NEW YORK, March 3, 2026, 10:09 (ET) — Regular session
- Microsoft shares edged lower early as investors weighed higher energy prices and fresh inflation worries.
- Cloud operators’ Gulf exposure drew attention after Amazon flagged damage at some UAE and Bahrain data centers.
- Traders are lining up for Friday’s U.S. jobs report as a key test for rate expectations.
Microsoft Corp shares fell about 0.9% to $394.90 in morning trading, after swinging between $389.70 and $398.92.
The move comes with energy prices surging again on the widening Middle East conflict, a mix that has pulled inflation back into the center of the trading day. George Moran, European macro strategist at RBC Capital Markets, said the jump in gas prices was “bringing back” fears of a 2022-style shock. 1
For the big cloud names, the war is no longer just a tape headline. Amazon said drone strikes damaged some of its Amazon Web Services data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and warned recovery would be “prolonged,” raising fresh questions about expanding data-center footprints in the Gulf. Microsoft, which has said it plans to take its UAE investment to about $15 billion by end-2029 and use Nvidia chips in data centers there, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. 2
The stock had found some footing a day earlier as investors bought the dip in artificial-intelligence names. Microsoft rose 1.5% on Monday while Nvidia gained 3%, and Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, said the conflict is unlikely to shake U.S. equities “until the price of oil gets to $100 a barrel.” 3
Still, Microsoft remains a market bellwether for how much investors will pay for growth when the cost of capital is moving. The company’s results last month rattled some holders after it flagged record spending on artificial intelligence and slower cloud growth. 4
Microsoft is not the only one with big bets in the region. Amazon Web Services has said it will invest more than $5.3 billion to build a data-center region in Saudi Arabia by 2026, while Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have flagged a $10 billion plan for an AI hub. 5
But this could still turn into a rates story rather than a Microsoft story. If energy stays high, bond yields can follow, and megacap tech tends to feel that first.
Traders are watching Middle East headlines, energy prices and any updates from cloud providers on outages or physical damage. That flow has been fast and messy since the strikes began.
The next hard catalyst is the U.S. employment report for February, due Friday, March 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET, which can shift rate expectations that sit under tech valuations. 6
