Stock Market News for Mar 26, 2026

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday as easing geopolitical tensions and declining oil prices lifted market sentiment. The Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 and the Dow all ended in positive territory.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.7%, or 305.43 points, to close at 46,429.49. Twenty-one components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while nine ended in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% to close at 21,929.83.

The S&P 500 gained 0.5% or 35.53 points, to end at 6,591.90. Out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, nine ended in positive territory, and two ended in negative territory. The Materials Services Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV), and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) rose 2%, 1%, and 1.2%, respectively, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 0.5%.

The major gainer of the S&P 500 Index was Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI – Free Report) , with its shares rising 8.2%. Super Micro Computer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), decreased 6% to 25.33. A total of 17.07 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.69 billion. The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 172 new lows.

Oil Slips as Iran Receives U.S. Peace Proposal

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as Iran reportedly received a 15-point plan for peace from President Donald Trump, but both countries are contradicting each other over the progress of talks.

Mixed signals over the Middle East, which had driven oil prices higher in recent days, had a generally bearish impact on crude. Reuters reported that U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 2.2% to $90.32 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent crude declined 2.17% to $102.22.

Markets are re-pricing the risk premium for Middle East troubles, and any sign of real progress toward a peace deal could further dampen the upward impact of the risk on oil.

Economic Data

Per a government report, for the week ending March 20, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 6.9 million barrels from the previous week. The previous week’s number remained unrevised at 6.2 million barrels.