Oil Price Surges, Fed Reveals Major Split, Bitcoin Faces Another Sell-off, Semiconductor Stocks Shine

BlockBeats News, April 30th. Last night and this morning, against the backdrop of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Brent crude oil rose to its highest level since June 2022, with WTI crude oil surging by 8.2% to $108.11 per barrel. The market is concerned that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz may persist for a longer period, rapidly narrowing the global supply cushion.

Fed Chairman Powell's statement of staying in office and the Fed's internal concerns about inflation have led to a significant divergence within the Fed on the interest rate path. Traders therefore believe that the possibility of a rate hike this year is higher than a rate cut.

Impacted by the above news, the U.S. stock market showed mixed results, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 1.8%. NXP Semiconductors surged by 25%. Post-market earnings reports affected several tech giants: Meta's stock price fell due to increased capital expenditure outlook, Microsoft's cloud business growth rate did not dispel investor doubts about AI returns, and Alphabet rose due to strong sales data.

Bitcoin once again showed weakness during the U.S. stock trading session, not only retracing yesterday's gains during the Asian session but also briefly falling below $75,000 early this morning, now trading at $75,818.84. Coinbase's Bitcoin Premium Index also turned negative today, indicating a selling trend among U.S. investors.