Source: Wall Street Journal.
The three major US stock indexes fell for the first time in four days, with Technology stocks leading the decline. The chip index dropped over 3%; Super Micro Computer fell nearly 9%. The China concept index ended six consecutive declines. The Autos Sector fell over 2%, leading the decline in European stocks. The yield on the ten-year US Treasury bond rebounded, nearing a four-week high. Following the announcement of auto tariffs, the USD hit a three-week high. Bitcoin briefly fell over 2000 dollars. Crude Oil Product reached a new high this month, with Brent Oil rising for five consecutive days. Gold has retreated.
The tariff news from the Trump administration struck the US stock market again. After the unexpectedly weak consumer confidence report released on Tuesday, investors were increasingly concerned about the trade war's impact on the US economy.
Towards the end of Wednesday morning, news broke that US President Trump would announce auto tariffs as early as that day, followed by the confirmation from the White House press secretary that the tariffs would be announced on Wednesday. European stocks turned down during the trading session, with auto stocks leading the decline. US large cap stocks fell back, with all three major indices dropping during the session, led by the technology sector.
TD Cowen analysts revealed that Microsoft has abandoned a data center project that would consume a total of 2 GW of electricity in the US and Europe, attributing this to an oversupply of computer clusters. Chip stocks, which fell on Tuesday, saw their losses widen, with all seven of the Magnificent 7 turning down, and Tesla, which had been rising for five consecutive days, at one point dropping over 6%. Most China concept stocks moved upward, with the China concept index that had been falling for a week rebounding over 1% at one point.
On Wednesday, the St. Louis Fed President Musalem, who has a vote in the Federal Reserve's FOMC meetings this year, stated that if the tariffs cause a second round of inflation effects, the FOMC's wait-and-see approach may last longer. He was cautious about the temporary nature of the tariff effects expressed last week by Fed Chair Powell, saying it remains unclear if the impact of the tariffs will be temporary. US Treasury yields rebounded during trading.
In the foreign exchange market, after the announcement of the new auto tariffs by the Trump administration, the dollar's gains widened, and non-dollar currencies such as the yen accelerated their declines. High-risk cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin also plummeted further.
In commodities, copper futures on the New York market continued to hit new historic highs, as traders prepared for the potential imposition of high import tariffs. The US Energy Department's EIA reported a decrease in domestic crude oil inventories, aiding in the recovery of crude oil prices; however, a rebound in the dollar put pressure on gold, causing it to retreat.
All three major US stock indices recently recorded their first decline in the last four trading days, including the Dow Jones, which had been up more than 230 points earlier in the day, and the Nasdaq, which fell more than 2% at midday, along with the S&P dropping more than 1%. Chip stocks underperformed, with NVIDIA leading the decline among the Magnificent 7. However, energy stocks and staples gained against the market trend, limiting the Dow's decline. The China concept index maintained its rebound momentum during the day, ending the longest losing streak in over a year.
The three major US stock indices opened mixed, but all fell during trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had stabilized at its closing high since March 7, dropped 132.71 points, or 0.31%. The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index, which had risen for three consecutive days, fell 1.12% and 2.04%, respectively, both moving away from the highs since March 5.
The Small Cap Russell 2000 index fell by 1.03%, marking a two-day decline, while the Nasdaq 100 Index fell by 1.83%. The Nasdaq Technology Market Capitalization Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology stocks in the Nasdaq 100, fell by 2.79%.
Among the Dow components, NVIDIA had the largest closing drop, while Amazon, Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, and Boeing fell over 2%, and Procter & Gamble and McDonald's rose over 2%, with Coca-Cola edging up nearly 2%.
In the S&P 500, six sectors fell on Wednesday. The IT sector, which includes stocks like NVIDIA, dropped nearly 2.5%; the Communications Services sector, home to Google, declined about 2%; Consumer Discretionary, which includes Tesla, fell nearly 1.7%; other sectors decreased by less than 0.7%. In contrast, the Consumer Staples sector, which includes Procter & Gamble, rose by 1.4%, Utilities increased by 0.7%, and Energy improved by 0.6%.
Among the US industry ETFs, the Semiconductor ETF fell by 3.33%, the Technology Industry ETF dropped by 2.23%, the Internet Stock Index ETF declined by 2.23%, the Global Technology Stock Index ETF decreased by 2.15%, the Consumer Discretionary ETF went down by 1.31%, and the Regional Bank ETF and Banking ETF declined by about 0.4%. In contrast, the Consumer Staples ETF rose nearly 1.6%, the Energy ETF closed up by 0.59%, and the Real Estate ETF increased by nearly 0.4%.
The technology giants, known as the "Magnificent 7," all experienced declines, including Apple, which briefly turned positive several times in the early session. NVIDIA fell over 5.7%, marking a two-day decline, reaching a low not seen since March 11; Tesla, which had risen for five consecutive days, fell nearly 5.6%, while Google's parent company, which had seen three consecutive increases, fell about 3.3%. Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, all of which had three consecutive rises, decreased 2.2%, 1.3%, and 1%, respectively. Meta, which had risen for five consecutive days, declined nearly 2.5%.
