Oil rose in price, but US stocks rose for the second straight day: results of the 18th day of the war

All four major U.S. stock indexes rose for the second day in a row, with the Russell 2000 index of small and mid-capitalization companies rising the most. Stocks continued to rise in price, despite the fact that oil also increased in price. In the past days of the U.S. war with Iran, the stock market perceived it negatively and sold off stocks. Now investors are waiting for the Fed's rate decision and its comments on the situation.

- The broad market index S&P 500 rose by 0.25% at the end of trading on Tuesday, March 17.

- The blue-chip index Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.85 points, or 0.1%.

- The Nasdaq Composite Technology Sector Index rose 0.47% on Tuesday.

- The Russell 2000 index of small and mid-capitalization companies added 0.67%.

- In contrast, the CBOE Volatility Index, known as the Wall Street Fear Index, fell 4.6% to 22.43 points. The index holds above the psychological mark of 20 points, indicating increased volatility.

- Brent crude futures were up 3.5% at the close of exchanges in New York and held above $103.7 per barrel. US WTI crude was up 3% to $96.3 per barrel.

- Spot gold prices declined slightly by about 1%, while silver fell 1.9% to $79.2.

- Bitcoin was up 1 percent at around $74,800, with it climbing to nearly $76,000 during the day, hitting its highest in about a month, CoinGecko shows.

Wall Street showed cautious growth: investors are trying to ignore the potential impact of increased prices on inflation, given that the U.S. war with Iran does not yet show any signs of nearing completion, Bloomberg writes.

Shares of airlines and other players in the travel industry were rapidly recouping losses on Tuesday, Reuters noted. Shares of U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines jumped 6.7% and American Airlines jumped 3.5% after both companies raised revenue forecasts for the current quarter. Shares of cruise operator Norwegian Cruise Line rose 2.2% and Expedia - 4.2%.

Shares of cab and food delivery service Uber jumped 4.2% after announcing the launch of robot cabs in 28 cities in 2027 based on Nvidia software. The companies announced the news a day earlier during Nvidia's annual developer conference.

At the same time, shares of pharma company Eli Lilly plummeted 6% after HSBC downgraded its rating from Hold to Reduce.

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting: its decision on interest rates is expected on Wednesday. Traders are almost 100% sure that the rates will remain at the same level. But what will matter is how the Fed assesses the current situation.

"Potentially problematic is a scenario in which the Fed sees an oil shock as inflationary and decides to respond with more hawkish monetary policy. The best scenario is some confirmation from the Fed tomorrow that it is monitoring the situation but sticking to what it has done in the past, which is to look beyond big oil shocks," said Baird Private Wealth Management investment strategist Ross Mayfield(quoted by Reuters).

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor