{"id":12728,"date":"2026-03-27T08:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hazelbakerfinancial.com\/weekly-market-performance-march-27-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:03:52","slug":"weekly-market-performance-march-27-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisors3.bradcable.com\/hazelbakerfinancial\/weekly-market-performance-march-27-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Market Performance | March 27, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LPL Research<\/a>
\nLast Updated:\u00a0

LPL Research provides its\u00a0Weekly Market\u00a0Performance for the week of\u00a0March\u00a023,\u00a02026.<\/b> U.S. and global equity markets finished the week mostly lower as geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East continued to drive volatility across regions and asset classes. Equities were whipsawed by shifting hopes for de\u2011escalation,\u00a0choppy\u00a0energy prices, and renewed pressure on large\u2011cap technology stocks, while Treasury yields moved higher amid weak auction demand and elevated inflation expectations. International markets were mixed, with Europe showing relative resilience and most Asian markets declining, as investors remained\u00a0highly sensitive\u00a0to developments affecting global energy supplies.\u00a0In commodities, crude oil was little changed, and in currencies, the dollar\u00a0strengthened\u00a0and the yen weakened near key levels.<\/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-2.06%<\/td>\n-7.36%<\/td>\n-6.91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dow Jones Industrial<\/b><\/td>\n-0.79%<\/td>\n-7.68%<\/td>\n-5.92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nasdaq Composite<\/b><\/td>\n-3.09%<\/td>\n-7.45%<\/td>\n-9.73%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Russell 2000<\/b><\/td>\n0.58%<\/td>\n-6.83%<\/td>\n-1.18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EAFE<\/b><\/td>\n0.09%<\/td>\n-11.11%<\/td>\n-2.46%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EM<\/b><\/td>\n-1.02%<\/td>\n-11.99%<\/td>\n0.67%<\/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>\n4.26%<\/td>\n-9.02%<\/td>\n7.02%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Utilities<\/b><\/td>\n3.03%<\/td>\n-3.88%<\/td>\n7.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Industrials<\/b><\/td>\n-1.01%<\/td>\n-9.78%<\/td>\n2.89%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Staples<\/b><\/td>\n1.33%<\/td>\n-8.19%<\/td>\n6.48%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Real Estate<\/b><\/td>\n-0.70%<\/td>\n-8.28%<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Health Care<\/b><\/td>\n-0.73%<\/td>\n-10.07%<\/td>\n-7.16%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Financials<\/b><\/td>\n-1.89%<\/td>\n-6.56%<\/td>\n-12.48%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Discretionary<\/b><\/td>\n-1.76%<\/td>\n-8.65%<\/td>\n-12.14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Information Technology<\/b><\/td>\n-3.37%<\/td>\n-6.29%<\/td>\n-11.54%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Communication Services<\/b><\/td>\n-6.98%<\/td>\n-11.41%<\/td>\n-11.18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy<\/b><\/td>\n6.26%<\/td>\n12.57%<\/td>\n40.04%<\/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-0.08%<\/td>\n-2.46%<\/td>\n-0.76%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Credit<\/b><\/td>\n0.00%<\/td>\n-2.63%<\/td>\n-1.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Munis<\/b><\/td>\n-0.64%<\/td>\n-2.55%<\/td>\n-0.41%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg High Yield<\/b><\/td>\n0.01%<\/td>\n-1.49%<\/td>\n-0.81%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oil<\/b><\/td>\n1.18%<\/td>\n48.43%<\/td>\n73.25%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natural Gas<\/b><\/td>\n0.00%<\/td>\n8.25%<\/td>\n-16.03%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gold<\/b><\/td>\n0.62%<\/td>\n-14.37%<\/td>\n4.65%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Silver<\/b><\/td>\n3.52%<\/td>\n-25.00%<\/td>\n-1.85%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 3\/27\/26 @3:19 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>Headlines remained\u00a0volatile and noisy over the last full week of March, leaving the S&P 500 below the weekly flatline as equity markets continued to broadly be driven by geopolitical headlines and their directional impact on oil prices. Losses were\u00a0relatively measured, however, as major U.S. averages traded in positive territory for\u00a0the majority of\u00a0the week\u00a0on\u00a0de-escalation hopes.\u00a0Risk appetite\u00a0was\u00a0lifted\u00a0after\u00a0President Trump\u00a0stated\u00a0that Washington and Tehran had \u201cvery productive\u201d talks on ending hostilities in the Middle East,\u00a0and\u00a0halted\u00a0attacks on energy\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0before\u00a0delivering\u00a0a 15-point peace proposal to Iran.\u00a0Equities\u00a0held gains\u00a0on the signals that Washington may be serious about\u00a0winding down\u00a0the conflict\u00a0via the\u00a0credible off-ramp, but Iran\u2019s denial of peace talks,\u00a0rejection of the ceasefire proposal, and bounce in crude prices kept a lid on stocks.<\/p>\n

Despite the White House extending\u00a0its\u00a0pause\u00a0of\u00a0attacks, de-escalation doubts continued to\u00a0weigh on\u00a0already\u00a0fragile sentiment, with a slide in big tech names\u00a0exacerbating\u00a0losses at the index level.\u00a0Shares of social\u00a0technology\u00a0giant Meta (META) sold off after being ruled liable for addictive social media products, alongside Alphabet (GOOG\/L), which\u00a0separately\u00a0sparked declines in memory and chipmakers after unveiling a new\u00a0algorithm\u00a0that may reduce memory needs for artificial intelligence.\u00a0A continued backup in Treasury yields\u00a0and Brent crude prices rising near $110 per barrel were\u00a0also flagged as headwinds\u00a0for stocks\u00a0due to the\u00a0subsequent\u00a0inflation and economic jitters, which led to continued selling Friday as U.S. and Israeli defense forces struck Iranian nuclear sites and steel facilities.<\/p>\n

International Equities:\u00a0<\/b>Across the pond, the European STOXX 600\u00a0held\u00a0gains despite selling pressure over the latter half of the week.\u00a0The regional benchmark jumped late in Monday trading in response to reported U.S.-Iran peace\u00a0talks, and\u00a0persevered through climbing energy prices the\u00a0rest\u00a0of the week\u00a0to stay above the weekly unchanged point.\u00a0Mid-week gains were a bright spot as bulls waded into\u00a0the market on\u00a0assurance from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde that a rate hike is not penciled in at this time, but central bankers will respond swiftly if inflationary pressures rise.\u00a0Nonetheless, stocks eased into the weekend on chatter around\u00a0increasing headwinds the longer energy prices\u00a0remain\u00a0elevated,\u00a0as well as\u00a0the Bank of France lifting inflation expectations and cutting its growth forecast due to the conflict.<\/p>\n

Asian stocks ended mostly lower, with just Japan and Australia bucking the trend among major markets. Like the U.S. and Europe, the Asia-Pacific region remained\u00a0highly sensitive\u00a0to developments out of the Persian Gulf,\u00a0with fluctuating hopes of a restored flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz driving choppy trading. South Korea faced the most downside pressure on chip and memory share weakness following the GOOG\/L news,\u00a0while losses for greater China were capped by state media reports of a jump in homegrown artificial intelligence model adoption earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

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

Fixed Income: <\/b>Core bonds, measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate\u00a0Index,\u00a0traded\u00a0slightly lower this week.\u00a0Despite the rise in Treasury yields over the past month, this week\u2019s auctions were, by many measures, disappointing. The Treasury Department auctioned off\u00a0$183 billion\u00a0(total) in two-year, five-year, and seven-year notes this week, and demand for each auction came in among the lowest levels of the year with demand for the two-year auction the lowest in two years. Moreover,\u00a0in\u00a0each auction the Treasury was forced to pay more than market expectations to generate even this muted level of demand. The weak auction results\u00a0largely reflect\u00a0heightened uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Iran conflict and a near\u2011term increase in inflation expectations. Short\u2011term inflation expectations continue to rise, and market-implied expectations for Fed rate cuts have shifted to probabilities of rate hikes extending into June 2027.\u00a0Importantly, longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored, which suggests the Fed is in no need to\u00a0actually increase\u00a0rates right now.<\/p>\n

Despite this week\u2019s weak Treasury auction results, we do not believe we are on the precipice of an outright buyers\u2019 strike. With yields approaching key psychological levels \u2014 around 5% on the 30\u2011year and 4% on the\u00a0two\u2011year \u2014 we expect incremental demand to\u00a0emerge, given current market pricing for Fed policy, even if those thresholds are temporarily breached. In other words,\u00a0absent\u00a0a meaningful un-anchoring of long\u2011term inflation expectations, we see limits to how much further yields can rise.<\/p>\n

Commodities and Currencies: <\/b>The broader commodities complex\u00a0traded slightly lower this week after\u00a0bouncing off\u00a0mid-week\u00a0lows. Crude oil prices\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0budge from the\u00a0commodities\u00a0spotlight\u00a0again, but price momentum did cool as both West Texas Intermediate (WTI)\u00a0and Brent crude prices posted moderate week-to-date moves.\u00a0While rising in recent\u00a0sessions\u00a0on de-escalation doubts from investors, crude struggled to fully recover from Monday\u2019s steep drop triggered by reported U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks.\u00a0Nonetheless, the Strait of Hormuz remained bottlenecked\u00a0(Iran did allow 10 tankers to traverse the waterway as a show of goodwill)\u00a0as the conflict dragged on, leaving\u00a0prices elevated\u00a0its\u00a0length remains unclear\u00a0and U.S. insurance programs have yet to begin.\u00a0Gold prices also remained choppy as ceasefire hopes whipsawed, but the yellow metal\u00a0ultimately\u00a0traded modestly higher Friday afternoon. Silver traded higher thanks to a positive Friday session, while the U.S.\u00a0Dollar Index strengthened against its peers\u00a0after\u00a0shrugging off early weakness.\u00a0The Japanese yen also made headlines as potential currency intervention by Tokyo\u00a0remains\u00a0on the table while lingering near key levels versus the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n

Economic Weekly Roundup<\/h2>\n

The economic calendar\u00a0was\u00a0relatively quiet\u00a0over the last five\u00a0days\u00a0with\u00a0high-profile prints slated for next week\u00a0at the\u00a0start\u00a0of\u00a0the new month. The\u00a0headline of this week\u2019s reports was\u00a0arguably Friday\u2019s\u00a0release of the latest consumer sentiment report from the University of Michigan. While the\u00a0gauge was revised lower than consensus expected\u00a0for\u00a0the month of March,\u00a0the drop was not extreme and\u00a0did not come as a major shock to investors as\u00a0dented consumer sentiment was\u00a0generally to\u00a0be expected given ongoing\u00a0inflation angst driven by higher oil prices.\u00a0Also released this week\u00a0was\u00a0initial\u00a0jobless claims arriving\u00a0in\u00a0line\u00a0with\u00a0expectations while continuing claims declined, and a slight\u00a0miss\u00a0in preliminary composite economic activity data on the back of weaker\u00a0services\u00a0results.\u00a0However,\u00a0both\u00a0the\u00a0manufacturing\u00a0and\u00a0services\u00a0Purchasing Managers\u2019 Indexes\u00a0remained in expansion.<\/p>\n

The Week Ahead<\/h2>\n

The following economic data is slated for the week\u00a0ahead:<\/p>\n