Wild Charts Show Pain Points in S&P 500’s Worst Month Since 2022

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(Bloomberg) — Tech megacaps entered a correction, oil prices broke out, big-money funds retreated and small-lot investors showed waning conviction in buying the dip. While the war in Iran that triggered all that didn’t end a three-year bull run in US equities, it is shaking it to its core. 

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With one day to go in March, the S&P 500 Index is on track for the worst month and worst quarter since 2022. Technology stocks were hit particularly hard, owing to a double-whammy of geopolitical angst and worries over disruption from artificial intelligence that pushed the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Inc. down at least 25% this year. 

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For investors who witnessed the Nasdaq 100 Index fall into correction territory this month with a decline of more than 10% from its peak — and the S&P 500 not far behind — concern is high that more pain could be ahead. Fighting in Iran shows no signs of easing, while a supply shock stemming from the interruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz threatens to crimp corporate profits and eat into growth. 

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“Until this month, every dip was a buying opportunity,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, said by phone. “As the month has worn on, the hope, the FOMO, the market’s willingness to rally on relatively slender pieces of news has diminished. We need something more concrete.”

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Below are five charts that show how the US equities market has fared over the course of the quarter.

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Mind the Performance Gap

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As anxiety about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence mixed with uncertainty over tensions in the Middle East, investors dumped tech megacaps, the stock market’s biggest winners in 2025, in droves. That’s put the S&P 500 on track for its worst quarter relative to an equal-weight version of the gauge since 2001, when the dot-com bubble was bursting. 

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The equal-weighted S&P 500 is down 8% from its February record and is testing a few key support levels, according to JC O’Hara, chief technical strategist at Roth Capital Partners. 

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“The Middle East situation remains very fluid, and thoughts of escalation and severe fallout have been embraced by the sentiment of the equity market,” O’Hara wrote. 

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Big Oil’s Big Bounce

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Energy stocks have gained 39% this year in the best quarter on record both for the group and relative to the S&P 500. All 22 members of the group have rallied, with APA Corp. and Texas Pacific Land Corp. advancing at least 62%.

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While a resolution to the Iran war would likely push energy prices lower, many traders expect crude to remain above where it was before the conflict began, which may help buoy the sector.

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“Even looking through the hostilities, the futures market is telling you that crude is not going back to the same levels that it was beforehand,” Sosnick said. 

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Microsoft Leads Big Tech’s Bad Stretch

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Of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks — Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. — all have plunged at least 10% from their respective records. The group is down 16% this year.