{"id":29899,"date":"2026-03-05T00:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/29899\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T00:59:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:59:59","slug":"the-dow-regained-tuesdays-steep-losses-rising-312-points-to-48807-as-adp-and-ism-calmed-growth-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/29899\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dow regained Tuesday\u2019s steep losses, rising 312 points to 48,807 as ADP and ISM calmed growth fears"},"content":{"rendered":"The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 312 points, or 0.65%, at 48,807 on Wednesday, after falling as much as 1.2K points intraday on Tuesday and closing down 403 points. It opened at 48,368, hit 48,853, and stayed below the 50-day exponential moving average of 48,979.\n\nThe S&P 500 rose 0.87% to 6,875 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.47% to 22,847. Markets moved as oil prices eased and the US-Iran conflict remained in focus.\n\n

Economic Data And Fed Watch<\/h3>\nADP reported 63K private-sector jobs added in February versus 50K expected, after January\u2019s revised 11K. ISM Services PMI rose to 56.1 from 53.8, above 53.5 forecast; new orders were 58.6 and prices paid was 63.\n\nFriday\u2019s Nonfarm Payrolls estimate is 60K jobs versus 130K in January, with earnings seen at 0.3% MoM and 3.7% YoY and unemployment at 4.3%. Thursday includes jobless claims (215K), productivity and unit labour costs, and Wednesday brings the Beige Book ahead of the 18\u201319 March FOMC meeting.\n\nBrent crude fell to about $81 after touching $85.12 on Tuesday, following comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about plans to stabilise Persian Gulf oil flows. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz continued, alongside a pledge to insure and escort shipping.\n\nCrowdStrike posted adjusted EPS of $1.12 on $1.31 billion revenue, with $331 million net new ARR, total ending ARR above $5 billion, and fiscal 2027 guidance of $5.87\u2013$5.93 billion revenue and $4.78\u2013$4.90 EPS. Target reported adjusted EPS of $2.44, outlined a $2 billion 2026 investment and guided $7.50\u2013$8.50 EPS; Pinterest rose after a $1 billion Elliott stake and a $3.5 billion buyback plan, while Box gained over 6%.\n\nThe Dow tracks 30 US stocks and is price-weighted, using a divisor of 0.152, and was founded by Charles Dow. Trading exposure can be gained through ETFs such as DIA, futures, options, and mutual funds, while Dow Theory compares the DJIA and DJTA and describes three phases: accumulation, public participation, and distribution.\n\n

Options Strategies For Volatile Markets<\/h3>\nGiven the market’s recent volatility and sharp intraday swings, we should prepare for continued choppiness. The Dow’s failure to reclaim its 50-day moving average suggests some technical weakness, making outright long positions risky. Using options to define risk, such as buying call spreads on the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), allows for upside participation while capping potential losses.\n\nThe strong economic data from the ADP and ISM reports creates a complex picture for the Federal Reserve. While robust growth pushes back on recession fears, the high prices paid component keeps inflation concerns on the table ahead of the March 18-19 meeting. This data cross-current suggests the Fed will remain on hold, creating uncertainty that can be traded using volatility instruments like VIX futures or options.\n\nAll attention is now on the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, and recent data shows we must be prepared for a surprise. While initial forecasts pointed to a modest 60,000 job gain, the actual report for February showed the economy added a much stronger 275,000 jobs. This kind of significant beat pressures the Fed to delay any rate cuts and will likely cause sharp moves in index futures upon release.\n\nFurthermore, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading for February came in at 3.2%, with core inflation at 3.8%, both remaining stubbornly above the Fed’s target. This persistent inflation, a trend we also observed through much of 2025, reinforces the “higher for longer” interest rate narrative. This environment makes trading interest rate-sensitive sectors, like technology via the Nasdaq 100, particularly challenging without proper hedging.\n\nThe ongoing US-Iran conflict makes the energy sector a focal point for derivative traders. The pullback in Brent crude to $81 on diplomatic news shows how quickly prices can move on headlines. We should consider using options on the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) to speculate on or hedge against further disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.\n\nIndividual stocks are still offering clear opportunities based on their fundamental performance. Target’s (TGT) powerful move on strong guidance makes its call options attractive for capturing further upside. Conversely, one could analyze the implied volatility in CrowdStrike (CRWD) options to see if they are overpriced after its recent earnings report.\n\nLooking back at the sharp market corrections we saw in 2025, the current environment warrants a cautious but opportunistic approach. We should be watching to see if the Dow Jones Transportation Average confirms the direction of the Industrials, as per Dow Theory, to gain confidence in the primary trend. The current divergence between strong economic data and geopolitical risk is creating the kind of environment where smart money can accumulate positions while public participation is hesitant.\n\nTherefore, building positions using derivatives that benefit from either a range-bound market or a sharp directional move is prudent. Buying protective puts on a broad index like the S&P 500 can hedge existing portfolios against a sudden geopolitical escalation. For those anticipating big moves around economic data, an options strangle on the DIA or S&P 500 ETFs could prove effective in the coming weeks.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stocks rebounded as oil eased; Dow +312, S&P +0.87%, Nasdaq +1.47% amid jobs, PMI focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}