Oil and fertilizer stocks get pummeled but are still well above levels before the Iran conflict

By Tomi Kilgore and Philip van Doorn

Of the S&P 500's top 20 biggest decliners, 19 companies are in either the oil and gas or the fertilizer business, and the other one is in agriculture

Oil prices plunged early on April 8 on the expectation that President Trump's announced cease-fire with Iran would lead to a quick resumption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Shares of companies that benefited the most from the Iran conflict were understandably taking a broad beating in early Wednesday trading, as the cease-fire sent oil and other commodity prices plunging.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was up 1,266 points, or 2.7%, in early trading, at 47,850.15. The S&P 500 index SPX was up 2.3%, with 73% of component stocks showing gains. All price changes in this article exclude dividends.

Read: These stocks in the S&P 500 are rising the most after Trump's cease-fire announcement

But there were plenty of stocks showing large declines as investors sold the news. Underscoring that action, continuous front-month contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil (CL00) were down 18% to $92.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange early Wednesday. WTI was still up 61% from $57.43 at the end of 2025, however.

Here are the 20 stocks among the S&P 500 showing the largest declines in early trading on Wednesday:

   Company                       April 8 price change  Price change since Feb. 27  2026 price changeIndustry 
   APA                                         -11.8%                       24.9%              55.1%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   LyondellBasell Industries                   -10.4%                       22.5%              62.7%Commodity Chemicals 
   Dow                                          -9.3%                       19.7%              57.3%Commodity Chemicals 
   CF Industries Holdings                       -9.2%                       19.5%              53.8%Agricultural Chemicals 
   Occidental Petroleum                         -8.5%                        8.6%              40.1%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   Diamondback Energy                           -7.5%                        3.2%              19.6%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   Devon Energy                                 -7.4%                        5.6%              25.5%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   Coterra Energy                               -7.3%                        5.1%              22.2%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   ConocoPhillips                               -7.0%                        7.9%              30.8%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   Exxon Mobil                                  -6.4%                        0.3%              27.1%Oil & Gas Refining and Marketing 
   Phillips 66                                  -6.1%                        7.8%              29.0%Oil & Gas Refining and Marketing 
   Archer Daniels Midland                       -6.1%                       -0.2%              19.9%Food Processing 
   Trade Desk                                   -5.8%                      -12.1%             -44.9%Software 
   EOG Resources                                -5.6%                        8.8%              28.6%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   Kroger                                       -5.4%                        1.3%              10.6%Food Retail & Distribution 
   Bunge Global                                 -5.3%                        0.8%              36.5%Food Processing 
   Campbell's                                   -5.3%                      -22.6%             -25.2%Food Processing 
   Expand Energy                                -4.6%                       -8.5%             -10.5%Oil & Gas Exploration and Production 
   American Water Works                         -4.6%                       -3.3%               0.8%Water & Related Utilities 
   Marathon Petroleum                           -4.1%                       16.8%              42.3%Oil & Gas Refining and Marketing 
                                                                                                                              Source: LSEG 

Click on the tickers for more about each company.

Read: A guide to the information available on the MarketWatch quote page

APA (APA) was the S&P 500's biggest decliner, as the oil producer sank 11.8% toward its largest one-day decline in six years, since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic panic.

More than half of the stocks showing the largest early declines on Wednesday were in the energy sector, but fertilizer makers were also hit hard.

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) were down 10.4% early Wednesday. The stock had soared 40% in March as the Iran conflict raged. Oil and gas supply wasn't the only thing getting choked off: The Middle East accounts for up to about 40% of all urea fertilizer exports, a higher percentage than for crude exports from the region.

Dow (DOW) was down 9.3% early Wednesday and CF Industries Holdings (CF) was down 9.2%. Both produce agricultural chemicals, and as you can see in the table above, both stocks were still up quite a bit from Feb. 27, the day before the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran.

The State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE was down 4.5%, with all 22 of its equity components losing ground. But the exchange-traded fund was still 2.8% above its Feb. 27 close. It was up 29% from the end of 2025.

Despite the sigh of relief the cease-fire has provided, "the situation remains fragile," Capital.com senior market analyst Daniela Hathorn wrote in a note to clients. She believes the terms of the cease-fire appear heavily tilted in Iran's favor, which raises questions about whether the deal is politically sustainable for the U.S.

"There is also a real risk that talks break down and the conflict reverts to its previous state, or even escalates further, once the cease-fire window expires," Hathorn wrote. "As a result, markets are likely to treat this as a pause rather than a resolution."

Among other notable decliners early Wednesday, shares of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) fell 8.5%, ConocoPhillips was down 7% and Exxon Mobil (XOM) declined 6.4%.

Among the food and agricultural names on the list of largest decliners, Bunge Global's shares (BG) fell 5.3%. The company benefited as worries that surging fertilizer and oil prices would boost prices for agricultural commodities.

The iShares S&P GSCI Commodity Indexed ETF GSG slumped 7.3% in early trading after posting a record 24.2% gain in March.

-Tomi Kilgore -Philip van Doorn

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04-08-26 1133ET