Investors are awaiting relief as the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel continues to escalate, with three major averages expected to drop at least 1% in the period as oil saw even more gains on Friday, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate both seeing gains of around 3%. This follows another week of high oil prices, with stocks setting new 2026 lows. The duration of the Strait of Hormuz closure is a key factor in the market's reaction, as traffic in the key passageway, which carries about 20% of the world's petroleum consumption, has reportedly halted due to the war. Despite this, Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, predicts that WTI will eventually head back down to $65 to $75 a barrel. Meanwhile, Nvidia's GTC conference is set to take place next week from March 16 to 19, with Wall Street analysts reiterating their bullish stances on the chipmaker. The second Federal Reserve policy meeting of the new year will take place, with the chances of a rate cut being virtually zero. Concerns about the potential impact of the Iran war on the market remain with the technology disrupting various industries have also been noted.