Wall Street’s main indexes fell as rising crude oil prices revived inflation fears and the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance on interest rate cuts weighed on sentiment. The US-Israeli war on Iran sent global markets tumbling on Thursday with concern intensifying that central banks will be forced to tighten policy to keep inflation in check. The central bank kept borrowing costs on hold as expected, warning of inflation risks from the war in the Middle East. Metal miners and banks were down 7.8 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively, making them the day’s worst performers. SanDisk and Applied Digital fell more than 2 per cent each, while AI leader Nvidia dipped 1.2 per cent.

Source: The Irish Times March 19, 2026 18:05 UTC