Stocks edge higher as investors shrug off an uptick oil prices

Stocks built on yesterday's gains in spite of the ongoing conflict in Iran. A rise in oil propelled energy stocks higher.

Your Evening Briefing March 17, 2026 Our anonymous, three-minute audience survey lets us understand what topics matter most to you, so we can cover what you care about. Take the survey here. Stocks edge higher as investors shrug off an uptick oil prices The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 built on yesterday's gains despite an advance in crude oil. Energy was the best-performing sector, followed by consumer discretionary. Health care fared the worst as the sector was dragged down by Eli Lilly, whose shares fell after it received its only sell rating as HSBC downgraded the stock, citing a smaller market for weight-loss drugs. Bitcoin continued to remain stable after logging eight consecutive days of gains, its longest winning streak in four years. The Federal Reserve began its two-day policy meeting, where prediction markets indicate that the Federal Reserve is seen as a near lock to keep its policy rate unchanged. (Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.) Stocks that moved higher: Uber and Lyft rose on their expanded robotaxi partnerships with Nvidia. Lemonade soared after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight," with a new price target of $85 (from $80). Delta Air Lines and American Airlines rose after boosting their Q1 sales guidance, sending United Airlines and Southwest Airlines higher as well. Frontier Airlines gained after saying revenue per mile would increase by the mid-teens, compared to its earlier guidance of more than 10%. Space, drone, and satellite stocks Rocket Lab, Planet Labs, AST SpaceMobile, Redwire, and Intuitive Machines continued their Iran war-driven rally. Stocks that moved lower: Nebius sank after announcing that it aims to raise $3.75 billion in a convertible loan offering. Beyond Meat slipped after delaying its annual report. Boeing dipped after pushing back its goal of positive margins for its commercial jet division to next year. Cango, a former automotive service-turned bitcoin miner, sank after selling 4,451 bitcoin to pay down long-term debt and "reduce the overall finance leverage and strengthen the balance sheet." Corporate America won't shut up about agentic AI, or AI in general In fact, executives are saying the word "AI" more than they're saying "earnings" on earnings calls. Read more. Nvidia keeps giving Wall Street everything it wants — without getting rewarded Yet another case of good financial news from Nvidia failing to generate an enduring positive reaction. Read more. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees at an all-hands meeting on Tuesday that he sees AI growing AWS sales to $600 billion a year by 2036 — double his prior estimate and more than four times last year's revenue, Reuters reports. Read more. The emerging 2-tier system for moving oil through dangerous waters The road less traveled, or the waters more mined. Investors just raised the most cash since the March 2020 pandemic panic It's just a caution, though. Nvidia's Jensen Huang says the chip designer is getting closer to selling AI chips to China The H200 saga's runtime has long passed The Lord of the Rings Director's Cut edition. Morgan Stanley thinks Tesla's Terafab could cost an additional $35 billion to $45 billion in capex That's on top of the record $20 billion Tesla says it expects to spend on capex this year.  Amazon introduces 1- and 3-hour delivery options in hundreds of new towns and cities One-hour delivery is available in "hundreds of cities and towns" in the US, and three-hour options are offered in "over 2,000 cities and towns," both available seven days a week though their regular same-day shopping experience.  OpenAI snags Amazon AWS deal for classified government work with Anthropic pushed aside Anthropic's designation as a supply chain risk cleared the way for OpenAI to land a contract for classified and unclassified work that uses AWS, rather than Microsoft Azure.  Was this email forwarded to you? Don't miss out on future stories — subscribe to The Wrap and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox.  Craving more insights in your inbox? Subscribe to Chartr and Snacks for quality reads. We care what you think! If you have any feedback or comments, feel free to reply and let us know your thoughts!  Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more Sherwood Terms and Conditions Our Editorial Standards Contact Us Advertise With Us Unsubscribe Privacy Policy SHERWOOD MEDIA, LLC, 85 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025