Weekly Market Commentary: Stocks Continue Energy Price-Driven Slide

Sunflower Bank Weekly Market Commentary: March 23, 2026

Each week, our Wealth Management team analyzes the U.S. stock market and bond market activity and news of the previous week, summarizing their findings into a weekly market update report. The key points of this week's commentary, "Stocks Continue Energy Price Driven Slide," include:

• Equities continued their slide last week as the price of oil reached new highs. West Texas Intermediate crude ended the week at $98 per barrel, and Brent crude closed at $112 per barrel. The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 each declined about -2% as higher oil prices create the potential for lower growth and higher inflation. Bond yields rose further as the risk of an acceleration of reduces the likelihood of lower rates in the near-term.
• A slightly hawkish FOMC conference contributed to the increase in yields. The Committee voted to leave the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 3.50-3.75%. In the post-meeting press conference, Chairman Powell commented that the events in the Middle East create the risk of higher inflation, but alluded to the fact that any such energy-related increase in prices may be temporary. As of Friday’s close, the market no longer expects any rate cuts in 2026.
• The S&P 500 has now declined -7% from its high, and is approaching correction territory. Most of this decline has been driven by valuation, with future earnings estimates remaining unchanged. The P/E multiple has fallen from approximately 22x to about 20x as investors reduce their appetite for risk and weigh the odds that earnings estimates may fall.

  
  

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