Brent crude oil traded near $108 to $112 per barrel on Friday — depending on the session — as fresh Iranian drone strikes on Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi refinery and continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz kept global energy markets under pressure, according to CNBC and Bloomberg. The S&P 500 fell roughly 1 percent on the day and was on pace for its fourth straight week of losses, the longest such streak in nearly a year, according to The Street and 24/7 Wall Street.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.5–3.75 percent at its March 18 meeting, citing elevated uncertainty from the Iran conflict. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose remarks were reported by Fox Business and CBS News, said near-term inflation expectations had risen sharply, driven largely by surging oil prices caused by Middle East supply disruptions. Officials signaled they still expect one rate cut later in 2026, but said timing was contingent on how long the energy shock persisted.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of global oil supplies normally pass, has been effectively closed since the war's first days in late February. Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG facility — the world's largest — suffered an estimated $20 billion in annual revenue losses after Iranian strikes earlier in the week, and analysts cited by Fortune and the Washington Times said total cumulative damage to Gulf energy infrastructure now runs into the tens of billions of dollars.

Economists on both sides of the political spectrum have begun using the term "stagflation" to describe the risk of simultaneous slowing growth and rising prices. CNBC cited Goldman Sachs analysts who said sustained $110 oil would add roughly 0.7 percentage points to U.S. core inflation by mid-year. Fox Business quoted energy industry figures who said domestic U.S. oil production — already at record levels — could offset some of the disruption but not fully replace the lost Gulf supply.