Overnight US Stocks | All Three Major Indices Rise Over 1% Oil Price Plummets Over 10% Spot Gold Continues to Fall Over 2%

CryptoTimes App reports that on Monday, the three major indices closed higher, and oil prices plummeted. The three indices all gained over 2% at their intraday highs. The Dow Jones rose more than 1,100 points, up 2.5%; the Nasdaq increased by 2.5%; the S&P 500 reached a high of 2.2% gains. U.S. President Trump announced that talks have been held between the U.S. and Iran, and he has halted strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.

【U.S. Stocks】 At the close, the Dow rose 631.00 points, up 1.38%, to 46,208.47; the Nasdaq gained 299.15 points, up 1.38%, to 21,946.76; the S&P 500 increased by 74.52 points, up 1.15%, to 6,581.00. Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose 1.7%, Tesla (TSLA.US) increased 3.5%, Micron Technology (MU.US) fell 4.39%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) declined 1.02%.

【European Stocks】 Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 263.24 points, up 1.18%, to 22,660.67; the UK FTSE 100 fell 15.32 points, down 0.15%, to 9,903.01; France’s CAC 40 increased 60.58 points, up 0.79%, to 7,726.20; Europe’s STOXX 50 rose 74.97 points, up 1.36%, to 5,576.25; Spain’s IBEX 35 gained 192.15 points, up 1.15%, to 16,906.15; Italy’s FTSE MIB increased 388.60 points, up 0.91%, to 43,229.50.

【Cryptocurrency】 Bitcoin surged over 3.8%, trading at $70,979.63; Ethereum rose 4.79%, to $2,161.48.

【Crude Oil】 NYMEX May light crude futures fell $10.10, closing at $88.13 per barrel, down 10.28%; London Brent crude futures for May declined $12.25, closing at $99.94 per barrel, down 10.92%.

【U.S. Dollar Index】 The dollar index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.69% to 98.958 at the end of the trading day. At the New York close, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1607 USD, up from 1.1559 USD; 1 British pound exchanged for 1.3425 USD, up from 1.3337 USD. The USD/JPY rate was 158.45, down from 159.22; USD/CHF was 0.7865, down from 0.7885; USD/CAD was 1.3719, up from 1.3707; USD/SEK was 9.3095, down from 9.3594.

【Metals】 Spot gold continued to decline by 2.04%, at $4,406.77 per ounce; spot silver also fell, at $69.168 per ounce.

【Macro News】

Goldman Sachs raises the likelihood of a U.S. recession to 30%. Goldman Sachs stated that due to soaring oil and natural gas prices, the probability of a recession in the U.S. over the next 12 months has increased to 30%, up 5 percentage points from previous estimates. The energy price shock, combined with tightening financial conditions caused by Middle East conflicts, and the fading effects of major tax laws passed last summer, led Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Hazoos to raise their baseline unemployment forecast to 4.6% by year-end. Goldman Sachs still expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September and December. The bank also forecasts that U.S. GDP growth in the second half of this year will be below trend, with an annualized growth rate between 1.25% and 1.75%. Due to ongoing disruptions in energy transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, Goldman Sachs earlier on Monday raised its oil price forecast for this year. The bank said that this conflict will push up global inflation and reduce global GDP growth by 0.4 percentage points, but in the worst case, the impact on GDP could double or even triple.

Federal Reserve Board Member Mester: It’s too early to adjust expectations for four rate cuts in 2026. Mester stated that the Fed should not base policy decisions on short-term factors related to the conflict between the U.S. and Israel in Iran. She said, “Before we change our view, we should gather all relevant information. And I think it’s too early to have a clear picture of the next 12 months.” The Middle East conflict has caused a sharp rise in oil prices, which could both push inflation higher and negatively impact economic growth and the labor market. The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at last week’s meeting, marking the second consecutive hold. Policymakers acknowledged increased economic uncertainty due to the escalation of the war, and Chair Powell emphasized that officials need to see more progress in reducing inflation. Mester opposed this decision, leaning toward a 25 basis point rate cut. However, she admitted that if oil prices remain high, it could gradually spill over into other goods and services, but she still maintains her expectation of four rate cuts this year before the war.

U.S. SEC submits rules on digital assets and fund disclosures to the White House, proposing innovative exemption mechanisms. On March 23, the SEC submitted two proposed rules to the Office of Management and Budget, involving the digital asset industry and disclosure requirements for hedge funds and private equity funds. The digital asset proposal includes an “innovative exemption” mechanism allowing relevant companies to be exempt from registration as broker-dealers or exchanges for a certain period. The other rule adjusts the Form PF used for disclosing fund performance and risks. Additionally, SEC Chair Paul Atkins previously delayed the effective date of the new Form PF rules to October 1 and said he is exploring ways to reduce disclosure burdens.

Iranian officials: Iran and the U.S. have exchanged messages through Egypt and Turkey. On March 23, an Iranian senior official stated that President Trump has no authority to set conditions or deadlines for negotiations. The official said Iran and the U.S. have exchanged messages via Egypt and Turkey to ease tensions, but the U.S. has not accepted Iran’s two core conditions—compensation for damages and acknowledgment of Iran’s rights. The official also mentioned that issues like closing the Strait of Hormuz and laying mines are still among Iran’s options for responding to potential actions. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said on the 23rd that Iran has received messages from some friendly countries over the past few days regarding U.S. calls to end the war through negotiations, and Iran has responded appropriately based on its principles, with no negotiations held with the U.S.

U.S. plans to invest $250 million to create an energy and critical minerals investment alliance. According to reports, a Trump administration official said the U.S. plans to allocate $250 million to an investment group that will fund energy and critical mineral supply chain projects. Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said on Monday that the U.S. will manage this fund and seek up to $1 trillion in commitments from sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. He added that participants will include SoftBank Group, Temasek Holdings, and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company. Helberg said the primary focus of the group’s investments will be ensuring U.S. and allied access to energy and rare earths, especially in “mineral security, logistics, and potential energy security infrastructure.” He noted that U.S. and institutional investors will review the project list.

【Stock News】

Apple plans to introduce ads in its Maps app to further monetize its services. Reports indicate that Apple is preparing to add advertising to its Maps app as part of a broader effort to generate more revenue from its services segment. Insiders suggest the announcement could be made as early as this month. The system will operate similarly to Google Maps ads, allowing retailers and brands to bid for ad placements in search results. For example, restaurants could bid on a search term like “sushi,” and when users search for such food, the highest bid restaurant’s ad will appear at the top of the results. Similar to Google, Yelp also uses a comparable approach in its app and website.

Strategy plans to raise over $40 billion to accelerate Bitcoin accumulation. Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR.US) is pursuing a $42 billion financing plan to speed up its Bitcoin accumulation. The company plans to sell $21 billion worth of Class A common stock and $21 billion of perpetual preferred stock on the open market. After purchasing 1,031 bitcoins between March 16-22, the company now holds over 762,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $54 billion.