CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Dow Falling From Lowest Close Of The Year, New Middle East Attacks Push Oil Prices Higher 3/19/26

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Jessica Eddinger. CNBC, Wall Street, out of the gate in the red. The Dow opened at a fresh low for the year and is falling from that. It's down 309 points, more than a half percent. Caterpillar shares leading it lower, they're down almost 3%. The S&P 500 index down 54 points. That's 8 tenths of a percent. The NASDAQ falling 265 points more than 1%.

Shares of Nvidia down almost 2% this morning. Investors are watching oil prices Brent crude topped $119 a barrel U.S. crude is hovering around 96. We are seeing oil and gas prices surging again today as the war enters what's being called a new phase. It was Israel that struck first hitting Iran's South Paz gas field, the world's largest natural gas field. And Iran's retaliation was really swift as well. Qatar's Rasslafan facility, which is one of the world's largest LNG export hubs, sustained extensive damage after an Iranian missile strike. Iran also firing missiles and launching drones on Saudi Arabia and a refinery in Kuwait as well.

And with Rassafan offline and the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed, 20% of global oil and gas supply remain offline. Analyst telling me today that even if the war stops right now, The damage to these facilities could take months to repair, likely keeping prices higher for longer. That's CNBC's Dan Murphy in the UAE. Prices at the pump went up again overnight by another four cents. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular is now $3.88. Drivers are paying $96 more for a gallon of gas today than they were a month ago. Overnight, another state entered the $4 gas club.

It was Illinois. a gallon is seen by economists as a psychological milestone for consumers. Idaho, Florida, and Michigan are getting very close. CNBC's Carl Kintanilla and Mad Money host Jim Kramer are talking about duration. I do think that a lot of this is short-term, but I don't know what short-term means. It's short-term three months. If it's six months, then suddenly it's long-term. Well, the airline transport associations on the tape today say, in worst cases, a couple of years where this just goes on, it becomes a structural

issue for the energy complex. Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week as job cuts remain historically low. Initial jobless claims weekend in March 14th comes in 10,000 light to expectations, 205,000. That would be the smallest amount and I'm going to have to go back a bit since the second week in January when it was 199,000. And believe me, these are by any historic standards, very low and well-behaved initial That's CNBC's Rick Santelli. Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs in February. That was a sign that the labor market remains under some strain. Micron knocked it out of the park with quarterly results last night. Revenue almost tripled, beating estimates. Bracket scrambling. Round one today for the NCAA men's college basketball tournament right around 12.15 p.m. Eastern.

Most brackets lock at about noon Eastern. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. CNBC Cures Defying Rare Disease, premieres Thursday, 7 Eastern.