European stocks opened slightly higher on March 27 before turning lower. At the time of writing, the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 0.87%, Germany's DAX Index dropped 1.24%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index declined 0.37%, and France's CAC 40 Index decreased 0.74%. According to reports, money markets have fully priced in expectations for the European Central Bank to implement three 25-basis-point interest rate hikes by September.
US stock index futures also turned negative across the board. At the time of writing, Dow Jones Index futures fell 0.29%, S&P 500 Index futures dropped 0.31%, and Nasdaq 100 Index futures declined 0.45%.
US semiconductor-related stocks weakened in pre-market trading, with several memory chip stocks reversing earlier gains. SanDisk and Western Digital both fell over 1%, Seagate Technology dropped 0.72%, and Micron Technology declined 0.4%. Additionally, Advanced Micro Devices and ARM both fell over 1%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and ASML also saw declines.
Spot gold rose over 1.1% during the day, with the latest price at $4,430 per ounce. Spot silver increased 1%, reaching $68.7 per ounce.
International crude oil futures continued to climb, with WTI crude rising 2.35% to $96.697 per barrel and Brent crude increasing 2.01% to $103.938 per barrel.
Major cryptocurrencies experienced collective declines. Bitcoin's losses expanded further in the afternoon, falling over 3.6% to $66,966.3. Data from Coinglass showed that more than 100,000 positions were liquidated across the market in the past 24 hours.
According to Iranian media reports cited by news agencies, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued an announcement stating that three container ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz were turned back on the 27th. The announcement mentioned that the ships from different nationalities tried to enter designated certified vessel channels but turned back after receiving warnings from the Revolutionary Guard Navy.
The announcement further stated that the Strait of Hormuz is now closed to any vessels "coming from or going to" ports of US and Israeli allies, with any unauthorized attempts to cross facing "severe measures."
Separate reports indicated that Iran launched a new round of missile attacks against Israel on the 27th. Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces announced detecting Iranian missile attacks and activated defense systems to intercept incoming aerial targets. The Home Front Command issued alerts to residents in affected areas, advising protective measures.