Pessimistic
Last updated: 2026-03-03 23:44:21 ET
Pulse AI Brief
Updated Mar 3, 2026 10:01 PM ET
U.S. average gas prices recorded their biggest single-day surge in four years as the Iran conflict rattled energy markets. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, citing the inflationary precedent of Russia's Ukraine invasion, said he wants to wait and assess before committing to rate cuts — though one or two reductions later in 2025 remain possible.
Higher pump prices act as a direct consumer tax, compressing discretionary spending and threatening retail and consumer staples margins. The Fed's hawkish pause signal pushes rate-sensitive sectors — housing, utilities, REITs — further into the red.
A war-driven energy shock arriving on top of existing tariff inflation creates a stagflationary bind for the Fed, limiting its ability to cushion any growth slowdown with rate cuts.
Syerston was one of the critical minerals projects classified as being of great importance to national security by both the US and Australia.
The US President said he was taking steps to keep energy supplies flowing as oil and gas prices continued to surge.
The U.S. war with Iran is rattling energy and financial markets. Gasoline prices jumped overnight while stock prices tumbled.
What Trump’s war on Iran means for the US energy crunch
'United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz'
A longer war means a harsher global economic fallout
The longer the war in the Gulf, the harsher the global economic fallout
Disruption to global energy supplies and the prospect of an ever-widening conflict in the Middle East has sent crude-oil and natural-gas futures highe...
These are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading.
For months, the region has been encouraged by low inflation and better-than-expected economic growth. A disruption to energy supplies from the Middle ...
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