U.S. stocks closed slightly higher, and oil prices continued to rise

On March 17, local time, US stocks edged higher, with international oil prices rising by nearly 3%. At the same time, the Federal Reserve began a two-day monetary policy meeting, and the market is closely watching the direction of policy.

Oil prices regain upward momentum

On March 17, local time, all three major US stock indexes closed slightly higher. The Dow rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.25%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.47%.

The latest remarks from Iran have heightened market concerns about energy supply. According to Xinhua News Agency, Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly Speaker Qalibaf said on social media on March 17 that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz would not return to a “pre-war state.”

International oil prices temporarily dipped during the day, but then regained upward momentum. According to Xinhua News Agency, on March 17 local time, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, April delivery West Texas Intermediate light crude futures rose $2.71 to close at $96.21 per barrel, up 2.90%; May delivery London Brent crude futures rose $3.21 to close at $103.42 per barrel, up 3.20%.

Within the technology sector, chip-related stocks led the gains, with ARM and Micron Technology rising more than 4%. Major technology stocks saw mixed moves, with the US technology “Seven Giants” index up 0.43%. Amazon and Google-C rose more than 1%, Tesla rose nearly 1%, and Apple rose 0.56%; Meta fell 0.76%, Nvidia fell 0.7%, and Microsoft fell 0.14%.

Chinese concept stocks came under pressure. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 0.73%, and the Chinese concept technology leaders index fell 1.58%. Meituan-ADR rose 2.12%, PDD rose 0.51%, and Xiaomi Group-ADR rose 0.25%; Tencent Holdings-ADR fell more than 3%, Baidu Group fell 0.91% and NetEase fell 0.56%, while BYD (002594) Shares-ADR and Alibaba were slightly down.

Gold prices fluctuate

On March 17, local time, the two-day Federal Reserve meeting convened.

International gold prices fluctuated near the $5,000 per ounce level. As of 5:31 on March 18 Beijing time, the London spot gold price inched up 0.06% to $5,006.63 per ounce. COMEX gold futures rose 0.18% to $5,011.3 per ounce.

Iran confirms

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, dies

According to Xinhua News Agency, in the early hours of March 18, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, posted a message on his social media account confirming that Larijani died in an attack by the United States and Israel on Iran.

Trump says he is “disappointed” with NATO

According to Xinhua News Agency, on March 17, US President Trump met with the visiting Irish Prime Minister Martin at the White House and again expressed dissatisfaction that NATO allies are not participating in the escort operation the US plans to launch in the Strait of Hormuz. He said he was “disappointed” with NATO.

Trump told reporters, “NATO is making a very stupid mistake.” “I want to know whether NATO will back us. So this is a very good test, because we don’t need them, but they should have been there,” he said, “and the United States has to remember that, because we think this is very shocking.”

Trump claimed the US has invested “tens of billions of dollars” in NATO over the years, which is one of the reasons why the US runs a fiscal deficit. However, when asked whether he would reconsider the US’s relationship with NATO, he said, “There are no plans at this time.”

Trump also claimed it “won’t be that long” before the Strait of Hormuz can be safely navigated. He added that the US is not ready to end the conflict with Iran yet, but “we will leave in the not-too-distant future.”

The US and Israel launched large-scale military operations against Iran on February 28, and Iran retaliated against targets including Israel and US military bases in the Middle East. As a result of the fighting, shipping in the Strait of Hormuz was nearly completely shut down.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly urged European countries and other allies to participate in escorting operations in the Strait of Hormuz, and has complained that some allies are “not keen” to help the US. Earlier on the 17th, Trump wrote on social media that most NATO “allies” had informed the US that they did not want to take part in the US-Israel military action against Iran, and that the US no longer “needs or expects” NATO countries to help.

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kallas, said on the 16th that this “is not Europe’s war.” “Nobody wants to voluntarily get pulled into this war,” she said, adding that EU member states have no intention of expanding the “shield” escort operations they are currently conducting in the Red Sea and the Gulf region to the Strait of Hormuz.