Markets shrug, tech spikes
U.S. markets bounced on Tuesday with the Dow jumping over 500 points and tech leading a S&P push after dovish Powell comments and de‑escalation signals on Iran (fxempire.com). The S&P finished March down more than 5% and tech was off roughly 8% for the month, which analysts say sets up a potential relief rally if sentiment holds ( ).
The Dow closed up 1,125.37 points to 46,341.51, the S&P 500 gained 2.91% to 6,528.52 and the Nasdaq jumped 3.83% to 21,590.63 on March 31, marking the indexes’ strongest session in months. (cnbc.com) Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a Harvard macroeconomics class on March 30 that “we feel like our policy’s in a good place” and the Fed can “wait and see” how the Iran‑driven oil shock affects inflation rather than pre‑emptively hiking rates. (bloomberg.com) Markets quickly re‑priced interest‑rate expectations after Powell’s remarks, with fed‑funds futures implying a largely steady path for policy around the mid‑3% range into 2027. (rateprobability.com) The rally was also tied to fresh reports that U.S. and Iranian signals suggested a possible de‑escalation — a Wall Street Journal story and subsequent briefings prompted futures to gap higher on March 31. (money.usnews.com) Oil whipsawed as the news hit: Bloomberg reported Brent briefly slipped below $100 intraday before trading back near the low $100s, and TradingEconomics shows Brent around $103 at the close. (bloomberg.com) (tradingeconomics.com) Tech had been the hardest hit in March — the Nasdaq‑100 and related AI/mega‑cap names were roughly 8% off recent highs before Tuesday’s bounce — and Nvidia led gains on the day, jumping about 5.6% on March 31. (fool.com 1) (fool.com 2) Strategists are split on durability: some point to historical April seasonality and call for a modest relief bounce, while others — including JPMorgan analysts — warn such rallies can be short‑lived if oil and yields reverse. (finance.yahoo.com) (investing.com)
