The three major U.S. stock indices opened higher but then declined. iQIYI surged over 15% at one point, Alcoa rose over 11%, and Fannie Mae jumped over 39%. International oil prices surged | U.S. stock market opening

Reporter | Du Bo

Editor | Cheng Peng Du Hengfeng Proofreader | Chen Keming

On the evening of March 30 Beijing time, all three major U.S. stock indexes opened higher across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.79%, the S&P 500 rose 0.77%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.70%.

But shortly after the open, all three major U.S. stock indexes fell noticeably. As of the time of writing, the Dow was up 0.39%, the Nasdaq was up 0.06%, and the S&P 500 was up 0.22%. 2,727 individual stocks gained, while 2,432 declined.

Tech blue chips were mixed. Microsoft rose 1.13%, Meta Platforms and Amazon rose 0.94%, ADM rose 0.72%, Tesla rose 0.52%, and Netflix rose 0.15%; Google-A fell 0.21%, Nvidia fell 0.3%, Apple fell 0.33%, and Intel fell 0.92%.

Aluminum stocks rose. Century Aluminum surged more than 19% at one point, and Alcoa surged more than 12% at one point; as of the time of writing, their gains had pulled back to 10.57% and 11.66%, respectively. On the news front, Middle East aluminum producers sharply cut output, and overseas premiums hit the highest level in 19 years.

U.S. stock communications and storage-related concept stocks fell at the start of trading. AAOI fell more than 10%, Ciena fell more than 7%, Lumentum and Corning fell more than 4%, Micron Technology fell more than 3%, Western Digital fell more than 2%, and SanDisk fell 1.8%.

Freddie Mac rose more than 39%, and Fannie Mae rose more than 33%. Previously, investor Bill Ackman said its stock price could jump soon.

After the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index surged and then pulled back, as of the time of writing, it was up 0.09%.

Some popular China concept stocks in the U.S. traded mixed—some rose and some fell. iQIYI surged more than 15% at one point; as of the time of writing, it was up 11.25%. The company has already submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has been authorized to repurchase up to $100 million worth of shares. WeRide rose 4.6%, and NIO rose more than 2.64%. Kingsoft Cloud rose 2%. Pony.ai fell more than 2.9%. Baidu fell 0.75%, Alibaba fell 0.25%, Meituan (ADR) fell 0.51%, Tencent Holdings (ADR) fell 1.59%, and JD.com rose 0.46%.

In precious metals, international gold and silver prices rose and then pulled back, with gains narrowing. As of the time of writing, spot gold was up 0.9%, at $4,533.72 per ounce. Spot silver rose 1%, with the latest at $70.42 per ounce.

International oil prices moved higher. WTI’s gain at one point expanded to 3.04%, to $102.672 per barrel; Brent’s gain at one point expanded to 3.07%, to $108.549 per barrel.

Before U.S. stock trading opened, Trump started sending messages again. On the 30th, he said the U.S. is having serious discussions with a “new, more rational regime,” and if no agreement is reached with Iran, it will “completely destroy” all of that country’s power plants, oil wells, and Khark Island.

In a post on social media, Trump wrote: “The U.S. is having serious discussions with a new, more rational regime to end our military actions in Iran. Great progress has been made already, but if we are unable to reach an agreement as soon as possible for any reason (it will most likely be reached), and the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately ‘opened for business,’ then we will end our happy ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely destroying all of their power plants, oil wells, and Khark Island (possibly also including all seawater desalination plants)—these are the targets we previously had no intention of ‘touching’—once and for all.”

Khark Island is at the core of Iran’s oil industry and is also an important fuel hub. It is estimated that about 90% of the country’s crude oil exports go through the island before tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It is said the island’s crude oil loading capacity is about 7 million barrels per day.

△ Khark Island (information photo)

Trump’s latest remarks leave the market somewhat “torn,” while also sending both positive and negative signals. On one hand, he said the U.S. is having serious talks with a “brand-new and more rational regime,” that major progress has been made, and that an agreement is likely.

But at the same time, he again threatened to strike Iran’s energy assets, saying that if the Strait of Hormuz cannot immediately “resume access,” it will attack power plants, oil wells, and the key export hub Khark Island.

This “two-track parallel” stance sparked volatility in the oil market. Brent crude futures traded with swings, but overall still held onto prior gains, while the stock market showed a comparatively more optimistic tone.

A vast amount of information and precise analysis—on the Sina Finance app