Steep Losses Send Dow Into Correction Territory

0:00Here's your closing bell brief for Friday, March 27. I'm Katherine Sullivan for the Wall Street Journal. US stocks fell sharply again today as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensified. The NASDAQ lost more than 2%, the Dow dropped 1.7% to enter correction territory, or more than 10% off its high in February. In the S&P 500, also dropped 1.7% today to close out its fifth straight week of losses. Investors reacted to news of a potentially longer military confrontation between the United States and Iran. Crude oil prices climbed 4% as the conflict continued to threaten energy infrastructure. Gold prices rose 2.7% while the dollar edged higher. Among individual companies, Luminum shares rose 2%, the laser maker plans to build a new manufacturing plant for artificial intelligence data center components. Shares of AstraZeneca gained more than 2.5% in London trading, a new lung disease drug met

1:05its primary goals in two late-stage clinical trials. Carnival shares dropped 4%, after the cruise line cut its full-year profit outlook, management blamed rising fuel costs driven by higher oil prices. Meanwhile, shares of Norwegian cruise line fell nearly 7%, the company announced it would reshape its board following a truce with an activist investor. And shares in the maker of Jack Daniels Whiskey, Brown Foreman, climbed nearly 6% on the news of a potential merger with the French drinks company Pernot Ricard. Its France-listed shares rose 8%. Heads up, an artificial intelligence tool helped us make this episode by creating summaries that were based on WSJ reporting and then reviewed and adapted by an editor. We'll have a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.