US Equity Markets Lower After Middle East War Escalates

04:12 PM EDT, 03/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed lower on Thursday after an escalation in the Middle East war, which is expected to result in a major LNG supply crunch.

* Initial jobless claims were 205,000 in the week ending March 14, down from 213,000 in the week earlier and below the 215,000 estimated by analysts polled by Bloomberg.

* January wholesale inventories also declined by 0.5%, compared with 0.1% drop in December and lower than the 0.2% gain expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

* April West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $1.44 to settle at $94.88 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.44 at $106.94.

* Baker Hughes (BKR) shares were up about 5.6% on Thursday after the company said Wednesday it received a 60-month service award from Petrobras (PBR) to support critical turbomachinery equipment for offshore operations in Brazil and a major refinery.

* Micron Technology (MU) reported stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 results and issued an upbeat outlook for Q3, but the semiconductor maker flagged higher spending plans amid memory supply constraints. The company's shares fell about 3.7%.

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