Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 9, 2026 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
What you need to know today
Oil prices continued to soar on Tuesday, closing more than 11% lower as traders said countries would use emergency oil reserves to ease the chaos caused by wars in the Middle East. The plunge came despite aggressive rhetoric from US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about attacks on Iran, with Hegseth saying Tuesday “will be the day of the most intense attacks.”
U.S. crude oil and Brent crude oil each fell more than 17% in early trade on Tuesday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright falsely claimed in X that the U.S. Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The post has since been deleted and confirmed to be false by White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt.
U.S. stocks ended the day mixed as traders weighed falling oil prices against the risk of further price increases. A CBS News report indicating that Iran may be moving to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz also soured sentiment.
Meanwhile, Iran has defended its attacks on the Gulf state, telling CNBC that US military facilities in the region are “legitimate” targets in its conflict with the US and Israel. Gulf states told CNBC that the attack had created a “huge gulf of trust” that would persist for years to come.
The global repercussions of the conflict have also spread to South Korea, where President Lee Jae-myung said on Tuesday that while South Korea opposes the US transfer of air defense assets out of the country, it is not in a position to demand it. Restaurants in India are struggling because war has disrupted the supply of liquefied natural gas. Around 90% of the industry relies on LPG cylinders to run its kitchens.
On the artificial intelligence front, Oracle reported a profit beat and issued strong guidance, pushing its stock up as much as 10% in after-hours trading. Investors seemed reassured by the software company’s full support amid concerns about the company’s massive debt to fund AI development.
And finally…
How the Iran war and rising energy prices threaten semiconductor demand
Analysts warned that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could affect the semiconductor industry’s access to key materials and that rising costs could hurt demand for chips that have been at the heart of the artificial intelligence boom.
Semiconductor stocks were caught up in the decline seen in the stock market until President Donald Trump said on Monday that the war would be over “soon.”
Memory chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung have been particularly hard hit, with more than $200 billion collectively wiped out since the war began, even though their stock prices soared on Tuesday.
— Arjun Karpal
