Overnight U.S. stocks | The three major indices all posted gains this week. Tesla(TSLA.US) fell 5.42%.

Zhitoong Finance APP learned that on Thursday, the three major indexes moved in different directions, with all recording gains for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s cumulative weekly gain was 2.96%, the Nasdaq rose 4.44%, and the S&P 500 index gained 3.36%. On Friday, the U.S. stock market was closed for the Good Friday holiday. The March nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled to be released on Friday morning.

【U.S. Stocks】 As of the close, the Dow Jones fell 61.07 points, down 0.13%, to 46,504.67; the Nasdaq rose 38.23 points, up 0.18%, to 21,879.18; and the S&P 500 index rose 7.37 points, up 0.11%, to 6,582.69. Tesla (TSLA.US) fell 5.42%, Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose 0.93%, Micron Technology (MU.US) fell 0.44%, and SanDisk (SNDK.US) rose 1.28%.

【European Stocks】 Germany’s DAX30 index fell 136.67 points, down 0.59%, to 23,138.50; the UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 77.19 points, up 0.74%, to 10,441.98; France

CAC40 index fell 18.88 points, down 0.24%, to 7,962.39; Europe’s STOXX 50 index fell 38.21 points, down 0.67%, to 5,694.50; Spain’s IBEX35 index fell 36.37 points, down 0.21%, to 17,544.03; Italy’s FTSE MIB index fell 90.45 points, down 0.20%, to 45,624.50.

【Asian Stock Markets】 Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 2.38%, and South Korea’s KOSPI index fell 4.47%.

【Cryptocurrencies】 Bitcoin fell 1.89% to $66,839.85; Ethereum fell 3.6% to $2,060.9.

【Crude Oil】 Light sweet crude futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $11.42, closing at $111.54 per barrel, up 11.41%; Brent crude futures for June delivery rose $7.87, closing at $109.03 per barrel, up 7.78%.

【U.S. Dollar Index】 The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, rose 0.38% on the day, closing at 100.024 at the end of trading in New York. At the end of trading in New York, 1 euro exchanged for $1.1544, down from $1.1607 in the previous trading session; 1 British pound exchanged for $1.3227, down from $1.3324 in the previous trading session. 1 U.S. dollar exchanged for 159.34 Japanese yen, up from 158.82 in the previous trading session; 1 U.S. dollar exchanged for 0.7984 Swiss francs, up from 0.7931 in the previous trading session; 1 U.S. dollar exchanged for 1.3921 Canadian dollars, up from 1.3895 in the previous trading session; 1 U.S. dollar exchanged for 9.4234 Swedish kronor, up from 9.3935 in the previous trading session.

【Precious Metals】 Spot gold fell 1.71% to $4,675.61; spot silver closed at $73.037.

【Macro News】

Fed Williams: Inflation and employment risks are coming into balance; leans toward holding steady. New York Fed Chair Williams said that the inflation and employment risks from higher energy prices have already moved toward “balance,” and he leans toward supporting keeping interest rates unchanged. Williams said: “Monetary policy, through the actions we took last year and our current stance, is actually well prepared to balance these risks—which is exactly what we need to do.” Williams also said he believes losses in private credit (the non-bank lending sector) will not lead to systemic risk, even though some investors in that space have already requested early redemptions. Williams said this is mainly due to the repricing of underlying loans. He said, “I don’t think it will constitute systemic risk for our financial system at this time.” He also noted that policymakers are “closely watching” banks’ risk exposures. When asked whether certain private credit funds could be viewed as “too big to fail,” he replied, “Absolutely not.”

The U.S. will impose 100% tariffs on certain patented pharmaceutical drugs. The Trump administration said on Thursday it will impose 100% tariffs on imported patented pharmaceutical drugs unless pharmaceutical companies agree to reach drug pricing agreements with the government, or commit to producing products domestically. Large pharmaceutical companies have 120 days to publish the relevant plans to avoid the tariffs; smaller companies have 180 days. Companies can shift production to the U.S. to have the tariffs reduced to 20%. Pharmaceutical companies that shift production to the U.S. mainland and sign most-favored-nation pricing agreements with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will not need to pay tariffs. The U.S. has already reached such agreements with 17 pharmaceutical companies, with 13 finalized and another 4 under negotiation. Due to existing trade agreements, tariffs on drugs produced in the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland will be reduced to 15%. Meanwhile, the UK has a separate tariff agreement.

