Nasdaq falls over 400 points, U.S. tech stocks and chip stocks plunge collectively, Chinese concept stocks decline broadly, gold breaks below $4500

Reporter | Li Yutong Intern Reporter | Lin Qianwei

Editor | Zhang Nan

On March 21, Beijing time, the three major U.S. stock indices all closed lower. The Dow Jones fell 0.96%, down 2.11% for the week, marking four consecutive weeks of decline—the longest weekly losing streak since February 2023; the Nasdaq dropped 2.01%; the S&P 500 declined 1.51%.

European major stock indices closed mostly lower. Germany’s DAX 30 fell 2%, France’s CAC40 declined 1.82%; Italy’s MIB index dropped 1.97%; the UK FTSE 100 fell 1.44%.

Large tech stocks all declined, with Nvidia and Tesla down over 3%, META and Google down over 2%, Amazon and Microsoft down over 1.5%, and Apple down about 0.4%.

Storage concept stocks collectively fell, with SanDisk dropping over 8%, Western Digital down over 7%, Seagate Technology down over 5%, and Micron Technology down over 4%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.45%, Intel dropped 5%, Broadcom and TSMC declined nearly 3%.

Chinese concept stocks mostly declined, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling nearly 3%. Zhengye Bio and Bomei dropped over 30%, Xpeng Motors fell over 8%, Bilibili and Zhihu declined about 4%. Canadian Solar rose 5 against the trend. Leading Chinese tech stocks all declined, with Xiaomi down 7.88%, Baidu down 4%, JD.com down 2.68%, and NetEase, Tencent, Meituan, and Alibaba each down about 2%.

In individual stocks, Super Micro Computer plummeted over 33%, hitting a new low since November 2024. According to Cailian Press, Super Micro Computer is recently involved in a smuggling case violating U.S. export controls.

Gold and silver prices continued to fall rapidly, with spot gold falling below $4,500, down 3.42% intraday to $4,491.67 per ounce; spot silver dropped 6.8% to $67.89 per ounce.

International oil prices continued to rise, with NYMEX crude at $98.09, up 2.66%; Brent crude futures at $104.41 per barrel, up 0.61%.

Cryptocurrencies showed mixed movements, with Bitcoin at $70,625, up 0.62% intraday; Ethereum up 0.66%; SOL fluctuated, up 1.36%.

According to CCTV News, U.S. President Trump stated on the 20th local time that he believes when the U.S. wants to end the conflict with Iran, Israel is also ready to end the conflict. The U.S. is considering gradually de-escalating major military operations targeting the Iranian regime in the Middle East, and they are very close to achieving their set goals.

Several Federal Reserve officials made the latest statements on the rate cut path. According to Securities Times, Fed Governor Bowman said she still expects three rate cuts this year. Bowman stated that it is too early to assess the impact of the Iran war, and she expects the U.S. economy to grow strongly this year thanks to government supply-side spending. She has not heard of companies laying off workers but remains concerned about the employment market. Fed Governor Waller said that due to rising oil prices, he has “urgently withdrawn” the rate cut signal.

Contrary to the Fed officials’ stance, the market is betting on rate hikes this year. According to Cailian Press, traders believe there is a 50% chance the Fed will raise rates before October. Short-term interest rate futures prices indicate that the market expects the Fed is very likely to hike rates in December.