Daily Market Report – March 19, 2026

Following Iranian attacks on energy facilities in the Gulf region, Brent (TVC:UKOIL) surged intraday to $119.13 per barrel before the price retreated after indications from Washington about additional supply measures, closing at $108.65; WTI (TVC:USOIL) briefly rose above $100 but ended the day nearly unchanged at $96.14.

The ECB kept the deposit rate at 2.0 percent, raised its inflation forecast for 2026 to 2.6 percent, and explicitly pointed to the energy risks from the Iran war; the Bank of England maintained the key interest rate at 3.75 percent and signaled rising inflation risks; the SNB indicated increased foreign exchange market interventions against a too-strong franc while keeping the key interest rate unchanged. This set the tone for the day: no easing, but a Europe-wide wait-and-see mode in light of a new energy shock.

In the stock markets, the reaction in Europe was significantly sharper than in the U.S. The Stoxx 600 (INDEX:STOXX) lost 2.4 percent to 583.73 points, while the Dax (XETR:DAX) dropped to 22,839.56 points, losing 2.82 percent according to Handelsblatt. In New York, the decline was more moderate: The S&P 500 (SP:SPX) fell by 0.27 percent to 6,606.49 points, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:IXIC) by 0.28 percent to 22,090.69 points, and the Dow Jones (DJ:DJI) by 0.44 percent to 46,021.43 points. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) lost 3.2 percent and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) 1.0 percent.

This reassessment was even more clearly visible in the bond, currency, and commodity markets. In the UK, the yield on two-year government bonds jumped by 27 basis points to 4.38 percent as the market priced in interest rate hikes instead of cuts following the BoE decision. In the currency market, the dollar index (TVC:DXY) fell by 1 percent to 99.20, while the euro to dollar (FX_IDC:EURUSD) rose by 1.18 percent to 1.1585 and the pound to dollar (FX:GBPUSD) increased by 1.4 percent to 1.34360. In commodities, gold (TVC:GOLD) lost 4.3 percent to $4,612.21.