{"id":59456,"date":"2026-03-05T17:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-jones-slides-as-middle-east-conflict-ignites-inflation-fears\/59456\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:09:22","slug":"dowjonestodaydow-jones-slides-as-middle-east-conflict-ignites-inflation-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-jones-slides-as-middle-east-conflict-ignites-inflation-fears\/59456\/","title":{"rendered":"[DowJonesToday]Dow Jones Slides as Middle East Conflict Ignites Inflation Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/markets\/dowjones\/today.aspx\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (<a href=\"\/stock\/%5EDJI\">^DJI<\/a>)<\/strong> was down <strong>784.67 (-1.6099%)<\/strong> points today, closing at <strong>47,954.74<\/strong>, as a sharp escalation in the <strong>Middle East conflict<\/strong> sent shockwaves through global markets. The primary narrative was driven by <strong>surging oil prices<\/strong> following reports of new military strikes involving <strong>Iran<\/strong>, which have severely disrupted shipping in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>. With <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> climbing toward <strong>$85 per barrel<\/strong>, investors are increasingly concerned that reignited <strong>inflation<\/strong> will force the <strong>Federal Reserve<\/strong> to delay anticipated interest rate cuts until later in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the broader sell-off, enterprise software and energy sectors provided rare bright spots. <strong>Salesforce (<a href=\"\/stock\/CRM\">CRM<\/a>)<\/strong> led the blue-chip gainers, rising <strong>4.36%<\/strong> to <strong>$201.68<\/strong>, while <strong>IBM (<a href=\"\/stock\/IBM\">IBM<\/a>)<\/strong> advanced <strong>2.82%<\/strong> to <strong>$257.56<\/strong> as traders sought refuge in high-margin tech. <strong>Chevron (<a href=\"\/stock\/CVX\">CVX<\/a>)<\/strong> also benefited from the energy spike, gaining <strong>1.41%<\/strong> to close at <strong>$188.49<\/strong>. <strong>Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong> managed modest gains of <strong>0.75%<\/strong> and <strong>0.12%<\/strong>, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, industrial and consumer-facing giants bore the brunt of the downturn. <strong>Caterpillar (<a href=\"\/stock\/CAT\">CAT<\/a>)<\/strong> was the biggest loser, plunging <strong>4.67%<\/strong> to <strong>$696.89<\/strong> on fears of slowing global trade. Retail heavyweight <strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> dropped <strong>4.05%<\/strong> to <strong>$122.72<\/strong> as rising fuel costs threatened consumer discretionary spending. The healthcare sector also struggled, with <strong>Amgen (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMGN\">AMGN<\/a>)<\/strong> falling <strong>3.99%<\/strong> and <strong>Merck (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>)<\/strong> sliding <strong>3.97%<\/strong>, while <strong>Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>)<\/strong> declined <strong>3.88%<\/strong> amid heightened market volatility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down 784.67 (-1.6099%) points today, closing at 47,954.74, as a sharp escalation in 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