The three major indices rose, with technology stocks and cryptocurrency concept stocks broadly gaining. Coinbase(COIN.US) surged over 14.5%.

On Wednesday, the three major indexes rose, with bitcoin-related stocks and technology stocks gaining ground. Several strong economic data releases boosted investor sentiment. The ADP report said that in February, private-sector companies added more jobs than expected. In addition, the U.S. non-manufacturing sector recorded growth that beat expectations last month, and inflation pressures eased somewhat.

【U.S. stocks】As of the close, the Dow Jones rose 238.14 points, up 0.49%, to 48739.41; the Nasdaq rose 290.79 points, up 1.29%, to 22807.48; and the S&P 500 Index rose 52.87 points, up 0.78%, to 6869.50. Alcoa (AA.US) fell 3.5%, while Micron Technology (MU.O), Intel (INTC.O), and AMD (AMD.O) all rose by more than 5%; NVIDIA (NVDA.O) rose by more than 1%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.8%, while NIO Inc. (NIO.N) rose 5%.

【European stocks】Germany’s DAX 30 rose 432.48 points, up 1.82%, to 24185.50; the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 76.52 points, up 0.73%, to 10560.65; France’s CAC 40 rose 63.89 points, up 0.79%, to 8167.73; Europe’s STOXX 50 rose 98.12 points, up 1.70%, to 5869.85; Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 419.67 points, up 2.46%, to 17482.07; and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 842.04 points, up 1.89%, to 45310.50.

【Asian stock markets】Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.61%, South Korea’s KOSPI fell by more than 12%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite fell by more than 4.5%.

【Cryptocurrencies】Bitcoin surged by more than 7.2% to $73,307.34; Ethereum jumped by more than 8% to $2,149.98. Concept stocks related to the crypto space broadly rose. Coinbase (COIN.US) rose by more than 14.5%, Strategy (MSTR.US) rose by more than 10%, Robinhood (HOOD.US) rose by more than 8%, and Circle (CRCL.US) rose by more than 5.6%.

【Oil】Light crude oil futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $0.10, closing at $74.66 per barrel, up 0.13%; the London Brent crude futures price for May delivery closed at $81.40 per barrel, unchanged from the prior trading day.

【U.S. Dollar Index】The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.28% that day and closed at 98.764 in the late trading hours of the FX market. As of the close of New York FX trading, 1 euro was worth $1.162, higher than the prior trading day’s $1.1603; 1 pound was worth $1.3351, higher than the prior trading day’s $1.3334. 1 U.S. dollar was worth 157.15 Japanese yen, lower than the prior trading day’s 157.76 yen; 1 U.S. dollar was worth 0.7800 Swiss francs, lower than the prior trading day’s 0.7822 Swiss francs; 1 U.S. dollar was worth 1.3669 Canadian dollars, higher than the prior trading day’s 1.3667 Canadian dollars; and 1 U.S. dollar was worth 9.1761 Swedish kronor, lower than the prior trading day’s 9.2882 Swedish kronor.

【Metals】Spot gold rose 0.96% to $5,139.31. Spot silver was steady, at $83.504.

【Macroeconomic news】

Federal Reserve Beige Book: The U.S. economy in most regions expanded slightly to moderately. The Beige Book said that over the past few weeks, economic activity in most U.S. regions grew at a slight to moderate pace, but an increasing number of areas reported that economic activity was flat or declining. In many jurisdictions, rising economic uncertainty, increased price sensitivity, and lower-income consumers cutting spending weighed on sales performance. Employment levels were generally stable overall, even as businesses sought to use artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. Of the Fed’s 12 districts, 8 reported inflation at a moderate level.

U.S. February ADP employment increased by 63,000, the highest level in three months. Data released by ADP, a major U.S. human resources and payroll company, showed that in February, the number of new jobs added in the U.S. private sector was 63,000, the highest level since November of last year. This result beat the market expectation of 50,000 jobs. However, January data was revised significantly downward, from 22,000 to 11,000. The source of job growth was highly concentrated. The education and health care services sector added 58,000 positions, accounting for the dominant share of incremental growth; construction contributed 19,000 positions, ranking second. These two industries together offset stagnation and even contraction in most other sectors. Meanwhile, professional and business services fell by 30,000 positions, manufacturing fell by 5,000 workers, and trade, transportation, and utilities fell by 1,000. Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to spur a return of manufacturing through tariff policies, manufacturing employment continued to decline.

Venezuela’s main oil export hub is seeing export volumes near a seven-year high. After three months under the Trump administration’s control of the sale of Venezuelan oil, crude exports from Venezuela’s main export hub surged to the highest level in years in March. According to a preliminary loading plan, shipments from Jose Port—which is the country’s main oil export port—were expected to jump to 848,000 barrels per day in March. If this figure is realized, it would be Jose Port’s highest outbound volume since 2019. Export volumes are being supported by ongoing naphtha imports; this naphtha is used to dilute Venezuela’s extra-heavy crude so it can be transported via pipeline for export. As in February, at least five batches of these base-oil products are planned to be unloaded in Venezuela this month.

