01 Stock Market
Wall Street stock indexes eased on Tuesday and oil prices extended recent sharp gains as worries persisted over how long the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will go on, even as President Donald Trump said the U.S. was talking to "the right people" in Iran to reach an agreement to end hostilities.
Washington has sent a 15-point proposal to Iran aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, Reuters and other media in the U.S. and Israel reported on Tuesday after markets closed. Earlier, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters the Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, adding to a big U.S. military buildup.
Dow Jones fell 0.18% at 46,124.06; S&P 500 fell 0.37% at 6,556.37; NASDAQ fell 0.84% at 21,761.90. A midday rebound attempt fizzled as renewed weakness in mega-cap technology shares outweighed modest strength in defensives. The pull-back leaves all three benchmarks below last week’s highs but comfortably above early-month lows, reflecting a market still digesting shifting macro headlines and profit-taking after a brisk first-quarter run-up.
Sizable swings in select names stole the spotlight. Optical-network specialist Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) surged 18.94% at $113.90 after landing a $53 million 800 G transceiver order. Laser maker Lumentum (LITE) jumped 10.02% at $801.99 on AI-driven demand and index-inclusion buzz. Semiconductor bull ETF SOXL rose 3.64% at $54.96, while its bearish counterpart SOXS fell 3.71% at $37.46. Electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA) edged up 0.57% at $383.03, contrasting with chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) down 0.25% at $175.20 and memory giant Micron (MU) down 2.18% at $395.53. Among sharp decliners, lidar maker Hesai (HSAI) slid 14.16% to $20.24; crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) dropped 9.76% to $181.04 alongside weaker bitcoin prices; and fintech Circle (CRCL) retreated 20.11% to $101.17.
Underlying currents remained mixed. Profit-taking hit cloud and AI bellwethers such as Microsoft (MSFT) down 2.68% at $372.74, Oracle (ORCL) down 4.70% at $147.09, and Alphabet (GOOG) down 3.85%. Meanwhile, commodity-linked vehicles firmed: United States Oil Fund (USO) advanced 3.60% to $114.54 as crude prices remained elevated, and silver proxy SLV added 0.77% to $62.95. Rotation into select cyclicals limited broader losses, but the day closed with decliners topping advancers by nearly two-to-one on the NYSE.
02 Other Markets
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell by 0.55%, latest at 4.37%. USD/CNH rose 0.19%, at 6.90; USD/HKD rose 0.01%, at 7.83. U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.02%, at 99.18. WTI crude futures fell 4.06%, at 88.60 USD/bbl; COMEX gold futures rose 1.84%, at 4,483.00 USD/oz.
03 Top News
Trump Cites Progress with Iran, US Reported to Propose Plan to End War
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Mar 24) the US was making progress in its efforts to negotiate an end to war with Iran, including winning an important concession from Tehran, while media outlets reported Washington had sent a 15-point settlement proposal.
Trump told reporters at the White House the US was talking to "the right people" in Iran in order to reach a deal to end hostilities, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal very badly.
Circle Internet Stock Sinks as Clarity Draft Reportedly Puts Strict Limits on Stablecoin Yields
Circle Internet (CRCL) slid 20% in Tuesday trading after a media report indicated that the latest version of the Clarity Act in Congress narrowly limits rewards on stablecoins.
The legislation is critical for Circle as it operates a platform, network, and market infrastructure for stablecoin and blockchain applications. The company's digital assets and services business includes USDC (USDC-USD), EURC, and USYC.
Software Stocks Drop on Report Amazon Is Developing AI Tools
Software stocks dropped on Tuesday after a report on new AI tools from Amazon.com Inc. rekindled the disruption fears that have roiled the sector in the past few months.
Amazon’s cloud-computing arm, Amazon Web Services, is developing an AI agent to automate some of functions for sales, business development and other groups that have been targeted in the tech giant’s sweeping job cuts, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The agent being developed by AWS handles some of the workload of thousands of technical specialists in areas like cybersecurity and server networking, according to the report.
Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data
Disclaimer: This content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice.