U.S. stocks close: Iran's key industrial facilities attacked, Nasdaq drops over 2% for the second consecutive day

Cailian Press, March 28 - (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng) Last night and this morning, following an attack on two large steel mills and associated power facilities in Iran, and a “yellowcake” production plant, the increasingly bleak prospects for a swift ceasefire triggered a new round of sell-offs. The S&P 500 index started the week at 6600 points, but consecutively fell below the 6500 and 6400 point thresholds. After the Nasdaq entered a technical correction zone yesterday, the Dow also fell into the correction zone on Friday.

By the close, the S&P 500 index was down 1.67%, closing at 6368.85 points; the Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.15%, closing at 20948.36 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.73%, closing at 45166.64 points.

(S&P 500 index daily chart, source: TradingView)

Thus, all three major U.S. stock indexes recorded five consecutive weekly declines. The Nasdaq dropped 3.23% this week, the S&P 500 index fell 2.12%, and the Dow decreased by 0.90%.

Meanwhile, WTI crude oil futures for May delivery closed up $5.16 on Friday, settling at $99.64 per barrel, a rise of 5.46%; London Brent crude oil futures for May delivery rose by $4.56, closing at $112.57 per barrel, an increase of 4.22%.

Both benchmark crude oil prices reached their highest closing levels since July 2022.

From the market performance, it is evident that the Middle East experienced another day of turmoil yesterday.

According to reports from various media outlets including CCTV News, Iran disclosed on Friday that two large steel mills, Mobarakeh Steel Company and Khuzestan Steel Company, were attacked. A power substation and alloy steel production line at Mobarakeh Steel Company were targeted, while a warehouse at Khuzestan Steel Company was hit.

Subsequently, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization announced that a “yellowcake” production facility located in Ardakan city, Yazd province, was also attacked. Initial investigations indicated that there was no leakage of radioactive materials to the outside of the complex.

As a retaliatory measure, Iran has listed six steel mills within Israel and relevant industrial facilities in five regional countries as new targets for retaliation, warning that “industrial enterprises and heavy industry workers associated with the U.S. and Israel in the region should immediately leave their workplaces to avoid jeopardizing their lives.”

At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, participating in a G7 foreign ministers meeting in France, publicly stated on Friday that military actions against Iran are expected to “end at the appropriate time,” emphasizing that this refers to “weeks, not months.” According to media reports, Rubio informed other foreign ministers at the meeting that the Iran war would continue for “two to four weeks.”

(Local time March 27, 2026, Le Bourget, France, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio speaks to the media after attending the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting with partner countries at Bourget Airport)

The key point here is that this is the first time since the war began on February 28 that a senior U.S. official has hinted that the duration of the war will exceed the “four to six weeks” previously mentioned by Trump.

Early Saturday morning Beijing time, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian confirmed on social media that Israel had launched attacks on Iran’s two largest steel mills, a power plant, and civilian nuclear facilities, stating that the actions were coordinated with the U.S. according to Israeli sources.

Amir-Abdollahian also noted that the attacks contradicted President Trump’s earlier claims of a “pause in strikes on Iranian energy facilities,” reiterating Iran’s firm stance on safeguarding national security and interests.

The conditions on the trading floor also indicate that traders are increasingly reducing their trading judgments based on certain verbal statements, shifting their focus to more meaningful signals such as satellite imagery and troop movements.

Charlie McNamara, head of commodities at Bank of America, stated, “As reality begins to replace the impact of news headlines, we are starting to see oil prices exhibit a slow but sustained upward trend.”

Performance of Popular Stocks

By market capitalization, at the close, Nvidia fell 2.17%, Apple dropped 1.62%, Google-A decreased 2.34%, Microsoft fell 2.51%, Amazon dropped 3.95%, TSMC rose 0.19%, Broadcom fell 2.82%, Tesla dropped 2.76%, Meta decreased 3.99%, and Berkshire Hathaway-A fell 1.24%.

Although the “seven giants” have all performed poorly over the past six months, Microsoft’s situation is particularly striking. After four consecutive days of decline, Microsoft has retreated nearly 34% from its historical peak last October.

Driven by rising prices of gold, silver, and crude oil, related resource companies saw gains. Newman Mining rose 2.76%, Barrick Gold increased 2.96%, Pan American Silver gained 4.13%, and First Majestic Silver rose 7.04%. The two major U.S. oil giants, ExxonMobil and Chevron, both reached record highs.

Chinese concept stocks continued to be dragged down by the overall market, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closing down 1.9% on Friday.

At the close, Alibaba fell 2.17%, Pinduoduo dropped 0.81%, NetEase decreased 0.62%, JD.com fell 1.64%, Baidu dropped 1.63%, and Ctrip fell 3.44%.

Other News

【Anthropic “Myth” Model Accidentally Exposed, Cybersecurity Sector Hit】

Due to the accidental leak of a draft press release from AI giant Anthropic, which mentioned that the next generation of large models would “bring unprecedented cybersecurity risks,” the U.S. stock market’s cybersecurity sector was hit again on Friday.

At the close, CrowdStrike fell 5.87%, Palo Alto Networks dropped 5.97%, Zscaler decreased 5.89%, and Cloudflare fell over 3%. The Global X Cybersecurity ETF was down 4.53%, expanding its year-to-date decline to 21%.

【AstraZeneca’s New COPD Drug Reports Success】

AstraZeneca rose 2.74% on Friday against the trend. The company announced that its experimental monoclonal antibody drug tozorakimab met the primary endpoint in two Phase III clinical trials, significantly reducing the incidence of moderate to severe acute exacerbations in COPD. The drug works by inhibiting the inflammatory protein IL-33 and is the first IL-33 targeted therapy to achieve such results in late-stage COPD trials, following failures by Sanofi and Roche in this field.

【Sony Raises Global PS5 Prices Again】

Sony announced an increase in the global price of the PlayStation 5 console starting April 2, with the standard version rising by $100 to $649.99, the digital version also rising by $100 to $599.99, and the PS5 Pro increasing by $150 to $899.99. This is the second price hike for the same product within a year, primarily due to soaring memory prices.

【Meta Funds Power Plant to Support AI Center】

U.S. power production and retail company Entergy rose 6.82% on Friday, leading S&P 500 constituents. This followed Meta’s agreement to cover all power service costs for its AI data center in Louisiana. The project involves seven new natural gas power plants, providing a total of 5.2 gigawatts of power.

【SoftBank Raises $40 Billion for Investment in OpenAI】

SoftBank Group announced on Friday that it has signed a $40 billion bridge loan to support its investment in OpenAI and supplement corporate funding needs, with a loan term of 12 months, arranged by institutions including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Sumitomo Mitsui.