❓ Why Are Stocks Rising Even as Oil Surges Past $100?

US stocks rose on Monday as investors assessed the impact of surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions on the outlook for interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 0.8%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed roughly 0.9% and 1%.

Markets closely monitored developments in the Strait of Hormuz as the Middle East conflict entered its third week, with some optimism after several tankers passed through the key oil route over the weekend.

Oil prices briefly surged above $100 per barrel—levels not seen since 2022—raising concerns about inflation ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where officials are widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

Meanwhile, attention on the corporate side turned to Nvidia’s annual GTC conference, opening with a keynote from CEO Jensen Huang.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Meiwu Technology Company Ltd (WNW) is up 110.56% today to trade at the current level of $3.79 after announcing a strategic AI insights initiative to support functional skincare product innovation.

HCW Biologics Inc (HCWB) zoomed 89.89% in today’s trade to $0.98 after announcing positive research results for CAR-T cell therapy manufactured utilizing its commercial-ready proprietary compound, HCW9206, published in Science Advances.

In current trading, CytomX Therapeutics Inc (CTMX) stock is at $7.32 after announcing 2025 financial results and providing a business update.

Airsculpt Technologies Inc (AIRS) rose 44.86% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $2.68. The company announced its intent to delay the filing of its annual report and provided a business update.

In the current trading session, Urgent.ly Inc (ULY) jumped 164.53% to $5.37 over a previous close of $2.03 following the news that Agero has agreed to acquire Urgent.ly, Inc. (ULY).

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Global Water Resources Inc (GWRS) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.03 per share. It has fixed March 17 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 31. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.30 to its shareholders. Based on last year's worth of payments, GWRS has a trailing yield of 3.94% on the current stock price of $7.61.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Texas Roadhouse Inc (TXRH), having a market capitalization of $11.33B. It will pay a dividend of $0.75 per share, the payment date of which is March 31. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.58%.

Shares of Methanex Corp (MEOH) will be the talk of the stock market on Tuesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.18 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.74 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that MEOH has a trailing yield of 1.43% on the current share price of $51.82.

Marten Transport, Ltd (MRTN) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from MRTN will amount to $0.06 per share. March 17 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for March 31. In the previous year, MRTN distributed a total of $0.24 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for MRTN stands at 2.04% based on the current stock price of $11.76.

New Mountain Finance Corp (NMFC) will be paying out a dividend of $0.32 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of business hours on the record date of March 17. Over the past 12 months, NMFC has paid out a total of $1.28 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, NMFC boasts an impressive trailing yield of 16.11% on the current share price of $7.95.

Crypto Market Highlights

• South Korea fined Bithumb 36.8 billion won (~$24.5M) and imposed a six-month partial business suspension over widespread AML rule violations.

• Metaplanet raised $255 million via a private share placement and introduced a new warrant structure to fund additional Bitcoin purchases.

• Michael Saylor’s company Strategy bought 22,337 BTC for $1.57B last week, pushing its total Bitcoin holdings above 760,000 BTC.

• Hana Financial Group has partnered with Standard Chartered to collaborate on finance and digital asset initiatives.

• Crypto investment products maintained strong momentum last week, showing resilience to geopolitical tensions and reinforcing Bitcoin’s narrative as a relative safe-haven asset.

• Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw $1.06 billion in inflows last week, with $793 million flowing into Bitcoin.

Most Shorted Stocks

3D Systems Corp (DDD) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 29.55% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 19.0. This represents a change of 488115 shares, which corresponds to a 1.37% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $91.56 million. The average daily volume stands at 3.68M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $369.56M.

For the stock Envirotech Vehicles Inc (EVTV), the current short interest is at 45.04%. This represents a significant short interest change of 146308 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of 12.60%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 0.7. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $1.73 million.

With the symbol MNPR, the stock currently has a short interest of 29.93%. The short interest change is 83716 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of 5.56%. It would take approximately 10.8 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $79.9 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 270.46K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $408.51M.

The stock CRSP has a current short interest of 23.42%. The short interest percentage has experienced a decrease of -4.75% while there was a change of -1076292 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 14.3. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $76.54 million. Trading activity averages at 1.90M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $4.62B.

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Upcoming IPOs

Swarmer, Inc. is scheduled to go public on the NASDAQ on March 17, 2026, under the ticker symbol SWMR. The company plans to offer 3,000,000 shares in its initial public offering, with a proposed price range between $4.00 and $6.00 per share. Based on the midpoint of this range, the IPO is expected to raise approximately $15 million.

The Metals Royalty Company Inc. is also preparing for a public listing on the NASDAQ, with its IPO expected on March 23, 2026 under the ticker TMCR. The company plans to offer 55,061,113 shares as part of its public offering.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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