Stocks free-fall as Trump's war sends terrified investors into panic mode: report

U.S. stocks sank Friday as President Donald Trump’s escalating war with Iran rattled global financial markets and sparked concerns that the market downturn may not yet be over, according to a new CNN report.

The Russell 2000 – an index of smaller companies seen as more sensitive to interest rates – fell 2.7% and moved in “correction territory,” a Wall Street term that describes when an index drops 10% or more from its most recent peak.

“The stock market remains in negative territory for the year, and has made new 2026 lows this week, which suggests that the market may not have yet found its bottom,” David Laut, chief investment officer at Kerux Financial, told CNN.

Major indexes also declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 444 points, or 0.96%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.51% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 2.01%, briefly dipping into correction territory during trading.

“The war with Iran is sending energy prices soaring, raising concerns about inflation and complicating the outlook for central banks across the globe,” CNN reported Friday. “Uncertainty about the duration of the conflict, and the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates to combat inflation, are dimming the outlook for stocks.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields jumped to their highest level since July, and gold fell to its worst week since 1983, the report said.

Laut added in an email to CNN that the markets are still “in the process of sorting out and pricing in the duration of the Middle East conflict and oil price outlook.”