U.S. Stocks Movement | Dow Jones Recovers Over 600 Points of Loss, Closes Slightly Soft

U.S. President Trump is expected to see the Iran war escalate further in the near term, going against the market’s earlier hopes for a quick ceasefire, lifting New York front-month crude oil by more than 10%. With the market also renewing concerns about the private credit market, U.S. stocks slid in the early part of trading on Thursday. By the close, performance was mixed: the Dow regained more than 600 points of losses, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq repeatedly steadied. The VIX volatility index, popularly known as the “fear index,” at one point jumped 13.65% to 27.89, before then slipping slightly lower.

Oil reigns as tech stocks take a hit

The Dow reversed its three-day winning streak. After opening down 96 points, its decline widened to as much as 668 points, hitting a low of 45,897. The S&P 500 was down as much as 1.53% at one point, and the Nasdaq, led by tech stocks, was down as much as 2.15%. By contrast, New York front-month crude oil surged as much as 13.83%, reaching a high of $113.97 per barrel, and still closed up 11.4% at $111.54. Brent crude futures climbed 7.78%, closing at $109.03.

Trump says Iran war could escalate in the near term

Among major stocks, Tesla shipped about 358,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter, missing expectations, and the stock fell 5.4% at the close. Meta fell 0.8%. IBM jumped 2.1%, the strongest performer among Dow components. Blue Owl, a private credit fund manager, said two of its funds would limit redemptions, again triggering sell-offs by shares of alternative asset managers. Blue Owl’s stock plunged as much as 8.7% to a record low, closed down 1.6%, and Apollo fell 2.9%.

New York crude prices surged nearly 14%

In the U.S. market close, the Dow was at 46,504 points, down 61 points or 0.13%. The S&P 500 rose 0.11%, to 6,582. The Nasdaq gained 0.18%, to 21,879. The Jinlong Index, which reflects the performance of China concept stocks, fell back 0.34%, to 6,750. U.S. stocks were closed on Friday due to the Good Friday public holiday, and over the four trading sessions this Thursday, the Dow rose 3%, the S&P 500 climbed 3.4%, the Nasdaq gained 4.5%, and the Jinlong China Index rebounded 2.4%.

Tesla’s first-quarter sales miss expectations; shares fall more than 5%

European stocks saw mixed moves. The U.K. closed up 0.69%, while France and Germany fell 0.24% and 0.56%, respectively. In Asia-Pacific markets, almost all ended lower. South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 4.47% at the close, and Japan’s Nikkei index also fell 2.38%.

For the week ended March 28, the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell by 9,000 to 202,000, below expectations of 212,000, and near a two-year low. For the week ended March 21, continuing claims increased by 25,000 to 1.841 million, slightly above expectations of 1.837 million.

Challenger, an outplacement and workforce consultancy, reported that the number of jobs announced for layoffs by U.S. companies in March rose more than 25% month-on-month to about 60,600. In the tech industry, the number of layoffs rose more than 24% year-on-year to about 18,700, bringing total layoffs over the first three months of this year to more than 52,000—the most since 2023.

U.S. trade deficit widens in February

In addition, the U.S. trade deficit for February widened from January’s $54.7 billion to $57.3 billion, but still below expectations of $60.6 billion. Imports rose 4.3% during the period, and exports also increased 4.2%.

A rapid jump in oil prices reignited concerns about inflation. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields once rose by 6.8 basis points to 4.388%, before turning lower. The 2-year Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to interest rates, rose by 6.13 basis points to 3.8623%, and then was mostly flat.

IMF expects the U.S. to cut rates only once this year

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its annual assessment report on the United States, saying the Federal Reserve does not have much room to cut rates this year. It expects only one rate cut by year-end. The organization said that the premise for implementing a larger-scale monetary easing policy is that the labor market outlook would deteriorate significantly and that inflation pressures would not increase.

The U.S. dollar had risen 0.61%; gold fell more than 4%

The U.S. dollar index once rose 0.61% to 100.263. The euro slipped 0.69% to $1.1509, and the Japanese yen fell 0.58% to 159.74 per dollar. Crypto “king” Bitcoin fell as much as 3.62% to $65,709. With the dollar rebounding and inflation worries hitting at the same time, spot gold fell 4.29% at one point, to a low of $4,554.21 per ounce. London copper once fell 1.89% to $12,213 per ton.