Daily summary: US tech sell-off drags down Wall Street. VIX surges 6% as fear rise

• The US500 fell 1.22% to extend its worst quarterly slide since 2023, the US100 dropped 2%, and the US30 with losses of 0.4%. The session brings a major test for US stock market rebound momentum 
• President Trump is set to announce auto tariffs at a 4:00 PM ET press conference today, according to the White House press secretary, sending Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis shares sharply lower ahead of the announcement. 
• US Durable Goods Orders (February) came in above expectations, which helped investors to believe in the resilience of the economy. On the other hand, the stronger than expected reading may signal that Fed will hold interest rates unchanged for longer. USDIDX gains 0.35% today, while EURUSD drops 0.3% to 1.0755.  US 10-year Treasury yields advanced three basis points to 4.34%.

U.S. Durable Goods Orders – February 2025:

• Durable Goods Orders: +0.7% m/m (Forecast: +0.2%, Previous: 0.0%)
• Core Durable Goods Orders (ex-transportation): +0.9% m/m (Forecast: -1.1%, Previous: +3.1%)

• Market liquidity in S&P 500 stock-index futures stands at a two-year low according to Deutsche Bank data, creating challenges for institutional investors and potentially boosting volatility, after a recent spike in option dealers gamma. VIX surges almost 6% today, rebounding from almost 1-month lows
• Barclays strategists cut their 2025 S&P 500 price target to 5,900 from 6,600, citing tariffs and weakening survey data as factors likely to weigh on the US stock market for the rest of the year.
• "Magnificent Seven" tech megacaps led the decline with Nvidia plunging 6.5% following reports that China's new energy efficiency rules could effectively bar its H20 chip from the Chinese market, threatening approximately $17.1 billion (13%) of the company's annual revenue.
• Tesla shares sank 6.2%, extending its 2025 losses to 32.1%, while Microsoft retreated after TD Cowen analysts reported the company had walked away from new data center projects in the US and Europe. Tesla announced it will begin sales in Saudi Arabia next month, signaling the electric vehicle maker and the kingdom have healed a rift dating back to 2018, while EV penetration in the Saudi market remains low at just 1% of total car sales.
• The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari signalled today that the Fed is looking closely a major shift of economic sentiments, which is the biggest since Covid-19 pandemic, while tariffs effects on the economy remain highly uncertain
• GameStop shares jumped as much as 13.7% after announcing its board unanimously approved adding Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, despite disappointing Q4 results showing a 28% year-over-year decline in net sales to $1.28 billion.
• Futures on corn and coffee were down 1,5% today. The volatility across energy commodities is low, with OIL rising only 0.5% intraday. Even much bigger than expected US EIA Oil inventories change didn’t lift oil prices up.

EIA Crude Oil Inventories: -3.341M (Forecast 1.977M, Previous 1.745M)

• Gasoline inventories:-1.446M vs -1.5M exp. and -0.527M previously
• Distillate Inventories: -0.421M vs -1M exp. and -2.812M previously

Sentiments across cryptocurrencies are weak today, with Bitcoin down 1.3% falling to $86,500 level. Solana and Ethereum are down almost 3%, while Dogecoin is up 2%.

Source: xStation5