America’s three major stock markets, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P, are all down sharply in morning trading as of this writing. The wave of red across investors’ monitors is primarily due to one major factor: uncertainty around how far the Iran conflict will travel and how long it will last. Here’s what you need to know about how markets are reacting.
What happened?
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran, during which the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed. The death of Iran’s leader and the ongoing conflict in Iran will have significant consequences for the region as a whole for years to come.
Yet what those consequences will be is so far unknown. And it’s that uncertainty that is causing stock markets in the United States to fall significantly today, especially after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical supply routes in the world, with around a fifth of all oil passing through it. Any blockage of the strait could have severe consequences for the global energy trade, and thus the global economy.
On top of this, it is looking increasingly likely that the conflict against Iran could go on for some time, with Trump not ruling out that U.S. soldiers may need to be put on the ground in Iran.
Stock markets sink as Iran uncertainty rises
Given all the uncertainty surrounding Iran and oil trade routes, it’s little surprise the markets are reacting negatively at this time. Currently, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P are all down significantly:
- Dow: down 2.5% to $47,669
- Nasdaq: down 2.5% to $22,179
- S&P 500: down 2.4% to $6,715
Given that stocks and the markets they trade on are historically volatile in the wake of significant geopolitical events, it’s no shock that all three major markets are down.
But with today’s fall, it also means that all three major markets are now in the red for the year. As of the time of this writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down 0.7% for 2026, the NASDAQ Composite is now down 4.4% for the year, and the S&P 500 is down 1.7% since the year began.
Crypto and gold fall, too
Of course, it’s not just the stock markets that are falling. Major digital currencies are also down as of the time of this writing. Over the past 24 hours, most household name tokens have fallen, including:
- Bitcoin: down 2.3% to around $67,200
- Ethereum: down 3.9% to around $1,952
- BNB: down 2.7% to around $626
- XRP: down 3.2% to around $1.35
As with the stock markets, it’s little surprise that crypto markets are on the decline today. If there is an asset even more volatile that stocks, it’s cryptocurrencies. And when investors are uncertain, they tend to exit higher-risk assets like crypto to park any gains in “safe haven” assets like gold, which are historically less volatile than securities.
However, even gold is having a bad day today. As of the time of this writing, gold has fallen over 4.8% to $5,052. That is a dramatic drop for the precious metal, especially on a day when investor jitters are high. Usually, nervous investors seek gold and other safe-haven assets, such as bonds.
One reason gold could be down, however, is due to profit-taking. Gold has had a good run in 2026 so far, rising from around the $4,440 mark in early January to above $5,300 on the first of March.
Where gold, crypto, and stocks go from here is anyone’s guess, and the longer uncertainty remains around Iran, the longer that guessing game is likely to persist.