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Major New York stock indexes tumbled across the board as oil prices surged on reports of strikes on energy facilities in the Middle East. Jerome Powell's hawkish remarks, favoring monetary tightening, also froze investor sentiment as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady.

On March 18 (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 46,225.15 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), down 768.11 points, or 1.63%, from the previous session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 91.39 points, or 1.36%, to 6,624.70, while the Nasdaq Composite ended at 22,152.42, down 327.11 points, or 1.46%.

Oil prices, which had shown signs of stabilizing at one point, jumped sharply that day. Israel bombed Iran's largest gas field, and Iran retaliated with airstrikes on energy facilities in neighboring countries.

Israel attacked South Pars, Iran's largest gas field, and a natural gas refining complex in Asaluyeh on Iran's southwestern coast that day. Iran responded with missile strikes on gas facilities concentrated in Qatar, which accounts for 20% of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply.

Brent crude futures for May delivery settled at $107.38 a barrel, up 3.8% from the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for April delivery closed at $96.32 a barrel, up 0.1%.

Inflation data also unsettled the market. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the producer price index (PPI) for February rose 0.7% from the previous month, well above analysts' forecast of 0.3%. The year-on-year increase was 3.4%, the highest in a year.

At the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that concluded that day, Powell said rising oil prices could add to inflationary pressure and weigh on U.S. economic growth. The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50~3.75%.

Powell said, "Inflation is expected to ease to some extent, but not as much as had been hoped," adding, "The rate outlook depends on economic performance, so there will be no rate cuts unless the economy makes progress."

Micron, widely seen as a barometer for earnings in the memory chip industry, fell 2% in after-hours trading despite posting blowout earnings that day. Micron announced quarterly revenue of $23.8 billion and earnings per share of $12.2. Both figures were far above market expectations.

However, investors' expectations had risen too high, and the spread of the Middle East war capped the stock's gains.