Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop to end volatile week as oil surges above $90

A weak labor market reading and worries of inflation sent stock investors heading for the exits on Friday.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 1.3%, posting a weekly loss of 2% and going negative for the year.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined 1.6% for the day and 1.2% for the week. The Dow (^DJI) also fell nearly 1% and posted a weekly loss of 3%.

A weak jobs report released this morning stoked fears of a slowing economy. Meanwhile, the Iran war showed no signs of easing as oil prices surged above $90 per barrel, with the threat of regional producers stopping output as they run out of storage capacity.

Investors worry that higher oil prices will lead to a tick up in inflation at a time when the labor market is showing signs of a slowdown.

The weak monthly jobs report released on Friday highlights a risk the market is grappling with: a slowing labor market at a time when rising oil prices threaten to push inflation higher.

“We are not far from all of a sudden a stagnant economy led by a labor market that begins to contract,” Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, told Yahoo Finance on Friday morning.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed a decline of 92,000 jobs in February, versus an average expectation of 55,000 jobs added.

“This is a challenging figure,” Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments, told Yahoo Finance on Friday.

“With a market that has been digesting risks related to stagflation, higher energy prices, and inflation risks related to the war in Iran, certainly concerns about where the labor market may be going with respect to AI … this is only going to reinforce those positions,” she added.

Investors went risk off on Friday as the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) were on track for weekly declines. The Dow (^DJI) also fell, slipping into negative territory for 2026 this week after the US and Israel attacked Iran last weekend, causing oil prices to top $90 per barrel.

Markets had already been volatile in recent weeks as concerns about AI disrupting the labor market and corporate business models rippled across Wall Street.

Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley reports:

Read more here.

Yields on Treasury bonds slipped on Friday following the weaker-than-expected jobs report, but they were headed for their biggest jump since the tariff swings in April 2025.

The 10-year yield (^TNX) declined by 3 basis points to 4.11%, while the 30-year yield (^TYX) was little changed at 4.74%. The shorter-dated five-year yield (^FVX) swung 5 basis points lower to 3.68%.

Yields move inversely with prices, meaning that when yields fall, bond prices rise.

Bloomberg reports:

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Gasoline prices surged this week to their highest level since 2024, as an escalating war in the Middle East sent crude costs soaring.

The national average on Friday hit $3.32 per gallon, about $0.34 higher than a week ago, according to AAA data.

At the center of the price spike is the Strait of Hormuz. A combination of military threats, attacks, and rising insurance risks has effectively brought tankers to a standstill in the critical corridor through which oil is transported.

“With oil continuing to climb and shipping through the Strait still disrupted, fuel prices are likely to keep rising through the weekend,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) rose 13% to top $91 per barrel. Brent (BZ=F) futures crossed $93 per barrel after President Trump said Friday that the only path to resolution in Iran is “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) declined by more than 4% on Friday as investors went risk-off after a weaker-than-expected jobs report spurred fears of a slowing economy amid the threat of rising inflation.

The world’s largest token sank below $68,000 after rallying to $73,000 earlier this week. This morning’s monthly jobs report, which showed 92,000 jobs lost rather than the 55,000 expected, sparked fears of a slowing economy.

This comes amid rising oil prices, which threaten to push inflation higher.

A weaker-than-expected February jobs report quashed the notion that the labor market is stabilizing, my colleague Jennifer Schonberger writes, but it likely won’t push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this month due to inflation concerns stemming from the war in the Middle East.

Here’s what several Fed officials had to say about the labor market report:

San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly

“This jobs report has got my attention,” Daly told CNBC. “The labor markets may be a little weaker than we have seen so far.”

Daly added that, at this point, the Fed is facing “two-sided risks.”

Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid

Schmid called February’s job report a reflection of structural changes in the job market, maintaining that the US labor market is in the midst of a transformation in which older Americans are retiring, and companies are pausing hiring to see where technology — artificial intelligence — can fill the gaps.

“[Employers] are taking a pause before we hire the next person to say, what is the skill set we need and what can technology do to bridge that skill set?” Schmid said.

Fed governor Chris Waller

Waller noted that if February’s jobs report came in strong, he would switch his position to prefer holding interest rates steady under the notion of a firming job market. But given the weaker reading, he’s likely to stick with his bias to cut rates.

Read the full story here.

Gold (GC=F) futures rose more than 1% after a weaker-than-expected jobs report fueled concerns about a slowing economy at a time when surging oil prices threaten to push inflation higher.

The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB) weakened, a move that typically supports assets priced in the greenback.

Silver (SI=F) futures also jumped more than 2%. Platinum (PL=F) and palladium (PA=F) futures also rose.

Shares in major US airlines fell across the board on Friday, adding to steep losses on the week as jet fuel prices have soared amid the conflict in Iran.

Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), and United Airlines (UAL) all saw their shares lose more than 3% through late morning trading on Friday. Delta and United are down 10% and 13%, respectively, on the week, while JetBlue has fallen by a much steeper 20%.

Roughly a fifth of global jet fuel capacity transits the Strait of Hormuz after production at refineries throughout the Persian Gulf. With the strait essentially closed to through-traffic, jet fuel prices have doubled to more than $4 per gallon from 2025’s average of around $2 per gallon, according to Bloomberg.

Jet fuel accounts for up to 30% of major airlines’ operating costs. While European airlines such as Ryanair employ teams to lock in prices using options trading, American airline companies abandoned the practice in the 2000s and are therefore much more susceptible to jet fuel price hikes.

