U.S. Stocks Movement | Dow Jones Falls 85 Points at Close, Dropped as Much as 455 During Trading

On the eve of U.S. President Trump’s Iran ceasefire deadline, Iran’s oil hub on Kharg Island and other critical infrastructure were reportedly attacked, raising market concerns that the conflict could escalate further. In the U.S. stock market on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average repeatedly fell by more than 400 points, before stabilizing by the close.

Trump’s Iran ceasefire deadline is approaching

New York oil futures briefly surged 4.64%, peaking at $117.63 per barrel, then closed up 0.48% at $112.95. Brent crude futures turned lower by 0.45%, closing at $109.27 per barrel. According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Brent North Sea Forties spot crude once spiked to $146.09 per barrel, higher than the 2008 level, and hit a new all-time record high.

Worries about an escalation in the war: the Dow fell as much as 455

After the Dow opened up 74 points, it reversed and slid by as much as 455 points, hitting a low of 46214. The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.17%, while the Nasdaq, led mainly by technology stocks, once retreated 1.75%. Among major stocks, Apple shares were down as much as 5.1% and still closed down 2.1%. The main reason was a report by Nikkei News that the foldable iPhone encountered setbacks during the engineering testing stage, which could delay production and shipment plans; Tesla shares fell 1.8%.

Pakistani prime minister proposes postponing U.S.-Iran tensions by two weeks

With worries about rising fuel costs, United Airlines shares fell 1.8% and Delta Air Lines dropped 1.7%. By contrast, healthcare insurance stocks were in demand. Humana rose 7.9% against the trend, and UnitedHealth surged 9.4%, becoming the best-performing Dow component stock. Walmart fell 3.4%, the biggest decliner among Dow components.

Healthcare insurance stocks in demand

In the U.S. market close, the Dow stood at 46584, down 85 points, or 0.18%. The S&P 500 turned up 0.08% to 6616. The Nasdaq fell 0.1% to 22017. Reflecting the performance of China-concept stocks, the Golden Dragon Index fell 0.94% to 6673. European stocks were slightly weaker: shares in the U.K., France, and Germany closed down 0.84%, 0.67%, and 1.06%, respectively. Spot gold swung lower by 0.93% to $4607.48 per ounce, before once rebounding 1.21% to $4706.89. Bitcoin slid 3.02% to $67724.

Apple’s foldable iPhone faces setbacks in engineering testing

Senior Wall Street strategist and founder of Yardeni Research, Ed Yardeni, believes that after the pullback from last year’s highs, technology stocks have returned to an attractive level for investors willing to take a long-term approach. Goldman strategist Peter Oppenheimer also pointed out that as valuations decline relative to before, technology stocks are becoming increasingly attractive.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields briefly fell by 3.4 basis points to 4.3%, while 2-year Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to interest rates, turned down by 4.6 basis points to 3.804%. A New York Fed survey showed that in March, consumer inflation expectations rose from 3% in February to 3.42%, but were still below the expected 3.5%.

Williams: the rise in U.S. core inflation is expected to be modest

John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that although the Iran war pushed up energy prices and lifted overall inflation in the U.S., core inflation is expected to rise by only 0.1 or 0.2 percentage points. He also slightly lowered his forecast for U.S. economic growth this year, from a range of 2.5% to 2.75% down to between 2% and 2.5%.

Citigroup, citing that the U.S. March employment data released last Friday was stronger than expected, said it pushed back the timing for the Fed to resume rate cuts from June to September, but still expects three rate cuts this year, with the other two occurring in October and December, respectively.

In addition, initial readings for U.S. orders for durable goods in February fell 1.4%, worse than the expected 1.2% decline. Excluding transportation equipment, orders increased 0.8%, better than the expected increase of 0.5%.

Spot gold slips first, then rises more than 1%

The U.S. Dollar Index dipped as much as 0.36% to 99.62. The Japanese yen had fallen 0.23% to 160.04 per dollar, before stabilizing afterward. The euro rose 0.52% to $1.1602. Pierre Wunsch, governor of the Belgian central bank, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that if the Iran war drags on, the European Central Bank may raise rates multiple times.