Gas Prices Could Set New All-Time High By the End of March
Americans filling up at the pump are about to get a rude awakening. We’ve been publishing all day on how bad oil prices could get, and oil futures just opened up to a historic jump. Widely…
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Live: Oil Futures Rocket Past $100 Per Barrel as S&P 500 Futures Collapse
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Newest firstOil Keeps Skyrocketing
Well, its been a historic night. Oil futures are now up an incredible 30% from their Friday close.
WTI Crude futures are now trading for $119 per barrel, or up 30.6% from their Friday close.
If this keeps up, tomorrow will be a massive sell-off across non-energy stocks.
Futures Keep Sinking
Could tomorrow morning be a historic sell-off?
- Nasdaq futures are now down 2.7%
- S&P futures are down 2.25%
- And Dow futures are down 2.3%
Oil prices are absolutely rattling markets.
Expect many popular names to be down 3% or more tomorrow morning if this holds up.
Stock Futures Check-In: NVIDIA Down 1.9%, Exxon Up 3%, Chevron Up 3.4%
We’ve been watching premarket futures all night and there’s a big divide.
- NVIDIA: Down 1.9%.
- Alphabet: Down 3%
- Tesla: Down 2%
On the other end…
- Exxon Mobil: Up 3.1%
- Chevron: Up 3.4%
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s going on. Chevon and Exxon are up big on oil price movements while companies levered to the global economy like NVIDA, Alphabet, and Tesla are falling.
Oil Futures Hold at 18% Increase But Index Sell-Off Deepens
WTI oil futures are up 18% as of 8 p.m. ET. That’s been holding relatively steady since futures trading opened two hours ago.
More troubling for investors is the fact that equity future losses have deepened. Nasdaq Futures are now down 1.84%.
That’s almost equal to Dow Futures (down 1.81%) and slightly higher than S&P 500 Futures (down 1.7%).
S&P 500 Futures Are in Free-Fall Amidst Massive Oil Futures Surge
It’s now 7:25 p.m. ET, and the situation for stock futures hasn’t improved.
- Dow Futures: Down 1.8%
- S&P Futures: Down 1.6%
- Nasdaq Futures: Down 1.56%
Of course, the real catalyst for all these movements is the price of oil. WTI futures are still up 17.5%.
For investors (except those concentrated in energy), it’s looking like a massive gut punch tomorrow. Many of the most volatile stocks sold off on Friday afternoon, likely in anticipation of this oil price movement.
For consumers, the pain is about to get much worse. We just published an article on whether gas prices could reach an all-time high.
The depressing news? The answer is probably yes.
Still, oil shocks don’t always turn into long-term events. The price of oil per barrel hit its high in June 2008. It’s been all downhill since that point.
More on Gas Prices
Oil shocks begin in financial markets and then are felt by consumers.
As we noted in our initial write-up, oil futures are up 18% at the beginning of trading on Sunday night.
That continues a massive move across the past week. On Monday morning, oil futures were trading for $73 per barrel, now they’re trading for $108.
Gas prices across the U.S. rose 16% across the past week and are now $3.45. We’d expect this situation would continue accelerating. Right before futures opened, I published an article why gas could hit $7 per gallon soon in California.
If tonight’s after-hours move holds up, that prediction could prove conservative.
Live coverage has ended. The full story is below.
Full Coverage
The story so farHere we go. Futures markets opened at 6 p.m., and oil futures are skyrocketing. As of 6:30, WTI Futures are at $107.64, a jump of 18% from where they closed on future.
As you’d expect, this massive jump has caused equity futures to plummet. Let’s dive into why tomorrow morning could lead to a wave of selling across stocks.
Markets in Freefall
Dow Jones futures are down 1.9% and S&P 500 futures are down 1.5%. That follows an already rough week for equities: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) had dropped 1.98% over the prior week before Sunday’s futures open.
The Iran Shock
The catalyst is the escalating Iran War and Tehran’s attempt to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint through which a significant portion of global oil supply flows. WTI crude has surged from $66 per barrel on February 20, 2026 to above $100 tonight as the conflict intensifies. For more on what this supply threat means, see our companion piece at 247wallst.com.
The VIX has spiked nearly 50% across the past week, now sitting at $29.49. Expect it to soar higher tomorrow if futures hold. United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA:USO) is up 32.73% over the past week alone.
Pain at the Pump
The national average gas price is already $3.45 per gallon as of March 8, 2026 (AAA), up 16% in just one week. Prediction markets give 63% odds that gas hits $4.50 by the end of March. California residents could face even steeper prices. Consumer sentiment was already at 56.4 before this shock, but is likely to worsen. See our California-specific breakdown here.
What to Watch This Week
Monday’s open will be the first real test. Watch whether equity markets absorb the futures selloff or accelerate lower. Any ceasefire signal or diplomatic movement on the Strait of Hormuz could sharply reverse oil’s move.
The Fed, currently at 3.75%, now faces a stagflation dilemma: inflation rising while growth faces serious headwinds. If oil holds above $100 into the week, consumers will start feeling the pain next, and the dominoes will begin falling.
As a note, we’ll be updating this article.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Eric Bleeker
Eric Bleeker has been investing for more than 20 years. He began his career working at Microsoft before joining Motley Fool, one of the largest publishers of financial research. In his 15 years at Motley Fool Eric served as the General Manager for Fool.com and led coverage in the Technology & Telecom sector. In addition, he was a featured columnist and has hosted dozens of investing seminars attended by more than a million total investors. Eric has more than 1,000 financial bylines to his name and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fox Business, and many other leading publications. He is currently focused on artificial intelligence investing and is a CFA Charterholoder.
