Markets are down in the early morning hours of March 19.
The downward sentiment came after WTI oil moved upwards again toward $97 per barrel after further attacks on critical energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
Iran carried out missile strikes targeting a facility in Qatar that hosts the world’s largest LNG export plant, part of a broader escalation following an earlier Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
Related: Latest oil news triggers rally amid U.S.-Iran tensions
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a temporary waiver of the Jones Act, allowing foreign vessels to transport oil and gas between U.S. ports for 60 days to ease domestic shipping costs.
Owing to the volatility in oil prices and the subsequent movements in the market, the Federal Reserve also decided to keep interest rates steady between 3.5% and 3.75%.
Ahead of the bell, Nasdaq 100 futures was down 0.5%, and S&P 500 futures was down by 0.47%.
Crypto is not looking good either.
Just two days ago, Bitcoin (BTC) had jumped close to $76,000 for the first time in over a month.
Until a day earlier, investors were hopeful Bitcoin would stay above the $70,000 mark.
But come Thursday morning, all hopes have diminished.
At press time, Bitcoin had dropped by 4.2% and was trading near $69,600. Altcoins like XRP, Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) were not faring well either.
Overnight, Ethereum was down by 4.5% and changing hands at $2,158.81. XRP dropped by 2.1% and was trading near $1.4, while Solana fell by 2.4% and was trading near $88.49.
Crypto stocks were also flashing red signs in the pre-market hours. The United States’ biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) was down 2.71%.
The biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin Strategy was also down by 2.72%, while popular crypto exchange Robinhood also traded in red, down 2.5%. Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) was also down by 2.13%.
Another crypto exchange, Gemini (NASDAQ: GEMI), however, was slightly above in green, trading over 1% higher during pre-market hours.
This is especially crucial since the company is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results today.
A day earlier, Citigroup had slashed its price targets for most of the mentioned crypto stocks.
It reduced Gemini from $13 to $5.5, slashed Strategy’s target by 20% from $325 to $260, and lowered Riot’s from $23 to $21.
