Traders work on the floor of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Monday, March 9, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Stocks were relatively unchanged on Tuesday, while oil prices pared losses as traders kept a close eye on the latest developments out of Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 42 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.1%.
Oil prices, which had been on a tear of late, were close to $90 per barrel Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate futures were last down 6% to trade at around $88 a barrel. Brent crude shed 7% to $92 a barrel.
President Donald Trump on Monday evening said, “We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective,” reinforcing earlier comments that the military campaign could soon end. Speaking at a press conference at his golf club near Miami, Trump also said, “We are also focused on keeping energy and oil flowing to the world.”
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “Today will be our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.” He also said that Iran is “badly losing.”
Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote in a post on X that the Middle Eastern country is not looking for a ceasefire, according to a translation.
Energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations — specifically Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — were planning to meet virtually on Tuesday morning to discuss a potential release of strategic oil reserves.
It comes after G7 finance ministers met to discuss the situation on Monday. In a statement, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol — who attended the meeting — said the conflict in the Middle East was “creating significant and growing risks for the market,” but said various options, including freeing up IEA emergency oil stocks, had been discussed.
Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi oil giant Aramco, told an earnings call on Tuesday that the Iran war will have “catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil market.”
In a note on Tuesday morning, Paul Gooden, head of global natural resources at Ninety One, said oil prices could spike above $120 a barrel if the disruption to the market is extended.
“Oil prices could spike further until higher prices begin to curb demand,” he said. “At that point, consumers and businesses change behaviour: driving less, flying less, or shifting to alternative energy sources. That process of “demand destruction” has historically acted as a natural ceiling for sustained price spikes.”
