Sudden Policy Change Triggers Sell-off

 

All Three U.S. Stock Indices Close Lower Across the Board

 

The direct trigger for the market decline was a rapid shift in trade policy. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down President Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs last Friday, the White House quickly responded with new 15% global tariffs, causing U.S. stocks to drop on Monday. Wind data shows that on Monday (February 23) local time, all three major U.S. stock indices closed lower across the board. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.66% to 48,804.06 points, the S&P 500 Index dropped 1.04% to 6,837.75 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.13% to 22,627.27 points.

 

Concerns that AI technology may reshape industry landscape and erode corporate profits were concentrated in the technology sector. Most large U.S. technology stocks fell, with the Wande U.S. Technology Seven Giants Index dropping 0.99%. Among them, Microsoft fell more than 3%, Tesla and META dropped nearly 3%, Amazon declined more than 2%, and Google-C fell over 1%. Meanwhile, NVIDIA rose 0.91% and Apple increased 0.60%.

 

IBM's stock price plummeted more than 13% on Monday. Earlier, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic stated that its ClaudeCode tool can assist in modernizing the outdated programming language COBOL, while most large mainframes currently running COBOL are produced by IBM.

 

Most Chinese concept stocks fell, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index dropping 0.95%. Among popular Chinese concept stocks, Kingsoft Cloud fell nearly 9%, BOSS Zhipin declined more than 6%, 21Vianet and FinVolution dropped more than 5%, while Tiger Brokers, GDS Holdings and Vipshop fell over 4%.

 

The new U.S. tariff policy intensified market concerns about inflation trends and global economic growth prospects, causing gold prices to rise on Monday, with spot gold breaking through $5,220 per ounce. Wind data shows that as of 5:20 Beijing time on February 24, London spot gold was quoted at $5,231.2 per ounce, up 2.35%. COMEX gold stood at $5,253.2 per ounce, an increase of 3.39%.

 

According to a Xinhua News Agency report, international oil prices edged down on February 23. By the close of trading that day, the price of light crude oil futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 17 cents to close at $66.31 a barrel, a decrease of 0.26%. The price of London Brent crude oil futures for April delivery dropped 27 cents to close at $71.49 a barrel, a decrease of 0.38%.

 

In addition, according to a CCTV News report, on February 23 local time, Bernd Lange, Chairman of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament, stated that the European Parliament negotiation team has decided to suspend work related to the approval of the EU-U.S. trade agreement and postpone the vote on the agreement originally scheduled for the 24th. Lange reaffirmed that clear regulations and legal certainty are needed before any further measures are taken.

 

Trump Denies Report that U.S. Military General "Opposes War with Iran"

 

According to a Xinhua News Agency report, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media on the 23rd, denying U.S. media reports that Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Kane opposes military strikes against Iran.

 

Trump claimed that media reports about Kane "opposing war with Iran" have no source of information at all.

 

U.S. Military Tankers and Transport Planes Arrive in Israel

 

According to a Xinhua News Agency report, Israeli media reported on the 23rd that as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, a group of U.S. military tankers and transport planes arrived at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel.

 

The Times of Israel reported that as part of the U.S. large-scale troop increase operation in the Middle East, these U.S. military tankers and transport planes landed at Ben Gurion Airport on the 22nd. Israeli officials declined to comment on the U.S. military deployment at this major civilian airport, and it is unclear whether these military aircraft are only staying here temporarily.

 

Photos circulating on social media platforms on the 23rd showed two U.S. military tankers parked on the tarmac of Ben Gurion Airport.

 

The report quoted relevant intelligence as saying that since mid-February, as U.S. President Donald Trump considers whether to take military action against Iran, the U.S. military has sent more than 85 tankers and over 170 transport planes to the Middle East.

 

At this stage, the United States has deployed one aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East. According to media reports, the second carrier strike group has entered the Mediterranean Sea and is expected to arrive in waters near Israel soon. The U.S. military has also deployed more than 10 other types of warships, hundreds of fighter jets and multiple sets of air defense systems in the Middle East.

 

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr confirmed on the 22nd that a new round of negotiations between the United States and Iran is scheduled to be held on the 26th in Geneva, Switzerland. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi, in an interview with U.S. media on the 22nd, stated that it is possible to reach a "better agreement" than the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, and he also emphasized Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy.