Overnight US stocks | The three major indices declined, with the Dow Jones dropping nearly 800 points. Broadcom(AVGO.US) rose 4.8%.

CryptoTimes Finance APP has learned that on Thursday, the three major indices declined, with the Dow falling nearly 800 points. Due to ongoing tensions with Iran, U.S. Treasury yields rose for the fourth consecutive day, intensifying market concerns about inflation and its impact on Federal Reserve policies.

【U.S. Stocks】 At the close, the Dow dropped 784.67 points, a decline of 1.61%, to 47,954.74; the Nasdaq fell 58.50 points, or 0.26%, to 22,748.99; the S&P 500 declined 38.82 points, or 0.57%, to 6,830.68. Southwest Airlines (LUV.US) fell 6.8%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) dropped 5.5%, while Broadcom (AVGO.US) rose 4.8% after releasing its latest earnings. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 1.4%.

【European Stocks】 Germany’s DAX 30 index fell 416.98 points, or 1.72%, to 23,799.28; the UK FTSE 100 declined 154.76 points, or 1.46%, to 10,412.89; France’s CAC 40 dropped 121.93 points, or 1.49%, to 8,045.80; the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 89.42 points, or 1.52%, to 5,781.50; Spain’s IBEX 35 declined 271.33 points, or 1.55%, to 17,219.87; Italy’s FTSE MIB decreased 694.38 points, or 1.53%, to 44,642.50.

【Asian Markets】 The Nikkei 225 rose 1.9%, South Korea’s KOSPI increased 9.63%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite gained 1.76%.

【Cryptocurrencies】 Bitcoin dropped over 1.9%, trading at $71,258.1; Ethereum fell over 2%, at $2,082.44.

【Crude Oil】 International oil prices surged significantly on the 5th. By the close, NYMEX April crude futures rose $6.35 to $81.01 per barrel, up 8.51%; London Brent crude futures for May delivery increased $4.01 to $85.41 per barrel, up 4.93%.

【U.S. Dollar Index】 The dollar index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies, rose 0.56% to 99.316 at the end of the trading day. At the New York close, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1583 USD (down from 1.1625), 1 British pound for 1.3328 USD (down from 1.3351). The USD/JPY rate was 157.77, up from 157.15; USD/CHF was 0.7827, up from 0.7800; USD/CAD was 1.3697, up from 1.3669; USD/SEK was 9.2657, up from 9.1761.

【Metals】 Spot gold declined 1.09%, to $5,083.37; spot silver was at $82.323.

【Macro News】

Falling layoffs and steady initial jobless claims confirm the U.S. labor market is stabilizing. Last week, U.S. initial unemployment claims remained nearly unchanged, while layoffs in February sharply declined, indicating a resilient labor market. Data suggest the labor market is regaining strength after last year’s setbacks. Economists believe last year’s volatility was driven by uncertainties from broad tariffs implemented under a law aimed at responding to national emergencies. The Federal Reserve’s Wednesday “Beige Book” report also noted that employment levels have been “generally stable in recent weeks, with seven of twelve districts reporting no change in hiring.” The report cited factors such as rising non-labor input costs, weakening demand, and overall economic uncertainty as reasons for stable or declining employment levels in several districts. Optimistic economists expect demand to rebound this year, stimulated by tax cuts.

Trump’s new tariffs face legal challenges; multiple states plan joint lawsuits. Reports indicate that President Trump’s latest round of tariffs on global imports faces significant legal hurdles. Last month, the Supreme Court rejected most of the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. On Thursday, attorneys general from New York and Oregon announced plans for a joint lawsuit against the 10% import tariff that took effect on February 24, involving multiple states. The new tariffs are based on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which has never been used before for tariffs but allows the president to impose temporary tariffs to address severe “balance of payments” deficits. State attorneys general argue that Trump’s justification—U.S. trade deficit—is inappropriate under Section 122, as the U.S. no longer faces balance of payments issues, which are only relevant under fixed exchange rate systems like the gold standard, abandoned decades ago.

U.S. considers new chip export controls: requiring investments for chip sales. A document shows U.S. officials are discussing a new regulatory framework for AI chip exports, considering requiring foreign countries to invest in U.S. AI data centers or provide security guarantees when obtaining large chip shipments. The U.S. is contemplating establishing four tiers for countries seeking U.S. AI chips, with over 200,000 chips potentially requiring investments in U.S. AI data centers or enhanced security measures. These rules are not final and may change. This is the first attempt since the Trump administration repealed the previous “AI proliferation rules” to regulate exports of AI chips to allies and partners.

OpenAI launches GPT-5.4 flagship model to enhance professional finance workflows. OpenAI announced the release of its new flagship AI model GPT-5.4 and a suite of tools aimed at financial services, designed to improve efficiency in office tasks. The company states that GPT-5.4 performs better in generating spreadsheets, documents, and presentations, with fewer interactions needed from users. It also improves in answering complex questions using web data, capable of gathering information from multiple sources, analyzing, and generating responses. Additionally, OpenAI introduced new tools to help professionals optimize financial analysis, investment memos, and other workflows. These tools can connect with financial data and research providers like FactSet Research Systems Inc. and Third Bridge. Users can also directly use ChatGPT within Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets to create and analyze financial models.

World Gold Council: $5.3 billion net inflow into gold ETFs in February. The World Gold Council reports that February saw a net inflow of $5.3 billion into global gold ETFs, marking the ninth consecutive month of inflows and the strongest start to a year on record. Driven by rising gold prices boosting valuations, total global gold assets under management (AUM) reached a record $701 billion, with holdings totaling 4,171 tons. North America and Asia led the inflows, while Europe experienced outflows early in the month due to late-January sell-offs. The global daily trading volume declined to $4.78 billion but remains well above 2025 levels.

【Stock News】

Oracle (ORCL.US) plans to cut thousands of jobs amid AI-driven funding shortages. Reports indicate Oracle plans to lay off thousands of employees to address funding pressures caused by large-scale expansion of AI data centers. Insiders say layoffs will affect multiple departments and could begin as soon as this month. Some affected roles are expected to be those with reduced demand due to AI development. Data compiled by institutions shows Wall Street expects Oracle’s cloud computing data center spending will keep cash flow negative for years, with profitability not expected until 2030. Last month, Oracle announced plans to raise up to $50 billion through a combination of bonds and stock issuance this year.

U.S. plans to extend AI chip export controls globally; companies like NVIDIA (NVDA.US), AMD (AMD.US) need licenses. According to sources, U.S. officials have drafted regulations to restrict the export of AI chips worldwide without U.S. approval. The legislation would give Washington broad authority to decide whether other countries can build facilities for training and running AI models. Companies would need to apply for licenses to export nearly all AI accelerators from NVIDIA, AMD, and others. This would expand current controls, which cover about 40 countries, to a global scope. Former President Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire for the world to use U.S. AI, and the draft aims not to ban NVIDIA exports but to position the U.S. government as the “gatekeeper” of AI industry access: companies (and sometimes their governments) would need approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce to purchase accelerators.