Wall St slips as Middle East turmoil clouds Fed outlook

try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Super Micro shares plunge after co-founder arrested for chip smuggling scheme UBS remains confident in U.S. stocks, sees S&P 500 hitting 7,700 Oil gyrates as U.S. looks to lift crude supply - what’s moving markets Gold prices inch up, but on pace for weekly loss, as Iran war dents rate cut bets (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Wall St slips as Middle East turmoil clouds Fed outlook By Economy Published 03/20/2026, 06:51 AM Updated 03/20/2026, 10:43 AM Wall St slips as Middle East turmoil clouds Fed outlook 2 US500 -0.86% DJI -0.50% US2000 -1.21% DELL 4.68% FDX 1.79% AAPL -0.32% AMZN -0.72% HAL 0.73% UPS -0.14% LCO 0.90% IXIC -1.18% SMCI -28.29% LNG 2.39% VIX 8.94% SPNY 0.00% By Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Hathi March 20 - Wall Street’s main indexes slipped on Friday as the Iran war approached its fourth week, roiling energy markets and prompting investors to aggressively reprice bets on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts. The conflict in the Middle East showed no signs of easing as Iran attacked an oil refinery in Kuwait and a report said that the Trump administration is planning to occupy or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Investors also weighed major nations’ efforts to ease energy supplies. Brent prices wobbled throughout the day and were last at $108 a barrel. Offering some comfort, FedEx , often seen as a barometer of business activity, issued upbeat forecasts and said global demand was holding steady despite geopolitical tensions, sending its shares up 3.4%. Rival United Parcel Service added 0.6%. Still, investors are weighing the impact of higher oil prices on corporate earnings, as the first quarter comes to an end. "The longer this goes on, you’re going to start to see companies report in earnings that they’ve had price pressures and it could be all through the chain," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading. A flurry of cen...