Utilities outperform
Six out of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were in the green in afternoon trading Friday, and utilities led the way.
The group gained about 1.4%, well ahead of the 0.8% advance recorded by energy as the second-best performing sector.
By contrast, information technology, communication services, materials, consumer discretionary and industrials were the five sectors seeing losses on the day. Information technology and communication services were both down about 1.1%.
This week, utilities has risen nearly 1%. The only other group pacing for a winning week was energy, which has jumped 2.5% in the period.
— Sean Conlon
Retail investors move into oil ETFs in wake of Iran war, Vanda Research says
Retail investors have been moving into pure-play oil ETFs since the Iran war began, according to Vanda Research.
Retail buying of oil ETFs posted a record high on Thursday at $211 million, exceeding the previous records set in May 2020. Notably, the United States Oil Fund (USO) saw its third-biggest day of retail buying on record.
“While some on the street have been trying to fade the oil price spike, retail investors have so far been right to buy the dips this week,” the firm said.
— Sean Conlon
Stocks making midday moves: Adobe, Ulta Beauty, Once Upon A Farms
Check out some of the companies making the biggest moves midday:
Adobe — The software giant saw shares tumble more than 5%. CEO Shantanu Narayen said that he would step down from his post after a successor has been named. Narayen will remain as chair of the company’s board. He has been Adobe’s CEO since 2007. The news overshadowed first-quarter beats on the top and bottom lines.Ulta Beauty — The beauty products retailer lost 12% after reporting weak earnings results. In its fourth quarter, Ulta earned $8.01 per share, falling short of the $8.03 per share that analysts polled by LSEG were expecting. Revenue of $3.9 billion was ahead of the $3.8 billion that the Street expected.Once Upon A Farm — The baby food company co-founded by actress Jennifer Garner tumbled 8% after reporting its first earnings since going public in February. Once Upon a Farm guided full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $2 million to $4 million, versus $6.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone. Full year revenue was pegged at 25% to 29% growth against 30% in the fourth quarter.
Read here for the full list.
— Scott Schnipper
Rivian shares drop 2% as vehicle announcement fails to excite investors
The logo of electric truck company Rivian is shown above a vehicle at the LA Auto show “AutoMobility LA” in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Nov. 20, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Shares of Rivian Automotive dropped 2% on Friday, dragging the beaten-down stock even further into the red even after the company unveiled its R2 platform in an effort to boost sales. The glaring issue to investors is that Rivian’s attempt at a turnaround comes during a tough time for electric vehicle sales, and in a market that’s already dominated by Tesla.
Rivian’s upcoming R2 release, slated for 2027, will sell vehicles that cost between $45,000 and $57,990 based on varying performance and interiors and exteriors. The models are cheaper compared to Rivian’s R1s, which carry a nearly $80,000 starting price, as Rivian looks to attract a broader cohort of buyers.
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Rivian stock performance over the past year.
Shares of Rivian are down about 24% year to date. The company has been plagued by high production costs that were exacerbated by tariffs, supply chain disruptions, recalls and policy changes under the Trump administration that have lowered incentives to purchase EVs.
— Pia Singh
Deutsche Bank says gas prices could have ‘near-immediate’ impact on restaurants
A corporate logo for McDonald’s hangs above the door of a restaurant on Broadway in New York City on June 11, 2025.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images
Restaurant stocks have been underperforming the market since the Middle East conflict began, and for good reason. According to Deutsche Bank analyst Lauren Silberman, it’s time to get defensive in the sector.
“We believe a meaningful increase in gas prices for an extended period of time would pressure discretionary wallets, and thus restaurant spending,” Silberman said. She explained that several restaurants saw a “near-immediate” hit to customer traffic as gas prices rose during the response to the Russia-Ukraine war, and that could repeat.
Best positioned stocks in the sector that she highlighted are: McDonald’s, for its value-position; Starbucks, which touts momentum due to its turnaround efforts; Shake Shack, which skews to higher income customers; and Texas Roadhouse, which has shown “consistent execution.”
Silberman said McDonald’s will be refreshing its focus on value with new offerings in April, including a $4 breakfast bundle. McDonald’s shares are down more than 4% month to date, but remain up 6% in 2026.
Starbucks stock has been the strongest performer of the bunch, it’s up 18% year to date, with a 1.8% increase so far in March.
— Christina Cheddar Berk
Iran war oil shock stokes fears of 1970s-style stagflation
Fears of 1970s-style stagflation have been stoked as the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran has rattled markets and prompted a spike in oil prices.
A toxic mix of higher inflation and slower growth often proves a heady cocktail for both equity and bond markets, which last fell in tandem through 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw oil prices exceed $120 a barrel.
For investors fearful of the specter of stagflation and what it could mean for their portfolios, history can provide some answers.
In 1973, the S&P 500 plummeted by more than 40% as a recession coincided with the OPEC oil crisis, according to Capital Economics, leading to a lost decade for large-cap equity returns.
To find out why this time could be different, read more here.
— Joseph Wilkins
Job openings were higher than expected in January
A ‘help wanted’ advertisement is displayed in Manhattan on Jan. 9, 2026, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Job openings accelerated in January, more than expected during a month that hiring also defied expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed openings rose by to 6.9 million, an increase of 396,000 from the prior month. As a share of the labor force, the vacancy rate rose to 4.2%, or an increase of 0.2 percentage point. The FactSet consensus outlook was for 6.7 million.
Other categories within the JOLTS survey showed little change.
Nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly increased by 126,000 in January but then fell by 92,000 in February.
— Jeff Cox
Consumer outlook edges lower in March, U of Michigan survey shows
Shoppers in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Consumer sentiment was little changed in March as the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran heated up, the University of Michigan reported Friday.
The school’s Survey of Consumers posted a headline reading of 55.5, down 1.9% from February and close to the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 55.3. The current conditions index rose 2.1% while the expectations index fell 4.4%.
“Interviews completed prior to the military action in Iran showed an improvement in sentiment from last month, but lower readings seen during the nine days thereafter completely erased those initial gains,” survey Director Joanne Hsu said.
On inflation, the one-year outlook was unchanged from February at 3.4% while the five-year reading nudged lower to 3.2%.
— Jeff Cox
Stocks open higher
U.S. equities rose on Friday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 301 points, or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, as did the Nasdaq Composite.
— Sean Conlon
Pete Hegseth says don’t ‘need to worry’ about Strait of Hormuz
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine hold a joint press conference at the Pentagon press briefing room in Washington DC, United States on June 26, 2025.
Celal Gunes | Anadolu | Getty Images
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed concerns that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war with Iran would remain a lasting problem.
“We have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it,” he said at a Pentagon press briefing.
Hegseth dismissed reports that the United States military had no plan to address a closure ahead of the war. “We planned for it,” he said.
“Ultimately, we want to do it sequentially in the way that makes the most sense for what we want to achieve,” he added.
— Dan Mangan, Michelle Fox
Fourth-quarter GDP growth revised down to just 0.7%
Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025 while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The first revision of the GDP reading was a sharp step down from the previous estimate of 1.4% and well below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 1.5%. It also marked a considerable slowdown from the 4.4% gain in the prior period. Read more.
— Jeff Cox
Barclays downgrades Adobe to equal weight after news of CEO transitioning out
In an aerial view, a sign is posted on the exterior of an Adobe office on Dec. 10, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
In a Friday note to clients, Barclays downgraded design software stock Adobe to equal weight from overweight.
The downgrade comes after Adobe announced that CEO Shantanu Narayen will step down after a successor has been appointed. Narayen, who has been CEO since 2007, will remain as the company’s chair. He said in a memo to employees that he would stay on the board to support the next Adobe CEO.
“Mr. Narayen’s leadership at Adobe been exemplary…but, we think it will take time for a new CEO to effect change here given ADBE’s $25B+ [annual recurring revenue] base, which is why we are stepping to the sidelines and lowering our PT to $275,” wrote analyst Saket Kalia.
Kalia’s revised price target implies that shares could add just 2% from here. Adobe stock has plunged 23% this year and 29% over the past 12 months.
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ADBE 1Y chart
Adobe also reported a fiscal-first quarter earnings and revenue beat. However, Kalia said that other headwinds were Adobe’s net new annual recurring revenue for the quarter coming in less than he expected, alongside faster growth in Adobe’s freemium products.
“[Net new annual recurring revenue] was below our estimate as Generative AI tools like Adobe Firefly impacted tools like Adobe Stock, as customers can now create images using text prompts rather than relying on stock images,” he said. “Faster growth in freemium users like Firefly and Express is weighing on [average revenue per user], but this could be compelling at some point given ADBE’s success with Acrobat Reader (Adobe’s original freemium product), so this will be a trend worth tracking because of the sheer number of subscribers available in these freemium markets.”
— Lisa Kailai Han
Russia’s UK ambassador says U.S. ‘misadventure’ in Iran does not have a clear exit strategy
Smoke rises after airstrikes in Tehran, Iran on March 13, 2026.
Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty Images
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is a “misadventure” whose goals and exit strategy remain unclear, Russia’s ambassador to the U.K. told CNBC.
