La salle de contrôle d’Euronext, qui gère la Bourse de Paris ( AFP / ERIC PIERMONT )
Global stock markets closed sharply lower on Friday, March 21, 2026, capping a week of uncertainty fueled by ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the economic consequences of rising energy prices.
In Modern York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.97%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.01% and the S&P 500 lost 1.51%.
European markets also experienced significant declines, with Frankfurt down 2.01%, Paris falling 1.82%, and London dropping 1.45%. Milan mirrored the trend, closing down 1.97%.
“The market is fearful,” said Grégoire Kounowski, an investment advisor at Norman K. This sentiment reflects broader concerns about geopolitical risks and their potential impact on economic growth.
Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones noted that investors were “unsurprisingly a bit nervous about what could happen” in the coming days on the military front.
Donald Trump stated on Friday that he rejected the idea of a ceasefire with Iran, nearly three weeks after the start of the war.
Earlier in the day, Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme guide of Iran, asserted that Tehran had inflicted “a dizzying blow” on its enemies.
“The longer the war lasts, the more significant the economic repercussions will be,” Kourkafas warned.
The S&P 500 finished a fourth consecutive week in negative territory, “its worst streak in a year,” according to Andrea Tueni, Head of Market Activities at Saxo Banque.
“In Europe, the CAC 40 entered correction territory, losing more than 10% since its February highs,” Tueni added. This move indicates a substantial shift in investor sentiment towards French equities.
– Contained Increase in Energy Prices –
Oil prices finished higher on Friday, but remained below the $120 per barrel threshold reached several times since the beginning of the conflict.
Brent crude from the North Sea gained 3.26% to $112.19 a barrel.
Its American counterpart, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), traditionally less expensive, rose 2.27% to $98.32 a barrel.
“The additional risk this week has been the damage caused to energy infrastructure,” Kourkafas pointed out.
There are concerns that even with a swift end to the conflict, global production may remain subdued for some time.
After a sharp increase on Thursday, the price of natural gas megawatt-hours fell 4.20% to €59.26, according to the main reference index, Dutch TTF futures.
– Sharp Rise in Interest Rates –
Fears of a return of inflation are driving a rise in interest rates that states must pay to their creditors to finance their debt.
Investors are concerned about protecting the value of their claims, which are threatened by inflation.
As of 20:45 GMT, the yield on ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds climbed to 4.38% compared to 4.28% at the close the previous day, a level not seen since the summer.
It stood at 3.94% at the end of February.
Across the Atlantic, the ten-year British borrowing rate rose faster than that of other major European economies, reaching approximately 4.99% compared to 4.84% the previous day, a level not seen since 2008.
Its German equivalent, a reference in Europe, rose to 3.05% from 2.96% the previous day at closing. And the French ten-year rose sharply to 3.77% from 3.64% on Thursday evening.
“I feel like there’s an ambiguous position: there’s no panic, but interest rates – including the German Bund – are anticipating a resurgence of inflation,” analyzed Stéphanie Villers, an economist at PwC.
Markets were digesting the calls for caution issued in recent days by the President of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, and the President of the European Central Bank (BCE), Christine Lagarde.
While investors had expected a cut in U.S. Interest rates in the coming months, they are no longer anticipating any this year, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
