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

Asking AI · How will the attack on key facilities in Iran affect global market confidence?

Financial Associated Press, March 28 (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng) In the early hours of last night, with the attack on two large steel plants and their supporting power facilities in Iran, as well as a “yellowcake” plant, the already dim prospects for a quick ceasefire triggered a new round of sell-offs. The S&P 500 index, which started the week at 6600 points, consecutively fell below the 6500 and 6400 points levels. After yesterday’s Nasdaq entered a technical correction zone, the Dow also fell into a correction zone on Friday.

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

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

At this point, all three major U.S. stock indices recorded five consecutive weekly declines. Among them, the Nasdaq declined 3.23% this week, the S&P 500 declined 2.12%, and the Dow declined 0.90%.

Meanwhile, WTI crude oil futures for May delivery closed up $5.16 on Friday, at $99.64 per barrel, a rise of 5.46%; Brent crude oil futures for May delivery rose $4.56, to $112.57 per barrel, a gain of 4.22%.

For these two benchmark crude oil prices, both reached their highest closing prices since July 2022.

From the market performance, it is not hard to see that yesterday the Middle East once again experienced a day of intense conflict.

According to reports from CCTV News and other media, Iran disclosed on Friday that two large steel plants, Mobarakeh Steel and Khuzestan Steel, were attacked. A power substation and an alloy steel production line at Mobarakeh Steel were targeted, and a warehouse at Khuzestan Steel was hit.

Subsequently, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization announced that the “yellowcake” production plant located in Ardakan, Yazd Province, Iran, was also attacked. Preliminary investigations showed that this incident did not cause any radioactive material to leak outside the complex.

As a retaliatory measure, Iran has designated six steel plants within Israel and related industrial facilities in five regional countries as new targets for retaliation, and warned that “industrial enterprises and heavy industry personnel related to the U.S. and Israel in the region should leave their workplaces immediately to avoid endangering their lives.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, attending the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in France, publicly stated on Friday that military actions against Iran are expected to “end at an appropriate time,” emphasizing that this refers to “weeks, not months.” According to media reports, Blinken told other foreign ministers at the meeting that the war with Iran would last “two to four weeks.”

(On March 27, 2026, local time, Le Bourget, France, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken 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 war might last longer than the “four to six weeks” previously mentioned by Trump.

In the early hours of Saturday Beijing time, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian posted on social media confirming that Israel launched attacks on Iran’s two largest steel plants, a power plant, and civilian nuclear facilities, and stated that, according to Israeli sources, these actions were coordinated with the U.S.

Amir-Abdollahian also said that these attacks contradict the earlier claim by U.S. President Trump of a “pause in strikes on Iranian energy facilities,” and reiterated Iran’s firm stance on safeguarding national security and interests.

The situation on the trading floor also shows that traders are increasingly reducing reliance on verbal statements for trading judgments, shifting focus to more concrete signals such as satellite imagery and troop movements.

Charlie McNamara, head of commodities at Bank of America, said: “As reality gradually replaces the influence of headlines, we are beginning to see a slow but steady upward trend in oil prices.”

Performance of Popular Stocks

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

Although the “Big Seven” giants have performed poorly over the past six months, Microsoft’s situation is particularly notable. After four days of decline, Microsoft has retraced nearly 34% from its October 2022 all-time high.

Driven by rising prices of gold, silver, and oil, related resource companies moved against the trend. Newmont Mining rose 2.76%, Barrick Gold rose 2.96%, Pan American Silver rose 4.13%, First Majestic Silver rose 7.04%. U.S. oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron both hit record highs.

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

At the close, Alibaba fell 2.17%, Pinduoduo fell 0.81%, NetEase fell 0.62%, JD.com fell 1.64%, Baidu fell 1.63%, Trip.com fell 3.44%.

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(Financial Associated Press, Shi Zhengcheng)