U.S. stock markets closed higher on Monday, March 23, as investors assessed the potential easing of tensions with Iran. Crude oil prices dropped more than 10%, gold pared earlier losses, and silver staged a rebound.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have entered a state of uncertainty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 631.00 points, or 1.38%, to close at 46,208.47. The Nasdaq Composite gained 299.15 points, or 1.38%, finishing at 21,946.76. The S&P 500 increased 74.52 points, or 1.15%, ending at 6,581.00.
Last week, amid ongoing conflict with Iran, both the Dow and Nasdaq fell approximately 2%, while the S&P 500 declined 1.5%. The Dow recorded its first four-day losing streak since 2023.
According to reports, the U.S. President stated that the U.S. and Iran have held very good and productive discussions over the past two days. He has directed a five-day suspension of military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, contingent on the success of ongoing meetings and talks.
The President expressed strong interest in reaching an agreement with Iran, describing the discussions as "very intense" and expressing hope for substantive outcomes.
However, Iran's Foreign Ministry stated on the 23rd that "there is no dialogue" with the U.S., suggesting the American statements were aimed at lowering energy prices and buying time for military plans. A senior Iranian security official said there are currently no negotiations with the U.S., nor will there be any.
The official added that Iran will continue broad defensive and responsive actions against U.S. and Israeli military operations. Other sources indicated there has been no direct communication between Iran and the U.S., either directly or through intermediaries, and that the U.S. President chose to back down after learning Iran would target all power plants in West Asia.
Major technology and chip stocks rallied. Tesla Motors surged over 3%, Amazon gained more than 2%, and Facebook rose nearly 2%. NVIDIA and Apple both advanced over 1%, while Google edged up 0.4% and Microsoft increased 0.35%.
Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will be held from June 8–12, where it will showcase a range of significant artificial intelligence features. The event will highlight major updates to Apple’s platforms, including AI advancements, new software, and developer tools.
Tesla Motors revealed a collaboration with SpaceX and xAI on a chip project named TeraFab, aiming for an annual production capacity of 1 terawatt of AI computing power to build the world's largest chip manufacturing plant. TeraFab is described as a vertically integrated facility covering the entire chip process from design and manufacturing to packaging and testing, equipped with necessary tools for testing, modifying, and producing chips.
Elon Musk noted that building large-scale data centers on Earth is constrained by power availability, and only by utilizing solar energy in space can truly massive computing scales be achieved. He stated that 20% of TeraFab's chip output will be used for Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots, while 80% will support ultra-large computing clusters in space, suggesting that "space will represent the vast majority of computing power."
A coalition of broadcasters, including the Association of Commercial Television in Europe, sent a joint letter to the EU's antitrust chief, urging that Google's Android TV, Amazon's Fire OS, Samsung's Tizen OS, and virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri be designated as "gatekeepers" under the Digital Markets Act. This aims to address concerns that tech giants are using operating systems and AI assistants to control content distribution channels and restrict competition.
Most chip stocks rose, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.34%. Broadcom climbed over 4%, ASML gained nearly 4%, ARM advanced more than 3%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose over 2%. In contrast, Micron Technology fell more than 4%, and Qualcomm declined over 1%.
Oil prices fell sharply after the U.S. President delayed strikes on Iranian power facilities and indicated his team had begun discussions to end the conflict—despite Iran's denials. Both Brent crude and WTI crude dropped more than 14% at one point before recovering some losses. Following the President's post on Truth Social, Brent crude closed below $100 per barrel for the first time in nearly two weeks.
An analyst from CIBC Private Wealth Group commented that the situation remains highly uncertain, with negotiations expected to last several days. While volatility will persist, the tone of talks may begin to cap further upside in oil prices.
WTI crude fell 10.3% to $88.13 per barrel, while Brent crude dropped 11% to $99.94 per barrel.
Gold trimmed earlier steep losses and silver rebounded after the U.S. announced a delay in military strikes against Iran's energy infrastructure. Spot gold briefly turned positive before turning lower again following Iran's denial of any negotiations.
Analysts from Citigroup noted that gold is currently trading like a risk asset, similar to its behavior during many past periods of high risk aversion over the last two decades. Given the strong momentum and retail buying seen over the past six months, this pro-cyclical risk-asset behavior appears particularly pronounced.
As of 4:12 PM ET, spot gold was down 1.9% at $4,405.76 per ounce, while spot silver rose 1.7% to $69.094 per ounce.
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