What to know:
- Stocks and crypto prices each gave up early gains even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell eased any concerns about imminent rate hikes.
- Powell said the Fed is inclined to look past the Iran-related energy shock for now and hold rates steady.
- Bond yields fell, but oil continued its rise, ultimately pressuring the stock market and crypto.
While the bond market showed some signs of stability on Monday, rising oil prices continued to pull down U.S. stocks, and cryptocurrency lost most of its recent gains.
At a recent speech at Harvard University, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell explained that the central bank is currently not overly concerned with temporary increases in oil prices. Instead, they are paying close attention to whether people still expect inflation to stay at a manageable level, which he described as currently ‘well anchored’.
His remarks calmed down the bond market, which had been increasingly worried about a potential interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. As a result, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond decreased to 4.35%, down nine basis points, and the 2-year Treasury yield fell eight basis points to 3.83% on Monday.
According to CME FedWatch, the likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at any point in 2026 dropped significantly on Friday, falling from 25% to just 5%.
U.S. stocks started Monday strongly but ended the day with losses. The Nasdaq fell 0.75% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.4%. Bitcoin followed a similar pattern, initially rising but ultimately settling around $66,500, with little change over the last day.
Rising oil prices continued to weigh on investor sentiment regarding riskier assets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil jumped 5.3% on Monday, reaching almost $105 a barrel. Although WTI has been trading above $100 since the conflict in Iran began, it hadn’t finished a trading day above that price point since 2022.
Powell stated that they will likely need to address the situation at some point, but they’re holding off for now until they understand how it will impact the economy.
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2026-03-30 23:37