Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures slip after Trump delays strikes on Iran power plants

Updated Fri, March 27, 2026 at 6:19 AM EDT 1 min read

US stock futures slipped on Friday after President Trump further delayed promised US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, as oil rallied amid doubts about the chances of a peace deal.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.2%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) nudged down 0.1%. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) dropped 0.2%, following steep losses for Wall Street stocks on Thursday.

Oil prices pushed over higher as attacks continued across the Middle East, raising concerns the war could run into April and beyond. Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $103 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) topped $96 as investors eyed the growing economic hit from the halt to Strait of Hormuz traffic.

Trump extended his deadline for Iran by 10 days, giving it until April 6 to comply with US demands or face for strikes on its power plants. The move marks a shift in Trump’s tone around the war, showing a potential path toward de-escalation. Still, uncertainty lingers. Reports indicate Iran’s leadership remains reluctant to engage in direct negotiations with Washington, even as it reviews a US proposal.

In the early hours of Friday, the Senate passed a bill that will fund the TSA and other Department of Homeland Security operations, but not ICE. The vote opens the way to an end to the partial federal shutdown that has caused airport chaos and risked damaging the US economy. It also marks an abrupt about-turn by Republicans, who had resisted Democrats’ proposals on the legislation.

LIVE 4 updates

Gold gains as Trump pushes back Iran talks deadline

Gold (GC=F) continued to march higher on Friday after President Trump reset the deadline for Iran to come to the table to agree a ceasefire deal.

Bloomberg reports:

Bullion rose as much as 2.3% to top $4,475 an ounce, having fallen almost 3% in the previous session as doubts grew over a potential ceasefire agreement. Trump pledged to refrain from attacks on Iranian energy sites for a further 10 days, offering a brief respite to markets jolted by nearly a month of conflict.

Since the war began nearly a month ago, gold has fallen about 15%, moving largely in tandem with stocks and in an inverse relationship with oil. Spiking energy prices have raised the risk of inflation and led investors to bet that central banks will keep interest rates unchanged, or hike them. That’s a headwind for non-yielding bullion.

Adding further downward pressure, Turkey’s central bank sold and swapped about 60 tons of gold – worth more than $8 billion – during the first two weeks of the war, marking a sharp drawdown in reserves, according to people familiar with the matter. Elevated central-bank buying had been a pillar of bullion’s rally over the last couple of years.

Read more here.
Oil falls as Trump delays Iran energy infrastructure attack plans

Bloomberg reports:

Read more here.
OpenAI’s ad trial shows $100M annualized revenue in six weeks

OpenAI‘s ChatGPT ads pilot in the United States has crossed the $100 million annualized revenue mark within six weeks of ‌launch, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, pointing to robust early ‌demand for the AI startup’s nascent advertising business.

Sam Altman-led OpenAI had said in January that it would start showing ads in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, ramping up efforts to generate revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high costs of developing the technology. The ads were to be tested with users on the ‌company’s free tier and ⁠the lower-priced Go plan.

The ads are separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT and do not influence its outputs. User ⁠conversations are not shared with marketers, the company said at the time.

OpenAI has now expanded to over 600 advertisers, with nearly 80% of small- and medium-sized businesses signaling interest in ChatGPT ads, the spokesperson said.
Netflix increases subscription cost for all US plans

Reuters reports:

Netflix (NFLX) has increased prices on all its plans in the U.S., as ‌the streaming giant pushes into new programming formats ‌such as video podcasts and live sporting events.

The company’s ad-supported tier will now cost $8.99 a month, compared with $7.99 earlier, while prices for its standard plan rose $2 per month to $19.99, according to its website.

Read more here.