MW Nasdaq falls into correction territory and Trump pauses plans to attack Iranian energy infrastructure

By Joseph Adinolfi and Christine Idzelis

Trump said he would pause attacking Iran's energy infrastructure for 10 days late on Thursday as stocks tumbled

President Trump announced a 10-day pause on attacks against Iran's energy infrastructure after the bell Thursday.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Thursday, with the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite wiping out their gains from earlier in the week. The Nasdaq also finished in correction territory for the first time in a year, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

As of Thursday's close, the Nasdaq COMP dropped more than 10% from its record high reached on Oct. 29, meeting the traditional definition of entering a correction. The S&P 500 SPX registered a decline of 1.7%, its biggest daily decline since the start of the Iran war. The index finished at 6,477.16, its lowest level since Sept. 3 and 7.2% off its record high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA also struggled, extending its month-to-date loss to beyond 6%. Dow Jones Market Data showed the blue-chip average was on track for its biggest monthly percentage-point drop since September 2022, when it fell 8.8%.

A few minutes after the closing bell, President Trump took to Truth Social to announce that he had paused plans to attack Iranian energy infrastructure until April 6. Contrary to media reports, talks with Iran were going "very well," Trump wrote. A number of factors were weighing on markets on Thursday.

A Reuters report that Iranian hardliners were pushing for Tehran to obtain a nuclear bomb helped push stocks to their lowest levels of the session in the afternoon, according to commentary published by Mizuho Securities trading desk. Another weak Treasury auction - this time, for $44 billion in seven-year notes - also contributed to pain in both the bond and stock markets. The auction was the latest in a series of disappointing U.S. debt sales held this week.

As a result, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y rose 8.8 basis points to 4.415%, the highest 3 p.m. level since July, Dow Jones Market Data showed. Bond yields move inversely with bond prices.

Investors are laser-focused on rising oil prices and bond yields, while keeping an eye out for any headline that might signal the U.S. is moving closer to a resolution with Iran, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. Brent crude (BRN00), the global benchmark, has continued to trade above $100 a barrel, and stood at around $108 a barrel on Thursday when the U.S. stock market closed.

"Everybody is well aware that the longer oil prices stay elevated, the greater the likelihood that we could slip into an economic slowdown or a recession," Stovall said during an interview with MarketWatch.

Prices of gold (GC00) and silver (SI00) continued to slide Thursday as well.

At the same time, the Cboe Volatility Index VIX, otherwise known as the VIX or Wall Street's "fear gauge," was screaming higher. The index finished above 28 on Thursday, its highest end-of-day level since March 6.

Meta Platforms (META) was a notable loser on Thursday, falling nearly 8% and heaping even more pressure on the Nasdaq. A pair of back-to-back courtroom losses in California and New Mexico found the company liable for failing to protect young people using its platform.

While the Dow and small-cap Russell 2000 RUT were still clinging to weekly gains, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track for a fifth-straight weekly loss.

"We're in a period of really high geopolitical uncertainty," said Phil Neuhart, head of market and economic research at First Citizens Bank, in an interview Thursday.

By the time the closing bell rang, the Dow had fallen 469.38 points, or 1%, to 45,960.11. The Nasdaq Composite was down by 2.4% at 21,408.

-Joseph Adinolfi -Christine Idzelis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2026 16:44 ET (20:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.