Katherine Sullivan

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Here's your closing bell brief for Friday, March 20th.

I'm Katherine Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal.

U.S.

stocks fell sharply today as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East accelerated a market sell-off.

The Nasdaq led the declines with a drop of 2%.

The S&P 500 was down 1.5%, and the Dow was down 1%.

All three major indexes finished lower for the fourth straight week.

Investors reacted to the news that the U.S.

is sending additional marines to the Mideast.

Rising oil prices and higher Treasury yields also weighed on investor sentiment.

Traders are now pricing in a higher chance of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike by October.

Among individual companies, Supermicro Computer shares plunged 33%.

The company placed two employees on leave following an alleged scheme to divert servers to China in violation of U.S.

export control laws.

Nexstar Media shares rose nearly 2% after closing a $6.2 billion merger with rival television station owner Tegna.

Shares of FedEx gained less than 1%.

The shipping giant raised its financial outlook following a rise in quarterly revenue.