Weekly Market Commentary: Stocks Fall for Fifth Consecutive Week

Sunflower Bank Weekly Market Commentary: March 30, 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 Fall for Fifth Consecutive Week," include:

• The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and MSCI ACWI Indexes all declined for the 5th consecutive week as hostilities in the Middle East continued. The S&P 500 fell -2.1%, the Nasdaq 100 dropped -3.2%, and the MSCI ACWI declined -1.5% last week. Over the last five weeks, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are down -8%, and the MSCI ACWI has fallen -9%.
• Oil prices have continued to rise, and both WTI and Brent crude ended the week at fresh highs. WTI closed at $99 per barrel, and Brent closed at $112 per barrel. The two crude benchmarks rose on the week, despite falling more than -10% on Monday.
• Markets are currently pricing in a multitude of risks stemming from the conflict. One concern is that an increase in oil prices will erode companies profit margins, and thus net income, which reduces the outlook for EPS in future periods.

  
  

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