S&P 500 Caps Worst Losing Streak in Four Years as Iran War Drags On

The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Stocks extended their slide Friday as investors showed growing unease over the economic fallout from the war in Iran, with the S&P 500 posting its fifth consecutive weekly loss — its longest such streak in roughly four years.

The benchmark index fell 1.7% on Friday, leaving it nearly 9% below its January high and on track for its worst monthly performance since March 2025, when inflation fears helped spark a broader market sell-off.

Per reporting from The New York Times, investors were cautiously optimistic at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s military campaign, largely betting that the conflict would be contained and that strong corporate earnings and a resilient economy would eventually reassert themselves.

But that optimism appears to be fraying as the war drags on and energy markets remain under pressure. Since the war began, oil prices have roughly doubled from where they started the year, raising new concerns that higher energy costs could push inflation back up for both businesses and consumers.

Signs of strain are mounting, even as Cindy Beaulieu, chief investment officer for North America at Conning, told The New York Times that the market is still being driven in part by investors’ fear of missing a rebound.

“We still have this underlying theme in the market that if investors take a thought or fear too far, they are going to miss out on the recovery when the market goes higher,” she said. “It is still a FOMO market.”

Even so, the Nasdaq Composite entered correction territory on Thursday, while the Russell 2000 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also slipped into correction by Friday’s close. Every sector in the S&P 500 has declined since the war began, except energy.

Citigroup strategist Stuart Kaiser summed up the mood on trading desks bluntly to The New York Times: “It’s death by a thousand cuts.”

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