Financial Markets                      03/27 09:35

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are falling Friday as Wall Street stumbles 
toward the finish of a fifth straight losing week, which would be its longest 
such streak in nearly four years.

   The S&P 500 sank 0.9% and deepened its losses a day after its worst drop 
since the war with Iran began. It's all the way back to where it was in August 
and is 8% below its all-time high set early this year.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 423 points, or 0.9%, as of 10:05 
a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.

   The losses are a break from Wall Street's pattern this week, where the U.S. 
stock market flip-flopped from gains to losses each day as hopes rose and fell 
about a possible end to the war.

   Moments after the U.S. stock market finished its dismal Thursday of trading, 
President Donald Trump offered another potential signal for hope. He extended a 
self-imposed deadline to "obliterate" Iran's power plants to April 6 if it 
doesn't allow oil tankers to resume their exits from the Persian Gulf to the 
open ocean through the Strait of Hormuz.

   Oil prices eased immediately after Trump's announcement in a sign of hope in 
financial markets that some normalcy may return to the strait. But oil prices 
resumed their climb as the sun moved westward from Asia to Europe and back to 
Wall Street.

   Despite Trump's second announcement of a delay this week, fighting continued 
in the Middle East. Iran gave no signs of backing down, while Israel threatened 
to "escalate and expand" its attacks on Iran.

   "The diplomatic dissonance this week between the U.S. and Iran dismayed 
investors," said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment 
Institute. "By the end of the week, risk appetite could not withstand the fog 
of war."

   "Any further statements by Trump about a deal are white noise to the 
markets," Jim Bianco, president and macro strategist at Bianco Research, wrote 
in a social media post. "Only if the IRANIANS say the talks are going well will 
it impact markets."

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 2.2% to $104.13 and is up from 
roughly $70 before the war began. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 3% to $97.28 per 
barrel.

   The fear in financial markets is that the war will disrupt the production 
and transport of oil and natural gas in the Persian Gulf for a long time. It 
could keep so much oil and gas out of the world's markets that it sends a 
punishing wave of inflation through the global economy. Not only would it raise 
prices for drivers buying gasoline, it could push businesses that use any 
trucks, ships or planes to move their products to raise their own prices.

   If the war continues until the end of June, strategists at Macquarie say the 
price of oil could reach $200 per barrel. So far, the highest oil prices have 
ever been gotten has been just above $147 during the summer of 2008. That's 
when Iran's testing of missiles, including one that could reach Israel, and 
strong demand for oil from China helped send prices spiking despite the Great 
Recession.

   High gasoline prices and the war are already hitting confidence among U.S. 
consumers, whose spending makes up the bulk of the economy. Sentiment among 
them fell slightly more in March from February than economists expected, 
according to a survey by the University of Michigan.

   U.S. consumers also said in the survey that worried about inflation jumping 
in the near future. They're bracing for inflation of 3.8% in the coming 12 
months, up from 3.4% in February. That's the largest one-month increase in 
nearly a year.

   Expectations of higher inflation can kick off a vicious cycle of behavior 
that only worsens inflation. Such worries have virtually eliminated hopes among 
traders that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates this year to boost 
the economy. While lower rates would help give the job market and prices for 
investments an upward jolt, they would also risk making inflation worse.

   Long-term Treasury yields rose even further in the bond market following 
Friday's rise for oil prices. The yield for the 10-year Treasury climbed to 
4.44% from 4.42% late Thursday and from just 3.97% before the war began.

   That rise has already sent rates jumping for mortgages and for other loans 
taken by U.S. households and businesses, slowing the economy.

   On Wall Street, most stocks fell, including two out of ever three in the S&P 
500.

   Among the few stocks to rise was Netflix, which added 0.3% a day after 
announcing price hikes for its services.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a mixed finish in 
Asia.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

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