{"id":24749,"date":"2025-03-31T09:33:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T14:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eoption.com\/mid-morning-look-march-31-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T09:33:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T14:33:55","slug":"mid-morning-look-march-31-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eoption.com\/mid-morning-look-march-31-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Morning Look: March 31, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mid-Morning Look<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Monday, March 31, 2025<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Index<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Up\/Down<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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%<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Last<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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DJ Industrials<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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-190.94<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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0.46%<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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41,391<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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S&P 500<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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-62.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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1.11%<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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5,518<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Nasdaq<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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-377.00<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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2.18%<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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16,946<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Russell 2000<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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-29.24<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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1.45%<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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1,994<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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U.S. stocks extend recent decline as the S&P 500 index falls to 6-month lows, no bounce the last 4-days as stocks stumble with the S&P 500 (SPX<\/span>) breaking below 5,500 this morning, down over 5% YTD<\/span> and -7.25% on the final day of the quarter. Overnight S<\/span>&P futures (Spuz) dropped below the March YTD<\/span> low from 3\/13 of 5559.75, hitting lows of 5,533.75 before paring losses. The Russell 2000 index touches lowest since May 2024, last down -1.6% and back below 2,000. New day, same market concerns with unknown impact of tariffs that go into effect globally on Wednesday, raising recession fears and stagflation fears. Several sectors feeling the pain of the Trump administration policy changes, while defensive and haven assets rallying today (gold, utilities, consumer staples). <\/p>\n

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Biotech (XBI<\/span>, IBB<\/span>) is tumbling in the broad market sell-off following news of a key departure this weekend at the FDA. Dr. Peter Marks, the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER<\/span>) at the FDA was seen as a negative surprise to Wall Street. Shares of vaccine makers (MRNA<\/span>, BNTX<\/span>, NVAX<\/span>) as week as other gene-therapy companies SRPT<\/span>, SLDB<\/span>, others are also weaker. Reports indicate that Marks criticized Kennedy’s views on vaccines in a letter obtained by the Wall Street Journal. <\/p>\n

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Ongoing weakness in shares of companies connected to artificial intelligence (AI<\/span>) are falling again (big losers the last few weeks) as investors increasingly question the outlook for the sector, which has been a central driver of overall market gains prior. Shares of NVDA<\/span>, ARM<\/span>, AVGO<\/span> in chips, SMCI<\/span>, VRT<\/span>, DELL<\/span>, ETN<\/span> in data center, GOOGL<\/span>, MSFT<\/span> also weaker along with power companies (VST<\/span>, OKLO<\/span>, SMR<\/span>, LEU<\/span>) as demand needs soften. <\/p>\n

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Travel and consumer related stocks were broadly lower following global stock pressure amid intensifying worries about the impact of US<\/span> tariffs. The uncertainty is seen as weighing on consumers, and travel & leisure stocks are getting hit Monday with airlines (AAL<\/span>, DAL<\/span>, UAL0, cruise lines (CCL<\/span>, NCLH<\/span>, RCL<\/span>), online travel\/lodging (ABNB<\/span>, EXCPE<\/span>, BKNG<\/span>) all tumbling early, as Virgin Atlantic the latest to flag slowing US<\/span> demand.<\/p>\n

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Defense and haven related assets rallying this morning, adding to last week’s gains as gold prices soared as risk mood soured on renewed concern over US<\/span> tariffs, both on news reports that Wednesday’s new tariffs could be broader and higher than previously thought and as Goldman Sachs cut its US<\/span> growth forecasts. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Kostin cuts their S<\/span>&P 500 target for a second time this month as the strategist now expects the benchmark to end the year around 5,700 points versus his previous estimate of 6,200, citing a higher recession risk and tariff-related uncertainty. Defensive food\/consumer product stocks (GIS<\/span>, PG<\/span>, KMB<\/span>, KO<\/span>, etc.) among early leaders in the S&P 500. <\/p>\n

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Economic Data<\/p>\n