Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, on March 9, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
What you need to know today
Oil continued its wild ride on Tuesday, closing down more than 11%, as traders believed a group of countries would tap emergency crude reserves to mitigate disruptions caused by war in the Middle East. The sharp drop came despite aggressive rhetoric from US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about attacking Iran. Hegseth said Tuesday “will be our most intense day of attacks.”
Earlier in the session, both US crude oil and Brent crude fell more than 17% each after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday falsely claimed on X that the US Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The post was later deleted and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed it was incorrect.
US stocks ended the day mixed as traders weighed the pullback in oil prices against the risk of a further rally. Sentiment was also affected by a CBS News report indicating that Iran could be moving toward deploying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, meanwhile, defended its attacks on its Gulf neighbors, telling CNBC that U.S. military assets located in surrounding territories were “legitimate” targets in its conflict with the United States and Israel. Gulf states told CNBC that the attacks have created a “huge trust gap” that will last for years.
The global repercussions of the conflict have spread to South Korea, and the country’s president, Lee Jae Myung, said Tuesday that Seoul opposes the United States removing air defense assets from the country but is not in a position to make demands. In India, restaurants are in trouble because the war interrupted the supply of liquefied natural gas. Around 90% of the industry depends on LPG cylinders to run their kitchens.
On the artificial intelligence front, Oracle reported an improvement in its earnings and issued strong guidance, driving its shares up as much as 10% in extended trading. Investors seemed reassured by the software company’s overall success, amid fears about the company’s heavy debt load funding its AI development.
And finally…
How the Iran war and rising energy prices threaten semiconductor demand
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East could affect the semiconductor industry’s access to key materials, while rising costs could hit demand for chips that have been central to the rise of artificial intelligence, analysts have warned.
Semiconductor stocks were caught in the selloff seen in stock markets before President Donald Trump said Monday that the war will end “very soon.”
Memory chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung have been especially hard hit, with more than $200 billion wiped from their combined value since the start of the war, even as both stocks rose sharply on Tuesday.
—Arjun Kharpal