Andrey Kelin said Russia has “a lot of sympathy” with Tehran and said “the best end” to the escalating Middle East war is for it to “show only that they are senseless.”
“We still are trying to understand, what are the goals of President Trump in this campaign. You know that lots of doubts have been expressed about the exit strategy that the American administration can have in this endeavor,” Kelin told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick in an interview recorded on Thursday. Read more.
— Sam Meredith
Adobe, Intrepid Potash, Ulta Beauty among the stocks making moves before the bell
Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:
Adobe — The software giant saw shares tumble 8%. CEO Shantanu Narayen said that he would step down from his post after a successor has been named. Narayen will remain as chair of the company’s board. He has been Adobe’s CEO since 2007. The news overshadowed first-quarter beats on the top and bottom lines.Fertilizer stocks — Shares of fertilizer companies rose on expectations that the Strait of Hormuz disruptions will continue amid the escalating Iran war. Intrepid Potash and Nutrien both climbed 2%, while Mosaic climbed 1%. CF Industries added less than 1%.Ulta Beauty — The beauty products retailer lost 7.4% after reporting weak earnings results. For its fourth quarter, Ulta posted earnings of $8.01 per share, falling short of the $8.03 per share that analysts polled by LSEG were expecting. The retailer’s revenue of $3.90 billion came out ahead of the $3.80 billion expected.
Read more here.
— Michelle Fox
European stocks slide as oil prices remain above $100 a barrel
Bloomberg Creative | Bloomberg Creative Photos | Getty Images
European stocks began Friday’s session in negative territory as the conflict in Iran and the surge in oil prices continues to weigh over markets.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was trading 0.9% lower around 8:20 a.m. in London (4:20 a.m. ET), with most regional bourses and sectors firmly in the red.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, advanced 1.8% in early dealmaking to reach $102.36. The rise came as the U.S. on Friday issued a temporary 30-day waiver on sanctioned Russian oil in transit at sea, in a move aimed at easing growing fears over a supply shock in the Strait of Hormuz.
— Hugh Leask
Asia stocks fall amid renewed fears of a prolonged Iran war
Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Friday as oil prices soared on renewed fears that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could further crimp energy supplies.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 0.3% in early Asia trade.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2% while the broad-based Topix fell 1.4%. Â
South Korea’s blue chip Kospi slumped almost 3% and the small-cap Kosdaq shed nearly 2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was set to open lower, with futures last trading at 25,467, compared with the index’s previous close of 25,716.76.
— Anniek Bao
Markets’ hopes for Fed interest rate cuts slide as Iran war continues, oil prices surge
A television station broadcasts Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaking after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Dec. 10, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
As both energy prices and inflation fears pop, expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts are sliding. Traders in the fed funds futures market have taken even a September cut off the table and now see only one coming, in December, according to the CME gauge.
Traders in recent days have abandoned hopes of an early summer easing from the central bank, a change in thinking that coincided with the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran and a burst in oil prices to around $100 a barrel. There are no additional cuts priced in until well into 2027 or even into the early part of 2028, despite the presence of presumptive new Chair Kevin Warsh, picked by President Donald Trump ostensibly for a willingness to ease aggressively. Current Chair Jerome Powell leaves the position in May.
Whether that outlook holds up likely will depend on how things play out in the Middle East. Should the situation improve, it could reinstall a sense of normalcy to the markets and renew hopes for more easing.
Even with Brent crude settling above $100, Trump again called on Powell to cut.
“Where is the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome “Too Late” Powell, today? He should be dropping Interest Rates, IMMEDIATELY, not waiting for the next meeting!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
— Jeff Cox
Ulta Beauty, Adobe among stocks moving after Thursday’s close
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading:
Ulta Beauty — Ulta shares dropped 8% after the beauty products retailer reported weak earnings results. For its fourth quarter, Ulta posted earnings of $8.01 per share, falling short of the $8.03 per share that analysts polled by LSEG were expecting. The retailer’s revenue of $3.90 billion came out ahead of the $3.80 billion expected.Adobe — The software giant saw shares tumble nearly 7%. CEO Shantanu Narayen said that he would step down from his post after a successor has been named. Narayen will remain as chair of the company’s board. He has been Adobe’s CEO since 2007. The news overshadowed first-quarter beats on the top and bottom lines.Lennar — The homebuilder dropped 2% in the after-hours session, after Lennar reported a second quarterly earnings miss in a row. The company reported earnings of 93 cents per share on revenue of $6.62 billion, falling short of the 96 cents per share and $6.88 billion that was expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
U.S. stock futures open little changed