Stock Market Live March 18, 2026: S&P 500 (SPY) Flat on Hot Inflation Reading
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Oil prices are back above $98 after the U.S. hit Iranian production facilities, including the world’s biggest natural gas field.
As noted by CNN, the latest attacks will add to fears of a longer-lasting war. “Energy markets are having to continuously price in a more prolonged disruption to oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with little sign of de-escalation or a resumption in oil and LNG flows through the key chokepoint,” Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING.
Iran is now warning of a major response, with warnings that facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are now at risk of being hit. There are also reports that NATO is refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
With the U.S.-Iran war showing no signs of cooling, volatility is likely to spike even more. If you’re looking to trade higher volatility, check out ETFs such as:
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Netflix is up slightly this morning after analysts at Citi reinstated a buy rating.
“We like Netflix for three reasons: 1) We see scope for NFLX to increase its FY26 EBIT guidance, 2) we expect a US price hike in 4Q26, and 3) we expect larger share repurchases. We see ~5% to ~17% upside from these catalysts,” said the firm, as quoted by CNBC.
Futures are in the red again.
This time, it’s thanks to hotter-than-expected inflation ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement later today. The producer price index (PPI) was up 0.7% in February, which was well above estimates of 0.3%.
With that, the Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Not helping, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index was already showing that prices were pushing higher. That’s a sign of rising costs even before the war with Iran.
As we await the Fed’s response and how it frames the Iranian conflict amid inflationary risks, the S&P 500 is down 0.17%, or 11 points. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is down 0.5%, or by $3.34. The Dow is down 0.17%, or by 81 points. The Nasdaq is down 0.14%, or by 32 points. Oil is down slightly at $96.16. Gold is down $128 at $4,874, as Bitcoin slips $1,530.
Market Movers: Micron
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) will post earnings after the closing bell.
As we noted just yesterday, “Wall Street is looking for EPS of $8.74 to $8.77 for the quarter, with revenue of about $19.03 billion. Helping, analysts at Wedbush raised their price target on MU to $500 from $320, noting that Micron’s earnings outlook continues to improve.”
Wells Fargo reiterated its buy rating on the stock with a $470 price target. Also, according to RBC Capital, which has an outperform rating and a $525 price target, stronger demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is expected to accelerate.
Market Movers: Nvidia
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) was on the move on a Reuters report that the company won China’s approval to sell its H200 chips to China. Additionally, there’s news that NVDA is developing a version of the Groq AI chip for sale in the Chinese market.
“We have received purchase orders, and we’re in the process of restarting our manufacturing,” CEO Jensen Huang said, as quoted by CNBC. “That’s new news for all of you, and it’s different than it was two weeks ago or three weeks ago, but that’s our condition today … and our supply chain is getting fired up.”
Analysts at Bank of America also reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia with a $300 price target. The firm also said NVDA is a top pick following an analyst’s Q&A period at the GTC conference.
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