US Stocks Trade Muted for 2nd Session

2026-03-11 13:40 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

US equity indices were muted for a second session on Wednesday and uncertainty with the war in the Persian Gulf prevented markets from taking on more risk.

The S&P 500 and the Dow hovered near the flatline, while a strong session for tech shares lifted the Nasdaq 100 past the 25,000 mark.

Crude benchmarks pared their surge this session but product prices remained sharply higher as escalation between Iran, GCC nations, and US-Israeli military furthered expectations that energy exports from the region will remain halted.

This lifted yields and pressured credit-sensitive equities despite the IEA recommending an aggressive release of oil stockpiles by members and no upside surprises to the US CPI for February.

Tech giants led the gains with Oracle surging 13% on its guidance beat, improving the demand for AI companies with already-high valuations.

In turn, consumer defensive and pharmaceuticals were mostly lower.



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