step down after 18 years on the job. Shares of Ulta Beauty (ULTA) sank 14% to lead S&P 500 decliners on soft full-year profit and comparable sales forecasts.

Shares of all the Magnificent Seven tech giants were lower, with Meta Platforms (META) leading declines at near 4%. A report in The New York Times said it was delaying the rollout of a new AI model due to performance concerns. All finished lower yesterday.

Mosaic (MOS), CF Industries (CF), and Nutrien (NTR) shares retreated about 6%, 4.5%, and 1%, respectively, after surging this month as fertilizer producers stand to benefit from supply disruptions due to halted transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Investor attention now turns to the Federal Reserve, which meets next week and is widely expected to keep interest rates steady. A federal judge on Friday threw out the Justice Department’s attempts to subpoena Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Judge James Boasberg wrote that there was “abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will.”