What Sectors Are Not Getting Hit by the Market Sell-Off?

The S&P 500 scale has fallen astir 4.5% since the Middle East warfare started. And it continues to drop. As a result, astir sectors of the S&P 500 are heavy successful the reddish for March (March 2 was the archetypal trading time aft the warfare began).

But not each sectors are down. A fewer are solidly successful the greenish this month. That begins with vigor stocks. With the Strait of Hormuz efficaciously closed, prices of some crude lipid and earthy state person spiked connected satellite markets. The mean terms of a gallon of gasoline has soared by astir $1.

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That's each large quality for vigor companies and their shareholders. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is up 3.3% this month, and Chevron has climbed astir 8%. ConocoPhillips is up 11% for the month. Large refiners similar Phillips 66, Valero Energy, and Marathon Petroleum are besides up by treble digits.

But gains since the warfare broke retired aren't constricted to vigor stocks. Several stocks successful the machine hardware subsector person besides posted beardown gains successful March.

Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) was the best-performing banal successful the S&P 500 scale past year, with an unthinkable 559% return. It's doing it again successful 2026, up much than 210% twelvemonth to day and 17% since the warfare started. The institution makes flash retention devices that tin clasp information without a powerfulness source.

Western Digital also makes information retention products, though it's focused connected hard drives alternatively than flash memory. That banal soared past year, up a whopping 282%, and is besides putting successful a repetition show successful 2026, up 78% this twelvemonth and 11% successful March. International Business Machines and Dell Technologies are besides having a precise bully March. Add to that database Micron Technology, which has climbed much than 7% this month, besides driven by soaring representation demand.

It seems machine hardware stocks haven't been dragged down by the warfare and soaring lipid prices due to the fact that AI-driven request for servers, storage, and peripheral instrumentality continues to outpace supply. For the moment, astatine least, that tailwind remains much almighty for this radical of stocks than the headwinds of war-driven ostentation and vigor concerns.

Finally, respective stocks successful the bundle infrastructure radical person enactment successful banner performances successful March. Palantir Technologies, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike Holdings are each up much than 10% since the opening of the Middle East conflict. It's nary wonder, arsenic the 3 companies are leaders successful AI-driven information and information analytics, including cybersecurity. Sophisticated modern warfare is evidently going to thrust request for the products those companies offer.