On the evening of May 18th Beijing time, the three major U.S. stock indices opened higher collectively before experiencing volatile adjustments. As of the latest update, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.19%, while the Nasdaq Composite had turned negative, declining 0.57%, and the S&P 500 was down 0.21%.
Large-cap technology stocks showed mixed performance. Alphabet surged nearly 3%, with its market capitalization exceeding $4.9 trillion to reach a new all-time high. This followed Berkshire Hathaway's move to more than triple its stake in the company. Oracle fell nearly 3%, and Tesla declined over 1%.
Chip stocks, which opened higher, reversed course and were broadly lower at the time of writing. Seagate Technology and SanDisk saw their losses widen to 6%, Western Digital dropped over 5%, Marvell Technology fell 2%, and NVIDIA declined nearly 1%. Micron Technology was down over 1%, despite trading up 3% in pre-market activity. Intel, which had gained as much as 6% pre-market, turned negative, down 0.5%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Advanced Micro Devices also moved lower.
Cryptocurrency and optical communications concept stocks weakened collectively. Strategy fell over 7%, and Coinbase dropped more than 3%. Applied Optoelectronics plunged 10%, Lumentum declined over 8%, Coherent was down over 5%, and Corning fell more than 4%.
Most U.S.-listed Chinese stocks traded lower, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down approximately 0.5%. Automobile stocks led the declines. Li Auto fell over 10%, Xpeng declined more than 4%, and Nio dropped over 3%. On the upside, Tencent Music Entertainment surged over 6% after announcing the completion of its acquisition of Himalaya. Xiaomi Group and Alibaba gained over 1%.
In commodities, gold and silver rebounded into positive territory. Spot gold was quoted at $4564 per ounce, and spot silver at $77.48 per ounce, with gains exceeding 2%. International oil prices plunged over 1%, with West Texas Intermediate crude falling below $100 to $99.72 per barrel. Brent crude was quoted at $108.02 per barrel.
The cryptocurrency market was mostly lower. Bitcoin hovered around the $77,000 level, down over 1.5% on the day. Ethereum fell 3%, and Dogecoin declined nearly 6%. Over the past 24 hours, approximately 117,000 traders globally faced liquidations.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 4.595%, a gain of 3.05% and its highest closing level since February 12, 2025. The Middle East impasse and shifts in interest rate markets remain key focal points for investors. While the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is a common global expectation, establishing a long-term, stable mechanism is urgent. The United States, Israel, and Iran each have their own demands and stances, but the conditions proposed by the U.S. and Iran are difficult for the other side to accept, suggesting the situation is unlikely to improve in the short term.
