U.S. Stocks Close: Both the U.S. and Iran send signals of de-escalation, Dow jumps over 1,100 points, Nasdaq rises 3.8%

Ask AI · Why the easing of tensions between Iran and the U.S. became a catalyst for a surge in U.S. stocks?

Cailian Press, April 1 (Editor: Niu Zhanlin) On Tuesday in U.S. Eastern Time, all three major U.S. stock indexes surged sharply, with each recording its biggest single-day gain since May of last year. The Dow jumped by 1,125 points. Both Iran and the U.S. released statements easing the conflict, boosting investor sentiment. Previously, the conflict had pushed oil prices higher and, in recent weeks, heightened global inflation concerns.

Analysts said the market’s optimism was driven by overnight developments—U.S. President Trump had earlier told aides that even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, he would still be willing to end military action against Iran.

It is reported that U.S. government officials assessed that forcibly reopening the waterway would push military operations beyond the originally planned 4 to 6 week timeframe. Based on this, Trump decided to gradually end the current military action after achieving key objectives such as weakening Iran’s navy and its missile capabilities.

During trading on Tuesday, Iranian President Pezeshkian said Iran is willing to end the war, but on the condition that its demands are met—especially to receive guarantees that it will no longer be subjected to aggression. The easing remarks triggered a straight-line rally in gold and risk assets.

Bill Northey, Senior Investment Director of Wealth Management at Bank of America, commented: “What the capital markets are reflecting today is expectations of the conflict ending early or a ceasefire being reached.”

He added: “Although the details are still unclear, the capital markets are looking for any signs that energy transportation through the Strait of Hormuz may be able to return to normal.”

U.S. stocks also benefited from easing pressure in the bond market, as U.S. Treasury yields continued to fall. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell from 4.35% on Monday to 4.31%, down meaningfully from 4.44% at the previous weekend—this represents relatively large fluctuations in the bond market.

As for economic data, U.S. job openings in February fell by more than expected, and the number of hires dropped to the lowest level in nearly six years.

“Any step toward ending the war is music to the ears of the stock market, so what you’re seeing is this relief-driven rebound,” Eric Diton, President of The Wealth Alliance, said. “But we’re not out of danger yet. Ultimately, if we don’t solve the oil supply problem, it will keep creating pressure.”

Market snapshot

By the close, the Dow rose 1,125.19 points, up 2.49%, to 46,341.33; the Nasdaq rose 795.99 points, up 3.83%, to 21,590.63; and the S&P 500 rose 184.80 points, up 2.91%, to 6,528.52.

Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500, the telecommunications sector closed up 4.42%, the information technology/technology sector rose 4.24%, and the consumer discretionary sector rose 3.28%, ranking third. The energy sector fell 1.12%.

Among U.S. sector ETFs, the semiconductor ETF rebounded to close up 5.76%. The Global Technology Stock Index ETF, the Biotech Index ETF, the Technology Sector ETF, and the Global Airlines ETF rose by up to 4.40%. The Energy Sector ETF fell 1.13%.

Performance of popular stocks

Large-cap tech stocks broadly rose. Meta gained 6.67%, Nvidia rose 5.59%, Google A rose 5.14%, Tesla rose 4.64%, Amazon rose 3.64%, Microsoft rose 3.12%, and Apple rose 2.9%.

CoreWeave, an artificial intelligence infrastructure company, saw its share price surge 12% after securing an $8.5 billion loan for expansion. Meanwhile, Marvell Technology rose nearly 13% after receiving a $2 billion investment from Nvidia.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ share price skyrocketed 44%. Earlier, Eli Lilly announced the acquisition of the company (primarily drugs under development to treat neurological diseases such as narcolepsy). If conditions are met, the total deal value could reach up to $7.8 billion.

McCormick shares fell 6.1%. The company is acquiring most of Unilever’s food business, with a deal valuation of $44.8 billion.

Snap rose more than 14%, as activist investor Irenic Capital Management is increasing its stake in the company.

Popular China concept stocks rose across the board. The Livarmore China concept leader index rose more than 3%, NIO rose more than 9%, iQIYI rose more than 6%, Baidu and Bilibili rose more than 4%, while Alibaba, XPeng Motors, and JD.com rose more than 2%.

Company news

【Well-known tech leaker: Apple is testing a Siri function that can handle multiple commands at once】

According to the latest report from well-known Apple leaker Mark Gurman, Apple is testing a new feature that allows Siri to process multiple requests simultaneously when responding to a single query. For example, users can ask Siri to check the weather, create calendar events, and send a message within one request. At present, Siri requires users to issue requests one by one, which makes it look far behind compared with ChatGPT and Gemini. This progress will simplify how users interact with Siri and may encourage more people to use it as a time-saving tool. This capability is also crucial for subsequent upgrades under development. These upgrades include features that rely on on-device personal data and deeper application integration—for example, enabling Siri to complete photo retrieval and editing and send them to contacts through a single instruction.

【Oracle kicks off a new round of large-scale layoffs as AI data center investment keeps ramping up】

On Tuesday, Oracle notified employees of a new round of layoffs totaling several thousand people, while continuing to invest heavily in building data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) development. It is understood that the rise of generative AI is intensifying market concerns about Oracle’s competitiveness in its core business. On the other hand, the company has been continuously increasing its debt level to drive AI investment, leading to tighter cash flow, which has also put pressure on investors. As of May 2025, Oracle’s total employee count is approximately 162,000. Although Oracle declined to comment on the news, multiple media outlets have confirmed it through interviews with employees inside the company. On social media, multiple Oracle employees claiming to be based in the United States and India said their positions have been eliminated.

【Nvidia taps its “cash power” again: takes a stake in Marvell Technology and launches AI interconnect and silicon photonics cooperation】

Late on Tuesday Beijing time, Nvidia announced a strategic partnership with Marvell Technology, bringing this semiconductor company focused on specialized AI chips into the Nvidia ecosystem. The two sides will also cooperate on silicon photonics technology. As part of the standard process of joining the “Nvidia family,” the world’s largest publicly traded company by market value also invested $2 billion in Marvell Technology. The Tuesday announcement shows that the key to this cooperation is to make it easier for Marvell’s users to connect to the Nvidia ecosystem to develop semi-custom AI infrastructure. Marvell will provide XPU and network solutions compatible with Nvidia NVLink Fusion rack platform, enabling these heterogeneous AI infrastructures to be fully compatible with Nvidia systems—achieving “seamless integration” with Nvidia’s GPU, LPU, networking, and storage platforms.

【OpenAI completes $122 billion in funding, valuing it at $85.2 billion】

OpenAI has completed a $122 billion funding round, with the company valued at $85.2 billion. This marks the largest funding round the company has raised to date, supporting its costly investments to date in chips, data centers, and talent. Of the financing that has been prepared over the course of several months, most of the funds came from three major technology companies. Amazon agreed to invest $50 billion in this round, while Nvidia and SoftBank Group each invested $30 billion. A large portion of Amazon’s investment ($35 billion) depends on whether OpenAI can list or reach technical milestones toward general artificial intelligence. OpenAI first raised more than $3 billion from individual investors through bank channels. OpenAI said the company currently generates $2 billion in monthly revenue. Enterprise-level sales currently account for 40% of its revenue, and this proportion is expected to rise to 50% by the end of the year.

(Cailian Press, Niu Zhanlin)