U.S. energy stocks rise across the board, Western Petroleum up over 4%, crude oil surges 6% at opening, Iranian president proposes three major conditions to end the war

On Wednesday (March 11), the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow fell 0.61%, the S&P 500 fell 0.08%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.08%.

Large-cap technology stocks saw mixed performance. Oracle rose more than 9%. On the news front, the company raised its guidance for the next fiscal year. In addition, Tesla rose more than 2%, Nvidia rose 0.66%, and Amazon fell 0.78%.

Most chip stocks rose. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 0.63%. Micron Technology rose more than 3%, Intel rose by more than 2%, TSMC rose more than 2%, Lam Research rose by more than 1%, and Applied Materials rose by more than 1%. By the downside, Mawiir Technology fell more than 3%, and NXP Semiconductors fell by more than 1%.

Energy stocks rose across the board. Exxon Mobil rose more than 2%, Chevron rose nearly 3%, ConocoPhillips rose more than 2%, and Occidental Petroleum rose more than 4%.

Gold stocks fell across the board. Harmony Gold fell nearly 11%, Concordia Mining fell more than 4%, Eldorado Gold fell nearly 4%, Jindal fell nearly 3%, and AngloGold fell nearly 2%.

Most Chinese concept stocks fell. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 0.77%. For individual stocks, Wanwu Xingsheng fell more than 10%, iQIYI, Tencent Music, and BOSS Zhipin fell more than 4%, Bilibili fell nearly 4%, and NIO fell more than 3%; Li Auto rose nearly 3%, XPeng rose more than 2%, Arteasolar rose nearly 2%, and Beike rose more than 1%.

On March 12, gold and silver opened slightly lower. Spot gold fell 0.17% to $5,167 per ounce, and spot silver fell 0.83% to $85 per ounce. International crude oil opened higher; U.S. oil rose more than 6% to $91.45 per barrel.

Major cryptocurrencies generally rose. Bitcoin rose more than 1.5%, reclaiming $70,000. Over the past 24 hours, more than 90,000 people across the entire market were liquidated.

The latest CME “FedWatch” data shows that the probability the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points by March is 0.6%, while the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 99.4%. The probability of cumulative rate cuts of 25 basis points by April is 11.9%, with the probability of keeping rates unchanged at 88.1%, and the probability of cumulative rate cuts of 50 basis points at 0.1%. By June, the probability of cumulative rate cuts of 25 basis points is 33.8%.

According to Xinhua News Agency, on March 11, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a media interview that he would release U.S. strategic petroleum reserves to respond to the surge in oil prices triggered by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Trump said that he would “slightly” reduce strategic petroleum reserves now to lower oil prices, and he would replenish the strategic oil stockpile again.

Data released by the American Automobile Association on March 11 showed that the nationwide average regular gasoline price in the United States continued to rise, reaching the highest level in more than 20 months. On the day, the national average regular gasoline price was $3.578 per gallon, with a cumulative increase of about 20% compared with February 26.

Also, according to a report by CCTV News, on the evening of March 11 local time, Iranian President Pezeshkian posted on his social platform saying that in phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Pakistan, he reiterated Iran’s commitment to maintaining regional peace. Pezeshkian said that the “only way” to end the war currently sparked by the United States and Israel is to recognize Iran’s legitimate rights, pay war reparations, and provide the international community’s firm guarantees to prevent future acts of aggression.