Analysis: Bitcoin breaks through $72,000 and could quickly rise to $80,000. According to CoinDesk, in the $72,000 to $80,000 range, there are thinly supplied areas of bitcoin. Data from Glassnode shows that relatively few bitcoins changed hands the last time within this range. Only about 1% of circulating bitcoins are located in this price band. Since there are few holders who established positions in this range, if the price starts breaking above it, the resistance the market may face could be limited. In practice, this means that if bitcoin successfully breaks $72,000, the move toward $80,000 could be completed relatively quickly. Historically, the trading time for bitcoin in the $72,000 to $80,000 range has been very short. In November 2024, after Trump won the U.S. presidential election, the price of bitcoin surged rapidly, with almost no trading volume forming in that range. In addition, earlier this year, bitcoin fell from around $80,000 to $70,000 at the end of January, then further declined to around $60,000 on February 6; this drop was completed within just a few days. Supply dynamics can be observed through Glassnode’s realized price distribution (URPD) metric. URPD shows the price level at which unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) last moved, effectively mapping the purchase cost of existing bitcoin holders. CoinDesk Research noted that during bitcoin’s recent consolidation in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, more than 400,000 BTC were accumulated, indicating strong support below the current price.

【Individual stock news】

Broadcom’s revenue guidance disappoints some investors, highlighting concerns about AI. Broadcom’s second-quarter revenue outlook disappointed investors, indicating that its progress in AI computing is slower than previously expected by some. The company’s second-quarter revenue (for the period ending May 3) was about $22 billion; analysts’ prior average forecast was $20.5 billion, while some estimates even exceeded $22 billion. Its stock showed almost no change in late trading; after the company released its earnings, the market did not see much volatility. As of Wednesday’s close, Broadcom shares were down 8.3% in 2026. This muted reaction reflects the extremely high bar faced by AI companies in 2026. Investors are increasingly worried about a bubble in AI investment. Even the large earnings report released last month by NVIDIA triggered a drop in the share price.

Seven large technology companies agreed to cover the power costs for their data centers. According to reports, seven tech giants—Microsoft (MSFT.US), Google (GOOG.US,GOOGL.US), Amazon (AMZN.US), Meta (META.US), Oracle (ORCL.US), OpenAI, and Musk’s xAI—have committed to cover their own AI data center electricity bills, invest in power grids and local communities, and limit increases in residential electricity rates. Trump said this initiative could ease opposition to AI. These companies also promised to negotiate new electricity rates in the states where the data centers are located, and to open backup generation facilities when the power grid is under stress. Analysts believe the commitment lacks details and accountability mechanisms, making it difficult to quickly change local conditions, and that smaller businesses will still bear the work of building data centers and signing contracts with electricity providers.

Amazon lays off staff in the robotics division. Reports say Amazon (AMZN.US) laid off workers in its robotics division this week, the latest move in its broad cost-cutting effort. Amazon robotics vice president said the adjustments are difficult but necessary, emphasizing that the robotics business remains a strategic priority. The number of layoffs has not been clarified. This round of layoffs is part of Amazon’s ongoing streamlining since late 2022—so far, the company has cut more than 57,000 corporate positions, and it is also shutting down underperforming businesses (such as Fresh and Go convenience stores). An Amazon spokesperson said this time only a small number of roles in the robotics division were eliminated; the company will still hire and invest in strategic areas, and provide support such as severance pay to affected employees. It is reported that the division has recently slowed a new warehouse robotics project and shifted to a new system. As of the end of last year, Amazon employed about 1.58 million people globally, including 350,000 in corporate and technical roles. CEO Andy Jassy is pushing for a flatter organization and less bureaucracy, while the company also expects 2026 capital expenditures to reach $200 billion, focusing on AI data centers.

The CEO of Western Digital focuses on building higher-capacity hard drives rather than simply increasing output. Reports say that in the face of a surge in global data storage demand, Western Digital is focusing on producing higher-capacity hard drives rather than merely expanding shipment volumes. In an interview, the company’s CEO Chen Weili said: “We do not increase the number of hard drive units shipped; instead, we use technology to increase capacity per drive.” Benefiting from the explosive growth of AI data centers and tight storage supply, Western Digital’s 2026 hard drives are essentially sold out. The company and Seagate jointly lead the global hard drive market. Driven by the storage-demand boom, Western Digital’s stock price is up 57% year-to-date, and the gain in 2025 is as high as 282%. On Wednesday, during intraday trading, it rose as much as 8.8% to $272.76. Chen Weili said that video applications are also greatly driving storage demand, giving the company more confidence in the market outlook. He also said that the conflict in the Middle East has limited impact on the company’s supply chain; local employees and business operations have not been materially affected, and the company is continuing to closely monitor the situation.