![Emma Heming Willis on moving husband Bruce Willis into a second home for dementia care: 'I know it raises eyebrows [but] you have to do what's right'](https://www.newsbeep.com/il/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/morningstar-og.png)
By Philip van Doorn
A disappointing Friday employment report helped send stocks down further, with cruise operators hammered
U.S. stock indexes have held up pretty well since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks Iran on Feb. 28, but 79% of stocks in the S&P 500 were down for the week, as of Friday morning.
Since the U.S. and Israel began their barrage against Iran’s government on Feb. 28, U.S. stocks on the whole had held up rather well through Thursday, with the S&P 500 down only 0.7%. But on Friday there was more bad news for investors.
Early on Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary for March, with nonfarm U.S. payrolls declining by 92,000. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected the U.S. economy to add 50,000 jobs during March.
Don’t miss: MarketWatch’s in-depth live coverage of the U.S. labor market and other economic developments.
More on markets: Trump has a plan to open the Strait of Hormuz. Here are the obstacles it faces.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 662 points (or 1.4%) Friday morning to 47,291.69, while the S&P 500 SPX was down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP was down 1%, according to data supplied by LSEG. All price changes in this article exclude dividends.
Here is how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 have performed since the close on Feb. 27, ahead of the attack against Iran on Feb. 28, through Friday morning. The sectors are sorted by ascending price change since Feb. 27, with the full index at the bottom.
Healthcare Price change since Feb. 27 Price change on March 6 2026 price change 2025 price change
Materials -7.1% -1.8% 9.3% 8.4%
Consumer Staples -5.8% -0.7% 9.2% 1.3%
Health Care -5.4% -1.6% -2.4% 12.5%
Industrials -4.2% -1.3% 9.3% 17.7%
Real Estate -2.7% -1.4% 6.2% -0.3%
Financial -2.6% -2.2% -8.8% 13.3%
Utilities -2.5% -0.7% 8.5% 12.7%
Communication Services -2.2% -1.1% -1.9% 32.4%
Consumer Discretionary -1.5% -2.0% -5.2% 5.3%
Information Technology 0.8% -0.7% -4.8% 23.3%
Energy 1.0% 0.2% 25.7% 5.0%
S&P 500 -1.9% -1.2% -1.4% 16.4%
Source: LSEG
The materials sector has been the worst performer since the attack on Iran began. The energy sector has been the best performer, but is only up 1% for the week. Then again, the sector has risen 25.7% this year as the index has declined 1.4%.
The worst-performing sector so far in 2026 has been the financial sector, which was down 2.2% on Friday following the dismal U.S. employment report.
Worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 since the attack began
Among components of the S&P 500, 92% were down on Friday and 79% were down from a week earlier.
Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 that sank the most from the close on Feb. 27 through midmorning trading on Friday:
GE HealthCare Technologies Price change since Feb. 27 2026 price change 2025 price change
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings -20.4% -11.6% -13.3%
Carnival -18.7% -16.0% 22.6%
AES -17.6% -0.7% 11.4%
Southwest Airlines -16.0% 0.2% 22.9%
Estee Lauder -15.1% -11.3% 39.7%
Royal Caribbean Cruises -14.2% -4.4% 20.9%
Ford Motor -14.2% -7.8% 32.5%
United Airlines Holdings -14.1% -18.4% 15.2%
United Parcel Service -13.7% 0.8% -21.3%
Stanley Black & Decker -13.6% 0.7% -7.5%
Baxter International -13.5% -7.8% -34.5%
Corning -13.5% 48.6% 84.3%
PPG Industries -13.4% 4.2% -14.2%
Paramount Skydance -13.3% -12.6% 28.1%
Builders FirstSource -13.0% -11.8% -28.0%
ON Semiconductor -12.7% 7.2% -14.1%
Clorox -12.5% 10.3% -37.9%
Masco -12.5% -1.2% -12.6%
GE Healthcare Technologies -11.7% -9.2% 4.9%
Amcor -11.6% 2.7% -11.4%
Source: LSEG
The worst two performers among the S&P 500 since the attack on Iran have been Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH), with a 20.4% drop, and Carnival (CCL), down 18.7%. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) is sixth-worst on the list, with a 14.2% decline for the week.
Click on the ticker symbols for more about each company, including news coverage, charts, financials and ratings.
Read: Tomi Kilgore’s guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page
-Philip van Doorn
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
03-06-26 1119ET
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.