U.S. stocks surged late at night, with the Dow jumping 1,100 points, chip stocks and Chinese concept stocks exploded, Iran's president expressed willingness to cease fire, and crude oil plummeted.

Ask AI · How could Iran’s ceasefire willingness affect oil prices and inflation expectations?

Reporter｜Zeng Jingjiao, trainee reporter Lin Qianwei

Editor｜Wu Guixing

In U.S. Eastern Time on March 31, all three major U.S. stock indexes rose sharply. The Dow rose by more than 1,100 points, up 2.49%; the Nasdaq surged 3.83%; and the S&P 500 rose 2.91%, with all of them posting their biggest single-day gains since May last year. Tech and chip stocks exploded in rally mode: the China Longyuan Index rose nearly 3%. International gold and silver surged—silver rose more than 7%, and gold rose more than 3%. International crude oil fell by more than 3%.

The seven biggest tech stocks in the U.S. all jumped together, with META up 6.67%, Nvidia and Google up more than 5%, and Tesla up 4.6%.

With chip stocks surging, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 6%. Mitek Technology rose nearly 13%, SanDisk rose nearly 11%, ARM rose more than 10%, Western Digital rose more than 7%, TSMC rose 6.7%, and Micron Technology rose nearly 5%.

According to a report by China Securities Journal, recently, large technology stocks have continued to fall sharply. As a result, the Nasdaq 100 Index has also slipped into a pullback range. However, at the moment there are also some signs—based on past experience, these signs often indicate that this sector is about to turn. The most core signal is that the valuation premium of large technology stocks compared with other market sectors has shrunk dramatically. Judging from history, after this kind of valuation compression, the sector often manages to outperform the broader market.

Chinese concept stocks jumped sharply, and the Nasdaq China Longyuan Index rose 2.8%. WeRide rose more than 13%, Pony.ai rose more than 10%, Huya and NIO rose more than 9%, and iQIYI rose 6.7%.

China concept tech leaders rose across the board: Baidu rose 4.5%, Pinduoduo rose nearly 4%, Tencent Holdings rose more than 3.5%, and Alibaba, BYD Company, and JD.com all rose more than 2%.

Gold stocks surged, with Harmony Gold up more than 8%. Aviation stocks strengthened, while energy stocks pulled back. United Airlines rose more than 8%, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines rose more than 5%, while Exxon Mobil and Chevron fell by nearly 2%.

Spot gold and silver rose strongly last night: gold rose more than 3.5%, edging toward the $4,700 mark, and silver rose more than 7%, topping $75. This morning the rally continued at the open. As of the time of this release, spot gold was $4,681 per ounce and spot silver was $75.3 per ounce.

International oil prices retreated. U.S. oil and Brent both saw a short-term plunge last night: New York-traded oil was up 0.66% at $102 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 3.59% to $103.5 per barrel.

On the news front, according to CCTV News, Iranian President Pezeshkian said that Iran is willing to end the war, but only if its demands are met—especially with guarantees that it will no longer be subjected to aggression.

Also, according to Xinhua News Agency, on the evening of March 31, U.S. President Trump said from the White House that the U.S. will end its war with Iran within “two to three weeks,” and it may reach an agreement with Iran before then.

According to CCTV News, Jeff Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said that driven by the increase in energy prices triggered by conflicts between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, U.S. inflation may remain at a relatively higher level for longer, close to 3%. Schmid noted that this rise in oil prices occurred in a context where inflation is “already too high and has lasted for too long,” and the Federal Reserve should not simply assume that inflation brought about by higher energy prices is temporary.

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(Statement: The article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors act on their own risk.)

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