{"id":12723,"date":"2026-03-13T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hazelbakerfinancial.com\/weekly-market-performance-march-13-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:00:00","slug":"weekly-market-performance-march-13-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisors3.bradcable.com\/hazelbakerfinancial\/weekly-market-performance-march-13-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Market Performance \u2014 March 13, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LPL Research’s Latest Blog Posts<\/a>
\nLast Updated: March 13, 2026<\/p>\n

LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of\u00a0March\u00a09,\u00a02026.\u00a0<\/b>Capital markets remained volatile for another week as geopolitical\u00a0turmoil\u00a0in\u00a0the Middle East and rising oil prices continued to pressure global sentiment, yet U.S. equities remained\u00a0relatively resilient\u00a0with\u00a0somewhat measured\u00a0declines. Energy stocks again led the S&P 500, while semiconductors provided key support amid strong earnings takeaways. International markets were mostly lower, with Europe weighed down by stagflation concerns and Asia\u00a0dented by rising oil prices and credit market jitters. Meanwhile, bond markets saw yields rise and curves flatten as investors pushed out rate\u2011cut expectations, and\u00a0crude oil\u00a0moved higher amid supply disruptions.<\/p>\n

Stock Index Performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Index<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S&P 500<\/b><\/td>\n-1.28%<\/td>\n-2.67%<\/td>\n-2.80%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dow Jones Industrial<\/b><\/td>\n-1.77%<\/td>\n-5.74%<\/td>\n-2.92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nasdaq Composite<\/b><\/td>\n-1.13%<\/td>\n-1.83%<\/td>\n-4.76%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Russell 2000<\/b><\/td>\n-1.75%<\/td>\n-6.25%<\/td>\n-0.03%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EAFE<\/b><\/td>\n-1.66%<\/td>\n-7.28%<\/td>\n0.65%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EM<\/b><\/td>\n-0.52%<\/td>\n-6.71%<\/td>\n4.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

S&P 500 Index Sectors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sector<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Materials<\/b><\/td>\n-1.38%<\/td>\n-7.60%<\/td>\n7.71%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Utilities<\/b><\/td>\n0.85%<\/td>\n1.04%<\/td>\n9.86%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Industrials<\/b><\/td>\n-2.89%<\/td>\n-5.38%<\/td>\n6.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Staples<\/b><\/td>\n-0.16%<\/td>\n-4.73%<\/td>\n10.11%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Real Estate<\/b><\/td>\n-1.12%<\/td>\n-2.71%<\/td>\n5.44%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Health Care<\/b><\/td>\n-1.52%<\/td>\n-4.63%<\/td>\n-3.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Financials<\/b><\/td>\n-3.11%<\/td>\n-5.24%<\/td>\n-10.86%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Discretionary<\/b><\/td>\n-2.86%<\/td>\n-3.08%<\/td>\n-7.92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Information Technology<\/b><\/td>\n-0.61%<\/td>\n-1.65%<\/td>\n-6.52%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Communication Services<\/b><\/td>\n-1.30%<\/td>\n-0.62%<\/td>\n-3.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy<\/b><\/td>\n2.47%<\/td>\n6.09%<\/td>\n28.71%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Fixed Income and Commodities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Indexes and Commodities<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate<\/b><\/td>\n-0.79%<\/td>\n-1.29%<\/td>\n-0.03%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Credit<\/b><\/td>\n-1.20%<\/td>\n-1.91%<\/td>\n-0.69%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Munis<\/b><\/td>\n-0.69%<\/td>\n-0.91%<\/td>\n0.71%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg High Yield<\/b><\/td>\n-0.39%<\/td>\n-0.86%<\/td>\n-0.13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oil<\/b><\/td>\n7.18%<\/td>\n54.92%<\/td>\n69.68%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natural Gas<\/b><\/td>\n-1.63%<\/td>\n-3.36%<\/td>\n-14.98%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gold<\/b><\/td>\n-2.50%<\/td>\n0.00%<\/td>\n16.74%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Silver<\/b><\/td>\n-4.28%<\/td>\n4.53%<\/td>\n12.92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 3\/13\/26 @3:10 p.m. ET
\nDisclosures: Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.<\/i><\/p>\n

U.S. and International Equities<\/h2>\n

U.S. Equities:\u00a0<\/b>Much like last week, geopolitical developments out of the Middle East and the direction of crude oil prices guided market\u00a0sentiment\u00a0in volatile trading.\u00a0Nonetheless, also\u00a0similar to\u00a0last week, U.S. equities continued to hang tough\u00a0with the Nasdaq\u00a0and\u00a0S&P 500\u00a0both trading just\u00a0over 1% lower.\u00a0Tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively halted, forcing producers in the Persian Gulf to shut or reduce production\u00a0\u2014\u00a0exacerbated\u00a0by Iranian attacks on regional targets in the latter half of the week. Worries of a global\u00a0energy\u00a0supply crunch drove oil\u00a0prices\u00a0and Treasury yields higher. Inflation worries\u00a0pushed out rate cut bets\u00a0\u2014\u00a0acting\u00a0as a headwind for stocks\u00a0\u2014\u00a0with\u00a0releases of emergency reserves doing\u00a0little to sway investor sentiment.\u00a0Dovish-leaning\u00a0remarks on the conflict from inside the Beltway early this week cushioned returns after President Trump\u00a0stated\u00a0that the U.S. campaign was ahead of schedule\u00a0relative to\u00a0its\u00a0initial\u00a0four-\u00a0to\u00a0five-week\u00a0timeframe, although no immediate off-ramp\u00a0has been\u00a0presented yet.\u00a0In-line inflation data and better-than-expected personal spending data briefly lifted risk sentiment Friday, before stocks slipped back below the flatline as investors\u00a0digested\u00a0a sluggish\u00a0revision to fourth quarter economic growth\u00a0and reports of\u00a0additional\u00a0U.S. military assets and personnel\u00a0shipping\u00a0off\u00a0to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Energy stocks\u00a0led\u00a0the S&P 500 again this\u00a0week, while\u00a0technology provided notable\u00a0under-the-radar\u00a0support.\u00a0Semiconductor shares\u00a0were\u00a0second only to energy among\u00a0sub-industry groups\u00a0thanks to\u00a0well-received earnings from Oracle (ORCL) with\u00a0artificial\u00a0intelligence (AI) overspending\u00a0and cash flow\u00a0angst partially defused\u00a0after executives\u00a0stated\u00a0some cloud customers will prepay for chips\u00a0or supply their own.<\/p>\n