The U.S. adjusts steel, aluminum, and copper tariffs: exemptions for low content; tariffs based on product value for high content. On Thursday local time, U.S. President Trump signed a proclamation adjusting national security tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper imports to reduce tariff rates on derivative products made from these metals, simplify the filing process, and avoid misreporting the value of imports. The proclamation said the U.S. maintains a 50% import tariff on imports of bulk commodities such as steel, aluminum, and copper, but that rate will apply to the prices paid by U.S. consumers. Other changes include: the U.S. will cancel the 50% tariff on derivative products made from steel, aluminum, and copper, provided the metal content of these products (calculated by weight) is below 15%. This will remove the Section 232 tariffs imposed on products with extremely low metal content. Derivative products with steel, aluminum, or copper content above 15% will enjoy the reduced 25% tariff, but that is a tariff imposed on the total value of imported goods, not just on the metal content portion. Therefore, tariffs on items such as washing machines or gas stoves primarily made of steel will be unified at 25%. U.S. officials said that, overall, these changes would not differ greatly economically from the prior tariff regime. However, imposing a 50% tariff on the total sales value of commodities’ metals could bring in some additional tariff revenue.

U.S. mortgage rates rise for the fifth consecutive week. U.S. mortgage rates have risen for the fifth consecutive week, dashing expectations for the upcoming key spring homebuying peak season. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed loans is 6.46%, the highest level since early September, up from 6.38% last week. The housing market is entering the usual annual high season for transaction volume, but concerns about the economy may hinder the actions of buyers and sellers. Concerns about inflation have been triggered by the spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war, and uncertainty about jobs has also been raised by the development of artificial intelligence. For many Americans, home prices still remain out of reach.

Fed Logan: Balance sheet can be reduced by changing regulatory rules. Dallas Fed President Logan outlined on Thursday the path and options for reducing the size of the Fed’s balance sheet, while noting that the current system is working well and benefits overall financial stability. Logan said the Fed’s current framework for managing financial liquidity is designed to provide “ample” reserve levels, and that system is “efficient and effective.” But under the current framework, there are still multiple ways to help shrink the size of the Fed’s holdings, and many measures involve rules for how financial institutions manage cash reserves. Recent research inside and outside the Fed indicates that, under the current framework, the Fed can further reduce its balance sheet by encouraging banks to hold lower reserve levels through regulatory adjustments. Logan said she agrees, saying the Fed is currently working to make reserve management “more efficient” during periods of stress. She also said some liquidity rules increase reserves but do not improve safety, because banks are unwilling to use those reserves during crises. “This is an inefficient use of the Fed’s balance sheet, and we can completely avoid this.”

【Stock News】

Amazon charges a 3.5% fuel surcharge to many online merchants. Amazon (AMZN.US) will begin charging sellers using its fulfillment services a 3.5% “fuel and logistics” surcharge later this month, bringing Amazon into the ranks of logistics companies that are raising fulfillment fees, as the Iran war has pushed up oil prices. For customers of “Amazon Logistics,” these fees will take effect starting April 17, applying to the U.S. and Canada regions. Starting May 2, Amazon will charge a surcharge on goods shipped by merchants that sell items on its own website or at other retailers. An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday: “Rising fuel and logistics costs increase operating costs for the entire industry. So far, we have absorbed these cost increases, but as with other major logistics companies, when costs remain high for a sustained period, we will implement a temporary surcharge to help offset these costs.” Over 60% of the items on the Amazon platform are sold by independent merchants, and these merchants must pay Amazon sales commissions as well as warehousing storage and fulfillment fees. This additional charge indicates that Amazon can pass continuously rising costs to merchants rather than consumers by leveraging its marketplace model.

Coinbase (COIN.US) clears key regulatory hurdles while moving forward with its stablecoin business. Coinbase said it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate in a trust bank capacity. The company’s chief legal officer said that if it ultimately receives approval, this cryptocurrency exchange will be able to operate payment products under federal regulation, in addition to custody. “Over the long term, we will be able to explore with the OCC not only providing custody products, but also offering other infrastructure products—particularly around products in the payments space. We believe this will expand crypto payments in a wide range of new, interesting, and important directions.”