Stock Market Live March 17, 2026: S&P 500 (SPY) Flat as Oil Gushes Higher

By Ian Cooper Updated Mar 17, 10:29AM EDT · Published Mar 17, 9:11AM EDT

Quick Read

Unfortunately, there’s no certainty on when the war with Iran will end. There’s also no certainty with oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, as policymakers weigh the impact of the war with Iran.
CEO Jensen Huang said he expects $1 trillion in orders for the company’s Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems, which doubles the year-ago projections.

Live Updates

Keep an eye on Micron Heading into Earnings

Mar 17, 2026 at 10:29 AM EDT

Since the year began, shares of Micron have exploded from a low of about $295 to a recent high of $441.80. And while impressive, there’s more upside likely with the company expected to post strong earnings and guidance on Wednesday.

With its next round of earnings, Wall Street is looking for EPS of $8.74 to $8.77 for the quarter, with revenue of about $19.03 billion. Helping, analysts at Wedbush raised their price target on MU to $500 from $320, noting that Micron’s earnings outlook continues to improve.

Wells Fargo reiterated its buy rating on the stock with a $470 price target.

And, according to RBC Capital, which has an outperform rating and a $525 price target on Micron, stronger demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is expected to accelerate, especially with next-generation processors such as Nvidia’s Rubin Ultra chips requiring 3.5 times as much HBM as current models.

Delta Just Raised Guidance

Mar 17, 2026 at 9:04 AM EDT

Predicting stronger demand, Delta just raised its first-quarter revenue guidance above forecasts. The company now sees Q1 revenue rising by high-single digits to a range of about $15 billion to $15.3 billion, as compared to estimates for an increase of 5% to 7%, as compared to estimates for $14.67 billion. This is a result of “accelerated trends in consumer and corporate demand” and strength within its domestic and international segments, added Seeking Alpha.

The roller coaster ride continues.

With oil now back above $95, the major indices are flat. The S&P 500 is up 0.06%, or by about four points. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY | SPY Price Prediction) is up 0.17%, or by about $1.16. The Dow is up 0.12%, or by about 55 points. The Nasdaq is down 0.02%, or by about four points. Gold is up about $23 at $5,019. Bitcoin is down about $980 to $ 73,892.

Unfortunately, there’s no certainty on when the war with Iran will end. There’s no certainty with oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Especially with the U.S. announcing that a coalition to protect shipping is still in the works. All of which has made oil prices far more volatile. Markets hate that uncertainty.

Federal Reserve Expected to Leave Rates Unchanged Today

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, as policymakers weigh the impact of the war with Iran. That’s because of the war’s impact on energy prices, which could ripple through the economy, forcing food, utility, and transportation costs higher. Not helping, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index was already showing that prices were pushing higher. That’s a sign of rising costs even before the war with Iran.

There’s a 99% probability that the Fed will hold its benchmark rate steady, according to CME FedWatch. There’s now a 97% probability the Fed maintains the current range at its April 30 meeting. And a 77% chance that it will hold steady in June.

Market Movers: Nvidia expects $1 trillion in new orders

At Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) 2026 GTC conference, CEO Jensen Huang said he expects $1 trillion in orders for the company’s Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems, which doubles year-ago projections.

Regarding Vera Rubin, the company plans to roll that out this year. “The system, which is made up of 1.3 million components, will deliver 10 times more performance per watt than its predecessor, Grace Blackwell, the company claims. That’s a significant development when energy consumption is one of the most critical issues facing the AI build-out,” added CNBC.

The company also unveiled its first chip from Groq, which it acquired for $20 billion in 2025. It announced the launch of computing platforms for orbital data centers, and announced a new developer toolkit that will work with OpenClaw, a viral AI agent.

With that, analysts at Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating on NVDA, noting that the tech giant laid out a “winning strategy.”

Market Movers: Needham reiterated a buy rating on Amazon

Needham analysts just said Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is best positioned for AI.

Amazon also just announced that shoppers in U.S. cities will have access to three-hour deliveries, with one-hour deliveries also being offered in many of those areas, too. “More than 90,000 products are eligible for delivery in three hours or less, including pantry items, cleaning supplies, over-the-counter medications, clothing, and toys,” added CNBC. “Amazon said it expects to bring the service, which started via small-scale tests late last year, to more areas of the country in the coming months.”