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Informist, Friday, Mar. 6, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: US futures down 2% as crude oil prices breach $100/bbl

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--US futures fell nearly 2% as the war in West Asia pushed crude oil prices over $100 per barrel for the first time in years. Futures contracts of the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 were down over 2?ch at 0704 IST. On Friday, all three indices had closed in the red, with the Nasdaq Composite witnessing the steepest fall at 1.6%.

 

As hostilities between the US-Israel and Iran entered its 10th day, investors on Wall Street weighed its impact on energy supply across the world. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the rise in "short-term oil prices" was a "very small price to pay" for destroying the nuclear threat in Iran. At 0736 IST, Brent crude May futures were at $113.82 per barrel, up more than 23%.

 

Major West Asian oil producers cut their output due to the shutdown of the key Strait of Hormuz, leading to the jump in oil futures Sunday night, CNBC reported. On Friday, Qatar's energy minister told the Financial Times that oil prices could hit $150 per barrel if the coflict in West Asia continues, further spooking the sentiment on Wall Street. 

 

Further, disappointing data on non-farm payrolls in the US stoked anxieties of a slowdown in the economy. The data showed the US lost jobs in February and the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%, higher than the expectations of 4.3%. Investors will closely monitor data releases on inflation, employment and gross domestic product, due this week.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6704.02	(-)1.33
NASDAQ Composite	22387.68	(-)1.59
Dow Jones Industrial Average	47501.55	(-)0.95

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 91.74

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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