Overall, chip stocks fell for two consecutive days, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index down by approximately 3.3%. ARM dropped 7.5%, Marvell Technology fell nearly 6.9%, Broadcom decreased by 4.8%, Taiwan Semiconductor fell 4.1%, AMD dropped 4%, and Intel decreased by 3.2%.
AI Concept Stocks generally fell, with Super Micro Computer (SMCI) down nearly 8.9%, AppLovin down 5.4%, Palantir down 4.4%, and Oracle down 3.9%.
In the Quantum Computing Concept Stocks, QMCO fell 7.5%, QUBT dropped 5.5%, and ARQQ decreased by 5.1%.
In the Autos sector, after reports that Trump would announce auto tariffs as early as Wednesday, General Motors, which had risen over 1% in early trading, turned lower, closing down 3.1%. Toyota's US stocks fell 1.9%, Honda's US stocks dropped 1.8%, while Ford Motor, which had nearly fallen 2% at midday, turned to a gain, closing up 0.1%.
Most popular China Concept Stocks rose. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) had risen over 1% in early trading, closing up 0.7%, ending a six-day losing streak. Among ETFs, FTSE China 3x Long ETF (YINN) closed up 0.53%, "China Dragon" DRAG closed up 0.55%, KWEB closed up 0.54%, CQQQ closed up 0.18%, while MSCI Emerging Markets ex-China ETF closed down 0.88%.
Among popular China Concept Stocks, MINISO rose 2.9%, Li Auto increased 2.4%, Baidu gained 2.2%, New Oriental rose 1.8%, NetEase increased nearly 1.1%, JD.com rose nearly 0.8%. Zhihu, which announced a return to profitability in the fourth quarter but a 24.5% year-on-year decline in revenue, had initially risen 7.6%, closing up 0.9%. Meanwhile, Pony.ai dropped 9.1%, NIO fell 3.9%, PDD Holdings decreased 2.2%, XPeng fell 1.4%, and Alibaba was down nearly 0.4%.
Among the stocks with significant volatility, GameStop (GME) rose nearly 11.7% after the Board of Directors approved the purchase of Bitcoin and stablecoins using company cash; Dollar Tree (DLTR), a "dollar store" that exceeded revenue and earnings expectations in the fourth quarter, increased by 3.1%; and Playtika (PLTK), a Mobile Game stock whose rating was upgraded by Bank of America to Buy, believing it has high profitability in a mature yet still growing industry, saw a rise of 20.5%. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reached another milestone: the price of the company's Class A shares briefly topped $800,000 for the first time, and the closing price set a new historical closing high.
The threat of tariffs on cars from Trump has resurfaced, causing European stocks to generally retreat, with the pan-European index hitting a new low not seen in over a week. The automotive sector fell over 2%, leading the decline, while energy stocks, benefiting from the rise in crude oil, went against the trend and increased.
The pan-European index, which had just halted a three-day decline on Tuesday, fell back. The European Stoxx 600 index refreshed its closing low since March 14 on Monday.
Among the sectors in the Stoxx 600, automobiles and parts decreased by 2.6%. In automotive stocks, Michelin dropped over 6%, Ferrari fell nearly 4%, Pirelli decreased nearly 3%, and BMW and Mercedes at least declined by 2%; the technology sector fell close to 2%, with constituent stock SAP from Germany, which surpassed Novo-Nordisk A/S on Monday to become the top European stock, dropping 3.3%, Dutch ASML fell 2.5%, and STMicroelectronics dropped over 4%; meanwhile, the oil and gas sector rose over 1% against the trend.
Most major European country stock indices fell on Wednesday, with German stocks declining over 1%, marking the fifth decline in the last six trading days, while the Italian and Spanish stocks that rebounded on Tuesday also retreated; however, the UK stocks gained for two consecutive days supported by energy stocks.
In the bond market, European government bonds overall saw prices rebound and yields fall, however, the spring budget report released by UK Chancellor Reeves created a spike and subsequent drop in UK bond yields during the day. US bonds fell back, with overall yields rebounding, the long-term bond yields rose the most, and the yield of the ten-year US bond approached four-week highs.
In the European bond market: towards the end of the bond market, the yield on the UK ten-year benchmark government bond was around 4.73%, down 2 basis points during the day; after Reeves released the spring budget, it briefly shifted to an increase, breaking above 4.78%; the two-year UK bond yield was around 4.27%, down 2 basis points during the day; the benchmark ten-year German government bond yield was about 2.79%, unchanged from Tuesday; the two-year German bond yield was approximately 2.11%, down 2 basis points during the day.
US Treasuries: The yield on the 10-year benchmark US Treasury bond refreshed its daily low near 4.31% in early European trading, then continued to rise, approaching 4.36% in early US trading, hitting a high not seen since February 25, reached on Tuesday. By the end of the bond market, it was around 4.35%, up about 4 basis points for the day; the 2-year Treasury yield in early US trading once broke 4.02% to hit a daily high, dropped below 4.0% near midday, bounced back above 4.30%, and by the end of the bond market was around 4.02%, increasing about 1 basis point for the day.
