The broad US equity index is closing out its worst quarter in four years, reflecting an investor retreat driven in large part by inflation fears, uncertainty over the Iran war and concerns about the economic impact of artificial intelligence, reports Reuters.
The benchmark S&P 500 is on track to drop about 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, its worst since 2022, when markets were rattled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the after-effects of the pandemic.