International Equities:\u00a0<\/b>The pan-European STOXX 600 Index ended\u00a0moderately lower\u00a0on\u00a0the week.\u00a0Stagflation\u00a0concerns\u00a0remained\u00a0center stage\u00a0as\u00a0inflation and economic growth jitters\u00a0collided. The\u00a0combination could constrain the European Central Bank\u00a0(ECB)\u00a0and Bank of England from easing,\u00a0a\u00a0dynamic underlined by\u00a0ECB\u00a0Governing Council member Peter Kazimir,\u00a0who\u00a0stated\u00a0that rate hikes may be closer than initially thought. Nonetheless, the energy-sensitive region\u00a0hugged the flatline\u00a0with some support from the emergency oil release.\u00a0Simultaneously, banking shares\u00a0were\u00a0a drag after Deutsche Bank flagged a\u00a0$30 billion\u00a0exposure to private credit amid ongoing\u00a0nervousness\u00a0around the space.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Asian equities ended mostly lower as the effect of higher oil prices rippled across the globe.\u00a0However, within regional developments,\u00a0Japan was weighed down by banking shares\u00a0as rate hike hopes for this summer were offset by credit\u00a0concerns\u00a0from the U.S. spilling across the Pacific.\u00a0Japanese markets also\u00a0drew attention to end the week\u00a0amid rising yields and a weaker yen. South Korea continued to face outsized swings in both directions as chipmaking and AI-related shares remained volatile, while Taiwan was a relative outperformer with just a modest loss.\u00a0Mainland China led the region with a slight gain, padded by Tuesday\u2019s rally on Tencent\u2019s new AI agent launch.\u00a0Australia\u00a0was also among\u00a0underperformers\u00a0as inflation expectations hit their highest level since 2023.<\/p>\n

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity Markets<\/h2>\n

Fixed Income: <\/b>Core bonds, measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate\u00a0Index,\u00a0traded\u00a0lower over the last five days.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the Iran conflict, Treasury yields are higher across the yield curve by\u00a0roughly 30\u00a0basis points. The yield curve has also flattened, with the 10\u2011year and 2\u2011year spread near its flattest level since last December. Selling pressure at the front end of the curve has pushed out rate-cut expectations, with markets\u00a0fully pricing in the next cut in 2027.\u00a0The bond market sell-off has been global,\u00a0with markets\u00a0seemingly expecting\u00a0a new rate-hiking campaign by the European Central Bank (nearly two\u00a0hikes) and the Bank of England (almost one full hike) this year.\u00a0Fundamentally, Treasury yields\u00a0represent\u00a0the expected fed funds rate over the life of the security, plus a term\u00a0premia. So, the sell-off in the front end of the U.S. Treasury curve is\u00a0likely limited\u00a0as\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0unlikely the Fed will reverse course and start to hike rates later this year.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0more likely that the Fed would delay cuts into next year or when there is further clarity from the Iran conflict.\u00a0So, if markets fully price out rate cuts this year, the 2-year yield in particular will be limited with how much higher its yield could go.\u00a0Longer maturities, however, may drift higher due to rising term premia and less\u2011certain policy expectations further out.<\/p>\n

Commodities and Currencies: <\/b>The broader commodities complex\u00a0traded\u00a0higher this week after oscillating around the unchanged point.\u00a0Crude oil\u00a0remained\u00a0the focal point not just within commodities but across capital markets, with both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent futures trading higher over the second week of the conflict in the Middle East. Tanker flows through\u00a0the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz remained halted\u00a0and jitters of a supply squeeze kept upward pressure on prices\u00a0despite\u00a0an emergency release\u00a0of 400 million barrels\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. plans for protection and insurance. However,\u00a0these bright spots were overshadowed by\u00a0worries of how much of the release can get to the market in time and the two-week delay in U.S. action, respectively, and the fact that producers have slashed or stopped production as a result of the blockade\u00a0filling storage facilities\u00a0and Iranian strikes around the region.\u00a0Elsewhere, gold traded lower on waning rate cut expectations and a stronger\u00a0U.S. dollar, which strengthened\u00a0as investors continued to favor the greenback as\u00a0a\u00a0safe haven\u00a0in their search for liquidity\u00a0amid few signs of an offramp for the conflict.\u00a0The euro, yen, and pound all weakened.<\/p>\n

Economic Weekly Roundup<\/h2>\n

The Fed\u00a0has a\u00a0dilemma. Annual core inflation accelerated to 3.1% in January from 3.0%\u00a0the\u00a0previous month. We expect further acceleration in next month\u2019s release.<\/p>\n