These stocks in the S&P 500 have dropped the most since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran

By Philip van Doorn

A disappointing Friday employment report helped send stocks down further, with cruise operators hammered

U.S. stock indexes have held up pretty well since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks Iran on Feb. 28, but 79% of stocks in the S&P 500 were down for the week, as of Friday morning.

Updated with Friday's closing prices.

Since the U.S. and Israel began their barrage against Iran's government on Feb. 28, U.S. stocks on the whole had held up rather well through Thursday. But on Friday there was more bad news for investors.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly Employment Situation Summary, with nonfarm U.S. payrolls declining by 92,000. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected the U.S. economy to add 50,000 jobs during February.

Don't miss: MarketWatch's in-depth live coverage of the U.S. labor market and other economic developments.

More on markets: Trump has a plan to open the Strait of Hormuz. Here are the obstacles it faces.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 453 points, or 0.9%, on Friday to close at 47,501.55, for a one-week decline of 3%. The S&P 500 SPX declined 1.3% on Friday and was down 2% from a week earlier. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP declined 1.4% on Friday and was down 2.2% for the week, according to data supplied by LSEG. All price changes in this article exclude dividends.

Here is how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 have performed since the close on Feb. 27, ahead of the attack against Iran on Feb. 28, through Friday. The sectors are sorted by ascending price change since Feb. 27, with the full index at the bottom.

   Sector or index           One-week price change through March 6  2026 price change  2025 price change 
   Materials                                                 -7.2%               9.2%               8.4% 
   Consumer Staples                                          -4.9%              10.3%               1.3% 
   Healthcare                                                -4.6%              -1.6%              12.5% 
   Industrials                                               -4.1%               9.4%              17.7% 
   Real Estate                                               -2.3%               6.6%              -0.3% 
   Utilities                                                 -2.1%               8.9%              12.7% 
   Communication Services                                    -2.1%              -1.8%              32.4% 
   Financial                                                 -1.8%              -8.0%              13.3% 
   Consumer Discretionary                                    -1.4%              -5.2%               5.3% 
   Information Technology                                    -0.4%              -5.9%              23.3% 
   Energy                                                     1.0%              25.6%               5.0% 
   S&P 500 Index                                             -2.0%              -1.5%              16.4% 
                                                                                            Source: LSEG 

The materials sector has been the worst performer since the attack on Iran began. The energy sector has been the best performer but was only up 1% for the week. Then again, the sector has risen 25.6% this year.

The worst-performing sector so far in 2026 has been the financial sector, which was down 1.8% on Friday following the dismal U.S. employment report.

Worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 since the attack began

Among components of the S&P 500, 75% were down for one week through Friday.

Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 that sank the most for the week:

   Company                            One-week price change through March 6  2026 price change  2025 price change 
   Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings                                    -19.1%             -10.2%             -13.3% 
   Carnival                                                          -18.3%             -15.6%              22.6% 
   AES                                                               -18.1%              -1.3%              11.4% 
   Corning                                                           -18.0%              40.8%              84.3% 
   Sandisk                                                           -17.0%             122.1%                N/A 
   Ciena                                                             -15.6%              25.8%             175.8% 
   Southwest Airlines                                                -15.6%               0.6%              22.9% 
   Estee Lauder                                                      -15.3%             -11.5%              39.7% 
   Lam Research                                                      -14.8%              16.4%             137.0% 
   Teradyne                                                          -14.7%              41.1%              53.7% 
   ON Semiconductor                                                  -14.5%               5.0%             -14.1% 
   Ford Motor                                                        -13.8%              -7.4%              32.5% 
   NRG Energy                                                        -13.8%              -3.1%              76.5% 
   Seagate Technology Holdings                                       -13.5%              28.1%             219.1% 
   PPG Industries                                                    -13.4%               4.1%             -14.2% 
   United Airlines Holdings                                          -13.4%             -17.7%              15.2% 
   Microchip Technology                                              -13.2%               1.6%              11.1% 
   Baxter International                                              -13.2%              -7.4%             -34.5% 
   Qnity Electronics                                                 -13.1%              34.9%                N/A 
   Freeport-McMoRan                                                  -12.8%              16.9%              33.4% 
                                                                                                     Source: LSEG 

The worst two performers among the S&P 500 since the attack on Iran have been Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH), with a 20.4% drop, and Carnival (CCL), down 18.7%. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) is sixth-worst on the list, with a 14.2% decline for the week.

Click on the ticker symbols for more about each company, including news coverage, charts, financials and ratings.

Read: Tomi Kilgore's guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page

-Philip van Doorn

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-06-26 1717ET