Shares of industrial and transportation companies fell after a surprising increase in wholesale inflation and Federal Reserve warnings that there could be more.

"There's lots of ways that oil and derivatives of oil get into the production of other goods and services," said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, noting that the impact of the oil shock would go "beyond headline inflation."

There's still a chance that the economic impact of the Middle East conflict could be minor, Powell said, noting that the duration was uncertain. "We don't know how big this is and how long it lasts...it may or may not be something that makes a big impact on the U.S. economy," Powell said.

The producer price index final demand rose 0.7% in February, a more torrid rate of inflation than economists had forecast, suggesting that factory-gate inflation was heating up even before the spike in energy prices.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 18, 2026 17:04 ET (21:04 GMT)

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