Following the White House's confirmation of new auto tariffs, the USD accelerated its rise, reaching a three-week high during the session; the yen hit a new three-week low; the offshore renminbi fell more than a hundred points during trading, breaking below 7.28, setting a new low not seen in over two weeks; Bitcoin once fell over $2000, dropping below the 0.086 million mark.
On Wednesday, the ICE Dollar Index (DXY) mostly showed an upward trend, and after the White House confirmed the announcement of new auto tariffs around midday, its rise quickly expanded. After the close of US stocks, it accelerated to a high of 104.68, marking its highest level since March 4 for three consecutive days. By the end of the foreign exchange market, the dollar index was above 104.60, up nearly 0.5% for the day, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%, rebounding after ending a four-day rise on Tuesday.
Among non-US currencies, the yen, which stopped its three-day decline on Tuesday, fell back, with the USD/JPY rising to 150.75 in early US trading, marking its highest intraday level since March 3 for three consecutive days, increasing nearly 0.6% for the day; the EUR/USD fell below 1.0750 at the end of US trading, hitting its lowest level since March 5, declining over 0.4% for the day; the GBP/USD fell below 1.2880 at the beginning of US trading, hitting its lowest level since March 11, declining over 0.5% for the day.
The offshore renminbi (CNH) against the USD turned briefly bullish in early Asian trading, refreshing its daily high to 7.2648, then continued to decline. By the end of US trading, it had dropped to 7.2823, hitting a new low not seen since March 7 for two consecutive days, down 175 points from its daily high. At 4:59 AM Beijing time on March 27, the offshore renminbi against the USD was reported at 7.2796, down 137 points from Tuesday's New York close, marking seven consecutive days of declines.
Bitcoin (BTC) on Wednesday mostly trended downwards, only briefly turning bullish during the European trading session. The decline expanded during the US lunchtime, dropping below 0.0859 million USD, down over $2000 from its intraday high during European trading, nearly 3%, and moving away from the high last reached on March 7. At the close of US trading, it was below 0.087 million USD, having dropped nearly 2% in the last 24 hours.
International crude oil futures maintained an upward trend throughout Wednesday. On Wednesday, the US Department of Energy reported that US EIA crude oil inventories fell by 3.34 million barrels week-on-week, while analysts expected an increase of 1.2154 million barrels. After the release of the EIA data, crude oil hit a daily high during early trading on Wall Street, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent oil rising nearly 1.8% and 1.6% respectively, ultimately reaching a new high this month.
International crude oil: Crude oil rose across the board on Wednesday. The WTI May crude oil futures, which ended a four-day winning streak, rose 0.94% to $69.65 per barrel, reaching the highest level since February 28. Brent May crude oil futures rose 1.05% to $73.79 per barrel, marking a five-day increase and setting the highest level since February 27.
US gasoline and natural gas futures both rose. NYMEX April gasoline futures closed up 1.1% at $2.2328 per gallon, marking six consecutive increases; NYMEX April natural gas futures, which had declined for two days, rose over 0.54% to $3.8610 per million British thermal units.
Basic metals experienced mixed performance, with London copper falling nearly 2%. After briefly breaking above $0.01 million on Tuesday, it fell below that threshold, parting ways with the nearly ten-month high. London aluminum faced five consecutive losses, while London lead saw three consecutive gains. New York copper futures moderated during trading but continued to set new records. Gold retreated, experiencing its third decline in the last four days.
In London copper futures, copper fell nearly 2%, leading the declines, while aluminum continued to hit new lows for the month. Zinc, which rebounded to a one-week high on Tuesday, fell back. Meanwhile, lead reached a one-week high, and nickel rebounded for two consecutive days after falling for three consecutive days to the lowest level in nearly three weeks. Tin also rose for two consecutive days after falling to a low for a week.
LME copper futures closed down $185, a drop of 1.83%, at $9,927 per ton. LME aluminum futures closed down $2 at $2,607 per ton. LME zinc futures closed down $16 at $2,956 per ton.
LME lead futures rose by $8, closing at $2,092 per ton. LME nickel futures rose by $84, closing at $16,245 per ton. LME tin futures rose by $18, closing at $35,071 per ton.
After five consecutive gains, New York copper futures halted with two consecutive days of gains, with COMEX May copper reaching $5.374 during Asian trading, an increase of over 3.1% intraday, closing up 0.62% at $5.243 per pound, continuing to set both intraday and closing historical highs.
Gold fluctuated downwards several times during trading on Wednesday. COMEX April gold futures, which reversed two consecutive declines on Tuesday, closed down 0.11% at $3,022.5 per ounce, failing to continue departing from the week’s low set on Monday. At market close, spot gold was below $3,019, with an intraday decline of less than 0.1%.
Editor/jayden
