NVIDIA Major Announcement! Stock Price Rises

On March 2 (Monday) local time, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the Dow down 0.15%, the S&P 500 up 0.04%, and the Nasdaq up 0.36%.

The worsening Middle East situation triggered a surge in oil prices and reignited inflation concerns. Global investors sold off equity assets, putting pressure on the stock market.

European markets generally declined, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC40 both falling more than 2%, and the UK FTSE 100 dropping over 1%.

Most large tech stocks rose, with Nvidia up nearly 3%, Oracle up over 2%, Microsoft up over 1%, and Netflix, Apple, Tesla, Micron Technology, and Meta slightly higher; Google fell over 1%, while Intel and Amazon saw slight declines.

On Monday, Nvidia announced on its website that it has reached strategic agreements with Lumentum and Coherent, investing $2 billion in each of these optical technology companies. Nvidia stated that it has signed a multi-year strategic agreement with Lumentum Holdings Inc. to accelerate innovation in advanced optical technologies, including R&D, to enable next-generation AI infrastructure and system design. Nvidia said that the non-exclusive agreement with Lumentum includes billions of dollars in procurement commitments and future capacity rights for advanced laser components. Additionally, Nvidia invested $2 billion in the company to help build a new wafer factory in the United States.

Apple announced new products, including the entry-level iPhone 17e and a new iPad Air equipped with the M4 chip, kicking off the product launch season. According to Apple’s website, the iPhone 17e will be available for pre-order at 10:15 PM Beijing time on March 4 and will go on sale on March 11. It will be available in light pink, white, and black, with storage options of 256GB and 512GB, priced at 4,499 yuan and 6,499 yuan respectively. Notably, last year’s iPhone 16e offered three storage options, with the base model at 128GB and priced at 4,499 yuan—meaning the 17e’s base model offers more storage at the same price as the 16e.

U.S. airline stocks fell sharply on Monday. American Airlines dropped over 4%, United Airlines nearly 3%, and Delta over 2%. According to statistics, the combined market value of 29 major airlines, hotels, and travel companies from Europe, Asia, and North America evaporated by $22.6 billion that day.

As the Middle East situation worsened, widespread flight disruptions, the closure of key Middle Eastern aviation hubs, and soaring oil prices led to data showing that at least 4,000 flights were canceled worldwide over the past three days, affecting travelers as far as Brazil and the Philippines.

Dubai International Airport and Hamad International Airport in Doha, the world’s busiest international hubs, have been closed for three consecutive days, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded.

Additionally, markets are concerned about oil supply and transportation risks. Oil prices surged by as much as 13%, reaching the highest levels since January 2025, putting significant upward pressure on airline fuel costs.

Energy stocks mostly rose, with U.S. energy sector up over 7%, Murphy Oil up over 5%, ConocoPhillips and Petrobras up over 4%, Western Oil up over 2%, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil up over 1%, and Shell slightly higher.

JPMorgan analysts said that if the Strait of Hormuz were to close completely due to Middle East conflict, oil-producing countries in the region might only be able to continue production for at most 25 days. “Beyond that, storage bottlenecks would force shutdowns,” the analysts wrote in a report. JPMorgan’s commodities team reported that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen to 4 million barrels per day, from a normal level of 16 million barrels per day.

Chinese concept stocks declined across the board, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down 1.08%, Yatsen E-commerce falling nearly 9%, Kingsoft Cloud down nearly 5%, Xiaomi Group (ADR) down nearly 4%, Xpeng Motors and NIO down over 3%, and Alibaba down over 1%.

In commodities, international oil prices rose across the board. U.S. crude oil futures increased by 5.98%, closing at $71.03 per barrel. Brent crude futures rose by 7.18%, closing at $78.10 per barrel. The joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran sharply escalated Middle East tensions, raising concerns over shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz and potential Iranian retaliatory production cuts.

International precious metals futures closed mixed. COMEX gold futures rose 1.68% to $5,335.90 per ounce, while COMEX silver futures fell 3.95% to $89.61 per ounce. The escalation of Middle East tensions disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, increasing geopolitical risks and boosting safe-haven demand. Gold’s importance as a strategic neutral reserve asset increased, and expectations that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged further supported gold prices.