As part of this week’s mean reversion theme (see below), software stocks have broadly outperformed and staged a comeback.

As I wrote earlier, the iShares Software ETF (IGV) is having its best week since the post-Liberation Day rebound last April.

Peering inside the industry, some of the biggest gains are concentrated in high-growth names. CrowdStrike (CRWD) leads the pack, up nearly 15% on the week, followed by Intuit (INTU) and ServiceNow (NOW) — both up more than 13%.

AI-adjacent plays are also strong, with Palantir (PLTR) and Okta (OKTA) up about 11%.

Meanwhile, enterprise software names like Thomson Reuters (TRI), Asana (ASAN), and Datadog (DDOG) are all posting high-single- to low-double-digit gains.

On Wednesday, I discussed the SaaSpocalypse and prospects for a software recovery with Lee Munson, president and chief investment officer of Portfolio Wealth Advisors at the New York Stock Exchange. For what it’s worth, he’s waiting for another 10% drop to Make Tech Value Again.

Stocks are looking weak in early trading, with all 11 large-cap S&P 500 (^GSPC) sectors in the red.

For the week, Materials (XLB) are leading the way down, off 7%, as Consumer Staples (XLP), Health Care (XLV), and Industrials (XLI) are all down about 5%. Staples was a year-to-date leader as of one week ago.

Not surprisingly, Energy (XLE) is a relative leader (though still down today), as crude oil (CL=F, BZ=F) is in the midst of the biggest weekly gain since the early pandemic in 2020.

Tech (XLK) has managed to tread sideways these past five days, as software (IGV) is in the midst of its best week (+6%) since last April. Meanwhile, chip stocks (SOXX) are down about 5%.

This week’s theme seems to be a mean-reversion trade, with the year-to-date laggards becoming relative leaders — and vice versa. The big exception is energy, which is up the most in 2026 (over 25%) — more than double materials, which is in second place (up 10%).

The US stock market turned deeply red on Friday as the February jobs report showed the US lost jobs for the month, and oil prices surged to multiyear highs amid supply shocks from the Iran conflict.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the way down with a loss of 1.6%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both lost roughly 1.4%.

The February jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000, sharply missing expectations of 55,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%.

In the oil market, futures on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) rose over 8% to top $87.50 per barrel, while those on international benchmark Brent (BZ=F) crude gained 5.3% to briefly cross $90. Both are set for their biggest weekly surge in five years as tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near-standstill. President Trump said Friday that the only way forward in Iran is “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

Futures on the US equity market remained sharply lower after US payrolls data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the US lost 92,000 jobs in February — far below consensus estimates of 50,000 jobs added.

Futures on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) sank roughly 0.7% each after another volatile and losing session on Thursday. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) recorded the steepest drop at roughly 1%.

The US economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, deeply underperforming consensus expectations of 55,000 and weighing on a US market already under stress.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% from January’s 4.3%. Economists had expected 4.3% for February.

The loss comes as a massive swing after the BLS’s January jobs report reported 130,000 jobs added, which was a massive overperformance. The BLS today revised January’s numbers down to 126,000 jobs added.

Notably, healthcare employment declined by 28,000 in February following a large increase in January of 77,000 jobs added, while physicians’ offices lost 37,000 jobs in February. The BLS attributed this turnaround in healthcare jobs to a large labor strike at Kaiser Permanente in February.

In the private sector, US private employers added 63,000 roles in February, beating expectations in the best monthly gains since July, according to the private payroll processor ADP. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an increase of 50,000 in February, an improvement from the previous month’s lackluster gain of 22,000 roles, which was revised even lower Wednesday to 11,000 positions.

Oil prices continued to climb on Friday morning as the Strait of Hormuz remained virtually closed, with only a handful of energy vessels passing through the vital passage in recent days.

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, rose by more than 4% to trade above $89. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) gained more than 6% to trade above $86.

US oil hit its highest level since March 2024 amid supply concerns, prompting the US Treasury Department to take actions to try and ease prices. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the US will issue a waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil stranded at sea.

Bloomberg reports:

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Gap (GAP) stock fell 6% before the bell on Friday after the retailer missed Wall Street estimates for its fourth quarter earnings.

NCR Atleos Corporation (NATL) stock fell 8% during premarket hours after it asked holders of its 9.50% 2029 notes to approve amendments that prevent its planned merger with The Brink’s Company from triggering a “change of control” clause.

Guidewire Software (GWRE) stock rose 4% before the bell on Friday after raising its full-year revenue guidance following the release of its second quarter results.

In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times (FT), Qatar’s energy minister has warned that the conflict in the Middle East could “bring down the economies of the world.” Saad al-Kaabi told the FT that all Gulf energy exporters would shut down production within days, and this will drive up the price of oil to $150 a barrel.

The FT reports:

Read more here.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) on Thursday reported better-than-expected first quarter revenue of around $2.4 billion, beating the $2.27 billion analysts estimated, according to LSEG data. The company said increased adoption of AI tools by enterprise clients is driving demand for the custom chips that power data centers.

Marvell stock jumped 11% in premarket trading on Friday.

Reuters reports:

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Bloomberg reports:

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Is the labor market stabilizing or sliding backward after last year’s onslaught of dismal data? On Friday morning, all eyes will be on February’s jobs report for clues when it’s released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Yahoo Finance’s Emma Ockerman takes a look at what investors will be looking out for:

Read more here.