Market selloff Friday
U.S. markets slid on March 20: the S&P 500 fell 1.51% to 6,506.67, Nasdaq dropped 2.01% to 21,647.61 and the Russell 2000 plunged 2.27% — Nvidia lost about 3.1% on the day (x.com). Bitcoin and Ether were softer but still near high levels — BTC around $70k and ETH near $2,140 — keeping crypto correlated with stocks (x.com).
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed into the mid‑4% range on Friday, adding roughly 11 basis points during the session and lifting short‑term yields as well. (cnbc.com (cnbc.com)) Those moves pushed benchmark yields to levels not seen since mid‑2025, with the 10‑year finishing at about 4.39% and the 2‑year near 3.88% — the highest readings since July 2025. (advisorperspectives.com (advisorperspectives.com)) The Federal Reserve’s March 18 FOMC statement left the target federal‑funds rate unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% and formally released updated economic projections tied to that decision. (federalreserve.gov (federalreserve.gov)) Fed officials’ dot‑plot still shows a median projection for one rate cut in 2026 but shifted toward fewer total cuts, a nuance markets read as a hawkish signal. (cnbc.com (cnbc.com)) Brent crude traded above $110 a barrel amid escalating disruptions to Middle East energy infrastructure, adding a fresh inflation risk premium to markets. (tradingeconomics.com (tradingeconomics.com)) News of attacks on regional facilities and reduced tanker traffic pushed futures briefly into the $115–$120 neighborhood earlier in the week, intensifying risk‑asset outflows. (bloomberg.com (bloomberg.com)) Friday also featured the quarterly “triple‑witching” convergence and massive expirations — roughly $5.7 trillion in notional options were set to expire, forcing mechanical rebalancing into an already fragile session. (bloomberg.com (bloomberg.com)) Small caps bore an outsized share of the move: the Russell 2000 slid more than 10% from its recent peak and became the first major U.S. benchmark to enter correction territory in 2026. (cnbc.com (cnbc.com)) Nvidia’s quarterly results and eye‑popping Q1 FY2027 guidance — management set revenue at about $78 billion after a quarter with roughly $68.1 billion in revenue — left the stock highly visible to profit‑taking flows amid the broader risk selloff. (nvidianews.nvidia.com (nvidianews.nvidia.com)) (247wallst.com (247wallst.com)) Crypto markets saw concentrated expirations on the same day — Deribit’s March expiry totaled about $1.72 billion across roughly 24,838 contracts — a structural pinch that coincided with risk‑off flows from oil and rate repricing. (spotedcrypto.com (spotedcrypto.com)) (coindesk.com (coindesk.com))
