I saw that the U.S. stock market opened quite negatively on March 18, 2025. The S&P 500 fell 0.51%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.61%, and the Dow Jones plummeted 0.7%. It wasn’t something isolated; it was coordinated across the board. I noticed that more than 80% of the index components fell from the very start, so it was clearly not a problem confined to a specific sector but something more systemic. Trading volumes were fairly high in the first hour, suggesting that investors were genuinely nervous while processing mixed economic signals.

The context behind it was interesting: Asian markets had already opened weak overnight (Japan and China fell 1.5% and 1.2% respectively); Europe followed the downward trend, and here in the U.S., the rendimiento de los bonos del Tesoro a 10 años rose to 4.35%. That put considerable pressure on growth and technology stocks. In addition, the Fed meeting was generating uncertainty, with inflation data continuing to surprise on the upside. The stock market was consolidating after having gained nearly 8% year-to-date, so a correction made sense technically.

What struck me as notable was that defensive sectors like utilities held up better, while technology and semiconductors suffered the most. The VIX jumped 15% before the open, so fear was in the air. Some analysts compared it to patterns from March 2021, when something similar happened. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of historical correction, but definitely a move to keep an eye on for the rest of the session.