Gate News Report, March 18 — Last night and this morning, Middle East tensions remained tense as investors tried to digest the inflation impact of high oil prices and shifted their focus to the upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate decision. U.S. stocks, gold, and oil experienced narrow fluctuations, while Treasury yields and the dollar both declined. Bitcoin failed to continue its strong momentum since Monday, trading sideways at around $74,000.
Market data shows the three major U.S. stock indices closed slightly higher: the S&P 500 rose 0.25%, the Nasdaq increased 0.47%, and the Dow Jones was nearly flat. Energy stocks all gained, with ExxonMobil up 1%. Most crypto-related stocks also rose, with MicroStrategy up 1.87%, BMNR down 0.68%, and CRCL up 5.15%, breaking above the $130 mark.
Data indicates Bitcoin once again failed to challenge $75,000, falling back below $74,000 to $73,980.53.
At 2 a.m. Beijing time tomorrow, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision. The market has fully priced in no change to rates and is now focused on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s statements during the monetary policy press conference, with market expectations that Powell will reveal the Fed’s stance on interest rates amid the Iran situation.