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Happy Tuesday. This is TheStreet’s Stock Market Today for Mar. 3, 2026. You can follow the latest updates on the market here in our daily live blog.
The U.S. markets are now shut. If it reminds you of yesterday, you’re not alone: after a tepid start to the trading day, stocks soldiered out a healthy-sized comeback.
The Russell 2000 (-1.79%) fell nearly two percent, recovering again today from a nearly three percent decline intraday. In large cap indexes, the Nasdaq (-1.02%) finished out down one percent, while the S&P 500(-0.94%) and Dow (-0.83%) managed to get their losses back below the 100 bip mark.
The Dow’s comeback from its more than 2.5% decline in the mid-morning is especially notable, as the index was seeing its worst decline in recent months. Its 403-point decline represents an over 851-point recovery from its day lows.
Only one S&P 500 sector advanced today: communication, which rose just a few basis points. The rest were in the red today, meaning there was no rest for the wicked. In other S&P 500-related news, the Cboe Volatility Index closed out just above 23, up 8.4% on the day at last glance; that is a far cry from the 28 it eclipsed earlier in the trading day.
Key to the comeback today were comments by President Donald Trump, who committed to have U.S. resources escort oil tankers through the tenuous Strait of Hormuz amid the country’s ongoing military operation in the region. Trump also committed to help insure the resources navigating the region. Brent Crude settled at $81.40 for the day, a decline from its day high (and 52-wk high) of $85.12.
President Donald Trump is pulling out the stops to keep the oil markets on the rails, or rather, on the high seas. In remarks made moments ago, the President committed to help protect energy assets passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key passing for oil products in the region; over a fifth of global oil supplies transits the strait on its way to destinations in Asia and Europe.
As part of the commitment, the President says that U.S. forces will help move tankers through the Strait, which was “closed” by Iran over the weekend in the event that it is “necessary” and “as soon as possible.” The U.S. also will backstop or insure the value of the transported resources.
On the news, oil prices dropped to day lows, while the markets picked up some of their day losses.
Whereas the Cboe Volatility Index traded as high as 28 intraday, it has now declined to 22; things are looking a little more regular.
Midway through the trading day, equities are finding some footing. Now, just under three-fourths of U.S. issues are facing declines.
The Russell 2000 (-1.68%) remains most affected by today’s declines, but compared to the nearly three percent decline earlier, today is starting to resemble yesterday a lot more.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq (-1.10%), S&P 500 (-1.00%) and Dow (-0.94%) are clawing their way towards more modest declines; down just about one percent now.
In remarks made today, President Donald Trump has threatened to cut trade with Spain after the European country declined to let the U.S. use their bases for its strike on Iran, while adding he is “not happy” with the U.K., which has been “very, very uncooperative.”
In response, Trump has threatened to cut trade with Spain by imposing an embargo. The Spanish government has responded to Trump’s threat to cut trade, saying that the U.S. must “comply with international law and bilateral EU-U.S. trade agreements,” but adding that it has resources to contain the impact of such an embargo.
Overnight trading in Asia seems to have set in on global chip stocks, with many of today’s biggest decliners coming from the semiconductor space.
Equities are at day highs and continuing to climb. With that said, we can take a look at today’s top and bottom 20 stocks with at least a $2 billion market cap:
The U.S. markets are now open. Following global markets lower today, the Russell 2000 (-2.81%) is off nearly three percent again, a repeat of yesterday’s opening bell. The Dow Jones (-2.2%), Nasdaq (-2.09%), and S&P 500 (-2.02%) aren’t far behind, with two percent declines of their own.
An astonishing 85.9% (4,776) of U.S. equities are in decline this morning, against just 9.6% (534) that are advancing. That declining figure also seems to be increasing as the trading day advances into the 10 a.m. hour. The Cboe Volatility Index is also up 23%, at 26.43, it’s now the highest it has been in over three months.
Let’s dig down a little more into specifics here:
At this stage, a critical passing for global oil supplies remains shut: if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut, it could stand to be massively disruptive to Asian and some European energy markets. That was thought to be a fringe possibility last time the U.S. attacked Iran, but now, it’s seen as a real possibility if President Donald Trump’s special military operation exceeds four weeks (and mind you, it was only supposed to take about 48 hours, per reports).
For that reason, oil futures are now pricing a chance of even more disruption on the horizon. In continuous contracts, Brent crude is up 7.58% this morning, surpassing $83.63. The American Crude oil benchmark is up even more, +8.07% to $76.95. That spread, however, is the really telling factor here: markets seem to be weighing on a prolonged shutdown of the Strait or production.
This all comes, mind you, just a few days after OPEC+ authorized an additional 206,00 barrels of production per day. Now, you’re seeing countries like Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia slow or even halt production of energy products.
Yesterday, the S&P 500 was lifted to a green finish by four sectors. Leading the pack was Energy, which saw U.S-based Chevron hit a new all-time high. Today, you won’t see any of those stocks in the green. In fact, no sectors are in the green. You’d be hard-pressed to pick out many individual equities in today’s heatmap that are in the green (shoutout Costco).
In that beet red, you have Materials (-4.37%) looking the worst. Industrials (-2.73%), Utilities (-2.66%), and Technology (-2.49%) are next up on the chopping block.
But in currency land, there’s a small consolation for the U.S: the Dollar still’s got it. As anxiety is striking other market currencies, the Dollar Index is up 1% at 99.39, good for its biggest gain since May 2025. That’s as clear a signal that its safe haven status is still intact.
In Treasury land, the 10Y is up 1.9 bips to 4.071%. The 20Y and 30Y are 1.8 bips and 1.3 bips higher at 4.661% and 4.712% respectively. Yields have only risen since the U.S. attack on Iran, spurring worries of higher oil prices, and thus, a re-lighting of the inflation candle.
Good morning. When U.S. equities opened in the States, benchmarks quickly saw their worst prints of the day. Then, they went on an hours-long rebound into the close. Today, that might be a different story. What started as a 48 hour operation is now shaping up to be at least a four to five week operation in Iran, which is sinking global stock markets.
South Korea’s KOSPI saw the largest decline in Asia, good for its worst day in 19 months. This is something you’ll want to watch, as the declines are likely exacerbated by Korean investors’ use of leverage. This could force them to reduce their exposure to other global stocks, especially speculative names, to shore up their declining positions.
But it was not a singular decline: Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was down over 3%. In Europe, all regional stock markets were last seen down too as their market day draws to a close; Spain’s IBEX 35 was off over 5%, Italy’s FTSE MIB, -4.42%, and the STOXX Europe 600, -3.23%.
In short order, it could also be sinking the U.S. stock market, with equity futures pointing to another disappointing open for stocks. That’s to say, buckle up.
Earnings might be taking a backseat to some of the other events happening right now, but nonetheless, the show goes on. Today’s earnings slate will be anchored by CrowdStrike, Ross Stores, and AutoZone, among others:
Plus, check back on SMT later, since we had an opportunity to talk to On Holdings CEO and Acting CFOMartin Hoffmann and will be sharing that conversation with you.
With oil prices jumping higher, Fed leaders are likely to spend some time talking about the possible impacts to inflation, and thus rates. The second order effects of a conflict in the Middle East pushing up oil prices might be a delay in the assumed schedule for rates to decline. Here are today’s economic events:
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest Business & Market News section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.