01:58 PM EDT, 03/27/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes tumbled intraday, while oil prices moved higher as tensions remained elevated in the Middle East amid the Iran war.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.8% at 21,205.4 after midday Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.3% to 45,378.5. The S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 6,395. Among sectors, consumer discretionary saw the steepest decline, while energy led the gainers.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 4.4% to $98.58 per barrel, while Brent increased 2.8% to $104.70.

Israel said it will "escalate" its strikes in response to a series of Iranian missiles, CNN reported Friday. Iran's Navy turned away three ships from the crucial Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day, the news outlet reported, citing semi-official news agency Fars.

Late Thursday, President Donald Trump said the US was further delaying strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure, claiming that Tehran had requested the extension.

"Extending the ceasefire takes some near-term heat out of the market, but risks still lean to the upside," ING Bank said in a report published Friday. "The scale of supply at risk remains significant -- around 8 million barrels per day are already offline, and a much larger volume of flows through the Gulf remains vulnerable -- so the geopolitical premium is unlikely to fade meaningfully."

US Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the 10-year rate little changed at 4.42% and the two-year rate falling 6.6 basis points to 3.92%.

The Middle East conflict has created "new risks" to inflation and economic growth in the US, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Anna Paulson said.

"If inflation were at the (Fed's) 2% target, I would feel more comfortable being patient, keeping monetary policy on hold and waiting to see if a hypothetical growth surge puts upward pressure on inflation," Paulson said. "But if inflation is above 2% and has been for some time, I would be more cautious. I would be inclined to weight the possibility of overheating more heavily in determining appropriate policy."

Separately, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said the Iran war has complicated the demand outlook.

Personal consumption expenditure inflation data over the past few months suggest policymakers' progress on inflation "may be at risk of stalling," Barkin said. "And that was before the (recent) oil price spike."

In economic news, US consumer sentiment this month reached the lowest since December, while year-ahead inflation expectations saw the largest one-month gain since April amid concerns about the ongoing Middle East conflict, a survey by the University of Michigan showed.

In company news, Expedia's ( EXPE ) bookings growth could take a hit in the first half of the year amid the Middle East conflict, Morgan Stanley said in a note. The travel booking platform's shares were down 2.5% intraday.

Entergy ( ETR ) unit Entergy Louisiana agreed to an expanded power supply contract with Meta Platforms ( META ) to support the technology giant's Northeast Louisiana computing facility. Entergy ( ETR ) shares jumped 8.4%, the top gainer on the S&P 500, while Meta fell 4.4%.

Brown-Forman's (BF.A, BF.B) potential merger with Pernod Ricard is likely to face high execution risk due to cultural differences between the companies, RBC Capital Markets said in a note.

Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman and French beverages firm Pernod Ricard said Thursday they were in talks about a possible merger of equals.

Brown-Forman's class B shares were up 6.8% intraday Friday, the second-best performer on the S&P 500, while its class A shares rose 5.7%.

Gold was up 2.7% at $4,493.70 per troy ounce, while silver increased 2.8% to $69.83 per ounce.