European and American stock markets collectively declined, with US storage-related stocks gaining strength. Seagate Technology rose over 6%, Chinese concept stock Canadian Solar fell nearly 27%, and gold and silver prices plunged.

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Journalist | Zhang Jiayu Wu Bin

Editor | Liu Xueying

On Thursday (March 19), major European and American stock markets closed lower, with Germany, France, and the UK all down over 2%. Gold and large tech stocks declined across the board.

The three major U.S. stock indexes fell for the second consecutive day, but the declines narrowed significantly from intraday lows. At the close, the Dow dropped 0.44%; the S&P 500 fell 0.27%; the Nasdaq declined 0.28%, all hitting their lowest levels since November last year.

During trading, the Nasdaq once fell nearly 1.4%, hitting a low of 21,851.05 points, the lowest since September last year; the Dow and S&P also dropped over 1% at times.

Large tech stocks collectively declined, with the Wind U.S. Tech 7 Giants Index down 0.86%. Among individual stocks, Tesla fell over 3%, Facebook and Nvidia declined more than 1%.

Most chip stocks rose, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 0.87%, Lam Research up over 4%, On Semiconductor up more than 2%, Intel up over 2%, and Applied Materials up more than 2%. In the decline sector, Micron Technology fell over 3%, Microchip Technology dropped more than 2%, and Nvidia declined over 1%.

Storage concept stocks strengthened, with Seagate Technology up 6.84% and Western Digital up 3.95%. SanDisk rose 2.44%, hitting a new all-time high; Micron Technology fell 3.78%, despite nearly doubling its revenue, but high expenses raised concerns.

Gold mining stocks declined, with Newmont Mining down 6.89%, Harmony Gold down 6.25%, and Coeur Mining down 5.14%. On the news front, spot gold briefly fell to the $4,500 level on the evening of the 19th, hitting a six-week low.

In Chinese concept stocks, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 1%. Most popular Chinese stocks declined, with Canadian Solar dropping nearly 27%, Alibaba down over 7%, Pinduoduo down 3.27%; Atour rose 4.11%, and Xpeng Motors gained 2.02%.

In precious metals, after yesterday’s fluctuations, Asian markets opened high on March 20, but gold and silver prices plummeted. As of 6:47 Beijing time, spot gold was down 0.05% at $4,648.057 per ounce, and spot silver fell 0.55%.

International oil prices declined. As of the time of writing, NY crude oil was down 1.58% at $94.03 per barrel. Earlier, on the 19th, NY crude closed down 0.19% at $96.14 per barrel; Brent crude rose 1.18%, closing at $108.65 per barrel.

According to Xinhua News Agency, The Wall Street Journal on the 19th cited sources reporting that the U.S. is deploying additional troops to the Middle East and may seize Iran’s key oil export hubs to pressure Iran into opening the Strait of Hormuz.

According to CCTV News, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan issued a joint statement announcing they are prepared to take appropriate measures to ensure the safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Xinhua also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a press conference on the 19th, stated that Israel will “comply” with the request to “pause” subsequent airstrikes on energy facilities, as proposed by Trump.

Amid the shadow of Middle Eastern conflict, the Federal Reserve faces a dilemma. CCTV News reported that on March 18, the Federal Reserve announced it would keep the federal funds rate target range unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. This decision aligned with market expectations. The much-watched “dot plot” showed that most committee members expect one rate cut this year and another in 2027, though specific timing remains unclear. Markets estimate about a 60% chance that the Fed will not cut or raise rates this year. The CME FedWatch Tool indicates a 56.1% probability that the Fed will hold rates steady this year, with a 3.6% chance of a rate hike.

Lu Zhe, Chief Economist at Dongwu Securities, told 21st Century Business Herald that U.S. inflation surge and stagflation risks depend on Middle East developments and oil prices. Under baseline conditions, oil prices impact inflation temporarily, and inflation will cool as oil prices fall back. If the US-Iran conflict eases quickly in the coming weeks and oil prices return to the previous $65 per barrel level, the increase in oil prices will only affect the U.S. CPI in March, with no substantial impact on the Fed’s March and April decisions or U.S. growth prospects. [Details]