Nasdaq hits four consecutive gains: storage chips surge, Tesla faces pressure, crude oil stabilizes at $110

Ask AI · How resilient is the U.S. stock market’s streak despite geopolitical tensions?

On Monday, U.S. stocks inched higher with difficulty amid a tense geopolitical atmosphere. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 165.21 points, up 0.36%, to close at 46,669.88; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.54% to close at 21,996.34; and the S&P 500 rose 0.44% to close at 6,611.83. Among them, both the S&P and Nasdaq logged four consecutive trading sessions of gains, showing that the market still has resilience amid uncertainty.

However, the calm during trading was disrupted by hardline remarks from the White House. During a press conference, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum, saying that if Iran failed to meet its demands by 20:00 U.S. Eastern Time on April 7, the U.S. would carry out a devastating strike on Iran’s civilian infrastructure. He claimed that a plan is in place that could completely destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran within just four hours. This extreme threat briefly sent all three major indexes plunging intraday before they turned back to losses.

In response, Iran has delivered a proposal containing 10 clauses to the U.S. via Pakistan. The core demands include permanently ending the conflict, establishing a security passage agreement for the Strait of Hormuz, carrying out post-war reconstruction, and lifting sanctions. Iran ruled out the possibility of a temporary ceasefire. Trump commented that the proposal was “meaningful, but not good enough.” This game over control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the sword of Damocles hanging over the global economy.

Geopolitical risk directly spilled over into the commodities market. International oil prices jumped sharply higher. The WTI crude oil May futures settlement price on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.78% to $112.41 per barrel; Brent crude June futures rose 0.90% to $110.05 per barrel. The market is concerned that if passage through the strait remains obstructed, it will seriously disrupt the global energy supply chain. The Wharton Investment Research Institute warned that the risk of war escalating over the coming weeks remains high, and that the rise in oil prices is pushing up transportation and fertilizer costs, increasing the challenges faced by economies that rely on energy imports. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also noted that supply-chain disruptions could keep inflation and interest rates above expected levels.

Back inside the stock market, sectors and individual stocks showed sharp divergence. Big tech stocks moved both up and down. Amazon, Apple, and Google all gained more than 1%, providing major support for the indices. However, electric-vehicle giant Tesla fell 2.15% against the trend, becoming the focus of the market. JPMorgan analysts Ryan Blinkman cut the company’s earnings outlook and issued a stern warning, saying Tesla’s stock price has up to 60% further downside potential, and investors should act cautiously.

In sharp contrast, the storage-chip sector showed strength. Seagate Technology’s stock surged 5.58%, at one point rising more than 9% intraday. Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating to “preferred stock,” and lifted its target price from $468 to $582. Western Digital, Micron Technology, and SanDisk all rose more than 3%, helping lift the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 1.32%. In addition, Broadcom announced a long-term agreement with Google to develop and supply tensor processing units, with the partnership running through 2031, providing long-term certainty for AI compute demand.

Chinese concept stocks overall were lackluster. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index edged down 0.21%. At the stock level, volatility was intense. The share price of iRobot surged more than 515% against the trend, and continued rising after hours, becoming a market spectacle. Meanwhile, blue chips such as Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com saw only modest fluctuations.

On economic data, the U.S. March ISM Services PMI released on Monday fell from 56.1 to 54.0, indicating a slowdown in the pace of expansion and contraction in the employment component. Even more concerning, the Prices Paid Index—used to gauge inflation pressure—jumped to the highest level since October 2022. ING Group analysis said this suggests that after concerns in the market intensified due to a worsening Middle East conflict, businesses’ cautious sentiment is rising.

With the situation complex, institutional views have also diverged. In a report, Goldman Sachs noted that “the selloff of fast money” is weakening, and could result in net purchases of about $55 billion in assets over the next month. Senior strategist Ed Yardeni said that after the pullback, tech stocks have returned to levels that are attractive for long-term investors. But more voices urged investors to remain vigilant. Angeles Investments Chief Investment Officer Michael Rosen said bluntly that the market may be underestimating the direct and medium-term impact of disruptions to energy supply, meaning energy prices could remain elevated for a longer time. LPL Financial’s chief economist Jeff Roach also warned that if the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz continues through May and June, it would significantly worsen the outlook for the U.S. and the global economy.