U.S. stock market trend | Dow Jones closes up 224 points, chip stocks perform well

Even though U.S. President Trump has said the country will only ceasefire after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, the market is still hoping that the war with Iran is nearing its end. After U.S. stocks surged by 1,125 points, or 2.5%, at Tuesday’s close, they extended the rally on Wednesday. The Dow opened up 54 points; at one point, the gain widened to 461 points, reaching a high of 46,803. The S&P 500 rose as much as 1.24%, and the Nasdaq, led by tech stocks, was up 1.82%.

NY oil futures briefly fell below $100 a barrel

U.S. oil futures briefly slid 4.81%, to a low of $96.5 per barrel, and closed at $100.12, still down 1.24%. Brent crude fell 2.7%, to close at $101.16. The market continued to focus on the remarks Trump is scheduled to deliver about the Iran war on Wednesday night U.S. time.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told Fox News that the U.S. needs to permanently eliminate any threat from Iran. If that goal cannot be achieved, both the market and the global economy are likely to be hit, he said, adding that everyone hopes the shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz remains open.

Stock trading on ceasefire talk; Dow once rose 461 points

Among individual stocks, Alphabet shares closed up 3.4%. Intel agreed to pay Apollo 14.2 billion dollars, to buy back half of its stake in the Irish chip plant; the stock jumped 8.8%. Micron (Micron) also climbed 8.9%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.82%, to 7,802 points. On the other hand, Nike’s earnings and full-year revenue guidance disappointed; shares plunged 15.5%—the biggest decliner among Dow components. Chevron, the oil stock, gave back 4.6%. Boeing rebounded 4.2%, the best-performing Dow component. Caterpillar climbed 3.1%.

KOSPI in South Korea rebounds sharply, up 8%

At the U.S. market close, the Dow rose 224 points, or 0.48%, to 46,565. The S&P 500 gained 0.72% to 6,575. The Nasdaq climbed 1.16% to 21,840. The Golden Dragon Index, which reflects the performance of China concept stocks, rebounded 0.31% to 6,774. Although the Dow surged more than 1,100 points at Tuesday’s close, Wells Fargo cut its year-end target for the S&P 500 from 7,800 points to 7,300 points, citing the damage the Iran war could do to the economy and markets and limiting the potential upside for U.S. stocks—compared with nearly a 12% gain versus Tuesday’s close.

Intel and Micron both surge nearly 9%

European stocks were broadly higher, with shares in the U.K., France, and Germany rising 1.85%, 2.1%, and 2.73%, respectively. The MSCI Asia Pacific index jumped 5%. Among them, South Korea’s KOSPI rebounded sharply by 8.44%; Samsung Electronics rose nearly 13%, the strongest since 2001. Japan’s Nikkei rose 5.24%, the biggest gain in a year.

With several U.S. data releases coming out, data provider ADP reported that private-sector jobs grew by 62,000 in March, above expectations of 40,000. U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% month over month in February, better than the estimated increase of 0.5%. Retail sales excluding autos and gasoline rose 0.4%, the largest increase since August, and beat expectations by 0.3%. In addition, the U.S. ISM manufacturing index rose from 52.4 in February to 52.7 in March, exceeding the estimated 52.3.

U.S. retail sales up 0.6% month over month, beating estimates

U.S. Treasury yields were volatile. The 10-year yield rose by 2.5 basis points to 4.336%, while the 2-year yield, which is more sensitive to interest rates, rose 2.03 basis points to 3.8133%.

The retreat in oil prices cooled expectations for rate hikes. U.K. 10-year yields at one point plunged 13.9 basis points to 4.777, with Germany’s 10-year yields for the same maturity also falling to a two-week low.

U.S. dollar under pressure; euro rises 0.61%

The U.S. dollar index fell as much as 0.64% to 99.32. The euro rose 0.61% to $1.1624. The Japanese yen rose 0.28% to 158.28 per U.S. dollar. The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, rose 1.56% to $69,260. Spot gold extended gains for a fourth straight day, up as much as 2.69%, to $4,792.96 per ounce.