Late night, across the board surge! Strait of Hormuz, breaking major news!

The Strait of Hormuz continues to keep financial markets on edge.

Tonight, the three major U.S. stock indices all rose, with large tech stocks broadly higher, the airline sector surged across the board, Alaska Airlines temporarily jumped over 7%, American Airlines rose over 5%, and international oil prices narrowed their gains significantly. On the news front, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, stated in a recent speech that oil tankers have “begun to pass through” the Strait of Hormuz sporadically. Additionally, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, vessel traffic related to Iran surged to 12 ships in the past 24 hours, reaching a new high since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war.

Regarding Middle East conflicts, according to CCTV News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the 17th local time that Qasem Soleimani has been killed. The Israeli military launched an airstrike early that morning in Tehran, Iran. Also, Reuters reported on the 17th, citing the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who rejected a proposal to de-escalate tensions or ceasefire with the U.S. Khamenei stated at a foreign policy meeting, “Now is not the time for peace,” and emphasized that the U.S. and Israel must be defeated and made to pay reparations.

U.S. stocks rally across the board

On the evening of March 17, Beijing time, the three major U.S. stock indices opened higher collectively. As of 22:45, the Dow rose 0.55%, the Nasdaq increased 0.72%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.64%.

Large tech stocks in the U.S. market broadly advanced, with Amazon, TSMC ADR, and Tesla up over 1%, while Nvidia, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta all saw modest gains.

The airline sector also surged, with Delta Airlines up over 4%, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines each up over 3%, and United Airlines and Southwest Airlines up over 2%.

On the news front, CCTV News reported that on March 17, local time, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, stated that oil tankers have “begun to pass through” the Strait of Hormuz sporadically. He reiterated that the Trump administration believes military actions against Iran will last for weeks rather than months.

Hassett also said that if necessary, the scale of the coordinated global release of strategic oil reserves could be expanded.

In an interview with CNBC, he mentioned that the White House has formulated response plans for disruptions in various parts of the supply chain and expressed “great confidence that the current situation is under control and will end soon.”

Regarding the Iran-related conflict, Hassett said it “will end in the short term,” not dragging on for months, estimating a “4-6 week” timeline and noting that “we are ahead of schedule.”

He stated, “Trump will never back down and will see this through.”

Hassett also discussed oil price expectations, saying “futures indicate oil prices will return to over $50 per barrel later this year.”

Regarding the U.S. economy, Hassett affirmed that the fundamentals remain strong.

He mentioned that a conflict lasting more than six weeks “won’t cause significant disruption to the U.S. economy,” but “will hurt consumers.”

He also noted that the U.S. planting season is approaching, so fertilizers are important, and that the U.S. has “successfully found alternative sources of fertilizer.” Additionally, he reiterated that the U.S. economy remains fundamentally strong and that futures suggest oil prices will return to over $50 per barrel later this year.

Furthermore, U.S. President Trump again called on other countries to assist in ensuring the safe passage through the Strait and threatened to expand strikes on Iran’s key export hub, Kharg Island. However, according to Bloomberg, most countries responded negatively to Trump’s call, with few publicly supporting it.

Netanyahu: Qasem Soleimani has been killed

Investors are closely watching the further development of Middle East conflicts.

According to the latest report from CCTV News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the 17th local time that Qasem Soleimani has been killed. It is reported that the Israeli military launched an airstrike early that morning in Tehran, Iran. It is claimed that after the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, Israel tracked Soleimani for several weeks.

Netanyahu also stated that Basij militia commander Suleimani has been killed. He added that recent military actions are weakening Iran, and more “surprises” are expected.

According to Iran’s reports on the 17th, Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote a handwritten condolence letter to fallen Iranian naval soldiers. The public release of this letter is seen as a rebuttal to rumors of Larijani’s death.

On the same day, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement saying that Operation “Real Commitment-4,” the 58th wave, was carried out early that morning. Iran claimed this operation was to commemorate children who died in the current conflict, especially those from Mina School and a three-day-old infant.

The statement said the operation used a “results-oriented” combat approach, employing various precision strikes, including the “Khoramshahr” heavy missile with a 2-ton warhead, the “Gader” multi-warhead missile, the “Fateh” and “Habar Shakan” missiles, as well as medium-range missiles and attack drones, targeting multiple locations in northern and central Israel, as well as U.S. military bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

Additionally, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, that he rejected a proposal for de-escalation or ceasefire with the U.S. after being conveyed by mediators. Khamenei believes that “the right time for peace” will come only after the U.S. and Israel admit defeat and pay reparations.