Small caps are more vulnerable than large caps to further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, according to a BofA <a href="https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/russell-2000-how-exposed-is-it-to-the-iran-shock-4537982">note</a>. The main risk is a stagflation shock triggered by higher oil prices. At the same time, small caps tend to recover faster than their large-cap peers after risk-off periods, BofA points out.

BofA: Key risk for small caps in Iran conflict is oil-driven stagflation shock

CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY

Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Spring <a href="https://oninvest.com/article/na-uoll-strit-paniceskaa-rasprodaza-indeks-straha-vyse-20-punktov-onlajn">began</a> for markets around the world with a fall due to the war in the Middle East. Even shares of defense companies were falling. Oninvest asked Halyk Finance portfolio manager Igor Savchenko shortly before the start of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran where to invest $10,000 in March. In his opinion, the list of eternal values includes batteries, copper and cyber security.

Where to invest $10,000 when there's a war on? Three ideas for March

Tesla, Inc.

NVIDIA Corporation

The Singapore billionaire invested about $180 million in the deal, Bloomberg estimated

'Support a nervous market': major Tesla private equity investor bought 1 million shares of Nvidia stock

The White House won't think about a stock market bailout until the S&amp;P drops 10-15%, BCA Research warned

'He doesn't have the switch': Wall Street doesn't expect Trump to save stocks from war in Iran

Israel launched a tenth wave of airstrikes on Tehran on Wednesday, with the country's defense minister vowing that "any leader" chosen by the Iranian regime would be an "obvious target for elimination". The price of Brent crude rose 12% in two days and continued to rise after traders assessed US President Donald Trump's order to insure and escort tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Goldman Sachs head David Solomon believes that markets have reacted to the war in the Middle East with restraint, but investors will need a couple of weeks to make sense of what is happening. Elena Chirkova, Senior Partner at <a href="https://movchans.com/ru">Movchan</a> 's Group of Investment Management Companies, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14rVUHgsumq/?mibextid=wwXIfr">analyzes the</a> markets' reaction to the conflict on her Facebook page.

Markets vote with money: why Middle East stocks don't believe Iran will win

NextVision Stabilized Systems, Ltd.

Aryt Industries Ltd.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.

Mobilicom Limited

ParaZero Technologies Ltd.

The escalating conflict between Israel and the U.S. and Iran is fueling demand for modern warfare defense and software systems faster than supply chains can keep up. In Israel’s equity market, this has significantly boosted defense and tech companies. On <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/news/te_news:529637:0-israel-stocks-hit-record-high/#:~:text=Israel%E2%80%99s%20main%20stock%20index%2C%20the%20TA%2D125%2C%20surged%20nearly%206%25%20on%20Monday">Monday</a>, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index rose as much as 6% intraday. On <a href="https://market.tase.co.il/en/market_data/index/137/major_data#:~:text=Previous%20Trading%20Days">Tuesday</a>, the index closed up 4.75%.

Which small Israeli defense tech stocks can vie with large peers for defense budgets?


European indices recoup losses after Tuesday's drop and collapse in Asia

Stocks in Europe rise fast in defiance of Trump and war threats What else is in the markets

GitLab Inc.

GitLab, a mid-cap provider of software development tools, fell nearly 9% in the first minutes of Wednesday's premarket trading after <a href="https://ir.gitlab.com/news/news-details/2026/GitLab-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Fiscal-Year-2026-Financial-Results-Board-of-Directors-Authorizes-400-million-for-Share-Repurchase-Program/default.aspx">warning</a>&nbsp;that revenue growth will slow in the near term. CEO Bill Staples&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/gitlab-sees-ai-agent-platform-hybrid-pricing-driving-growth-131daa1a">said</a>&nbsp;"we aren’t satisfied with our revenue growth guidance."

Software provider GitLab sees shares tumble on disappointing sales guidance

The New York Times' interlocutors told the New York Times that despite Iranian officials' demonstrative refusal to negotiate with the U.S., they did contact the U.S. side after the conflict began with an offer to discuss the terms of a cease-fire

The US dollar suffered its strongest drop in a month: NYT writes about Iran's peace initiative

Air Arabia PJSC

Emirates NBD Bank PJSC

Air France-KLM SA

Damartex

International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

UAE stock exchanges opened down, the first trading day in the Emirates after the war started. In order to stabilize the market, trading floors temporarily <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com%2C2026-03-03%3Anewsml_Zaw2wS3dX%3A0-zawya-news-uae-s-dfm-and-adx-to-resume-trading-on-wednesday-march-4">set the</a> limit down threshold - limit down - at 5%. Lyudmila Milevskaya, Oninvest's correspondent in the UAE, tells us how life in the country has changed since the start of military operations.

Limit down: what is happening in the UAE

Moderna, Inc.

Box, Inc.

indie Semiconductor, Inc.

AnaptysBio, Inc.

Pinterest, Inc.

Ziff Davis, Inc.

Best Buy Co., Inc.

Target Corporation

On Holding AG

Archer Aviation Inc.

Daily review and forecast of events on the U.S. stock market from Mikhail Denislamov, Deputy Director of Freedom Capital Markets Research.

New York Morning: Wall Street remains under the pressure of geopolitics

As oil rises in price and Asian indices go into a steep dive, David Solomon warns: it will take weeks to realize the consequences of war in the Middle East