U.S. stock indexes have held up pretty well since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks Iran on Feb. 28, but 79% of stocks in the S&P 500 were down for the week, as of Friday morning. – Getty Images
Updated with Friday’s closing prices.
Since the U.S. and Israel began their barrage against Iran’s government on Feb. 28, U.S. stocks on the whole had held up rather well through Thursday. But on Friday there was more bad news for investors.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly Employment Situation Summary, with nonfarm U.S. payrolls declining by 92,000. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected the U.S. economy to add 50,000 jobs during February.
Don’t miss: MarketWatch’s in-depth live coverage of the U.S. labor market and other economic developments.
More on markets: Trump has a plan to open the Strait of Hormuz. Here are the obstacles it faces.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 453 points, or 0.9%, on Friday to close at 47,501.55, for a one-week decline of 3%. The S&P 500 SPX declined 1.3% on Friday and was down 2% from a week earlier. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP declined 1.4% on Friday and was down 2.2% for the week, according to data supplied by LSEG. All price changes in this article exclude dividends.
Here is how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 have performed since the close on Feb. 27, ahead of the attack against Iran on Feb. 28, through Friday. The sectors are sorted by ascending price change since Feb. 27, with the full index at the bottom.
Sector or index
One-week price change through March 6
2026 price change
2025 price change
Materials
-7.2%
9.2%
8.4%
Consumer Staples
-4.9%
10.3%
1.3%
Healthcare
-4.6%
-1.6%
12.5%
Industrials
-4.1%
9.4%
17.7%
Real Estate
-2.3%
6.6%
-0.3%
Utilities
-2.1%
8.9%
12.7%
Communication Services
-2.1%
-1.8%
32.4%
Financial
-1.8%
-8.0%
13.3%
Consumer Discretionary
-1.4%
-5.2%
5.3%
Information Technology
-0.4%
-5.9%
23.3%
Energy
1.0%
25.6%
5.0%
S&P 500 Index
-2.0%
-1.5%
16.4%
..
