Risk appetite stayed under pressure as the Middle East conflict kept energy markets tight and investors on the defensive side, with oil surging, gold firming back toward record territory, equities sliding across the board, and flows still favoring cash and short-duration safety over risky assets.
Crypto
Crypto went lower, with total market capitalization at $2.3 trillion, down 3.15%, while the Fear & Greed Index fell to 24 in fear territory, the Altcoin Season Index held at 47/100, and the average crypto RSI dropped to 37.07, pointing to an oversold market.
Bitcoin traded at $66,614, down 3.15%, Ethereum slipped to $1,991.16 for a 3.36% loss, BNB eased to $610.72, off 2.88%, and Solana fell to $83.31, down 3.72%.
BTC dominance edged lower to 58.56, suggesting the selling was broad rather than concentrated in majors alone.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs stayed under pressure, with March 26 alone showing $171.3 million in total outflows, the biggest daily withdrawal in three weeks, as Iran war fears rose. IBIT accounted for $41.9 million of that pullback, reinforcing the cautious tone around institutional crypto positioning.
Commodities
US crude traded at $96.71, up 3.10%, while Brent rose to $108.03, up 4.12%, keeping both benchmarks close to the recent highs set during the latest supply scare. The driver is still the same: concern over disrupted flows through a critical shipping corridor, with traders unconvinced that diplomatic pauses will turn into a durable easing in supply risk.
Gold moved the same way, with spot gold at $4,423.545, up 0.95%, regaining momentum as investors reached again for liquidity and protection.
Stock Market Indices
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.74% to 6,477.17, the Dow Jones lost 1.01% to 45,960.11, and the Nasdaq slid 2.38% to 21,408.08, showing clear risk reduction.
In Asia and Europe, the tone was not better, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.83% to 51,910, while London’s FTSE slipped 0.24% to 9,925.5, reflecting a market still repricing inflation risk more than celebrating any diplomatic breathing room.
Market Digest: Geopolitics & Market Movers
On the diplomatic front, markets are reacting to the headlines before they react to the developments. Washington’s decision to extend the deadline to April 6 gave markets a little relief, but not much confidence, because investors want to see a real cooling in tensions, not just another short postponement.
With the key shipping lane still under threat, a route that normally carries roughly 20% of global oil and LNG flows, the fear is that any further disruption could keep energy prices elevated well into April.
Reports of another 10,000 U.S. troops being prepared for deployment only deepened that caution, with a second pressure point emerging in Lebanon, where the conflict is widening and adding to the region’s strain, keeping geopolitical tensions firmly in place.
On the economic front, the market is increasingly treating this as an inflation shock. Treasury yields have pushed higher, traders now see a meaningful chance of Fed tightening this year, and next week’s U.S. jobs data will matter even more as investors test whether growth can absorb higher energy costs without cracking.
