US stocks trade mixed as the major indexes set to cap off their first negative quarter since 2020

• US stocks trade mixed Thursday as the three major indexes are set for a positive month.
• However, the indexes are on track to complete their first negative quarter since Q1 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

US stocks were mostly lower on the last day of the month.

While major indexes were still on track to end March with a gain, they are on pace for their first negative quarter since the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hammered markets.

Oil prices plunged on the news that the Biden Administration is weighing the largest-ever release of oil from the country's strategic petroleum reserves.

Here's where US indexes stood as the market opened 9:30 a.m. on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,595.54, down 0.15%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,139.56, down 0.25% (89.25 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 14,438.76, down 0.02%

In a new CNBC survey, nearly 50% of Wall Street investors said they believe a Fed blunder on interest rates is a bigger threat to the market than inflation. In recent months, the Fed has been criticized for its handling of surging inflation, which is at a 40-year high.

Heavey sanctions on Russia have chipped away at the dollar's dominance as a global reserve currency, and a top IMF official told the Financial Times Thursday there are signs that some countries are renegotiating the currency they are paid in for international trade. Some countries may even look to accelerate adoption of cryptocurrency, the IMF said.

Meanwhile, the SEC is taking aim at SPACs with a new proposal to make disclosures more like those in a traditional IPO. The regulator intends to put an end to overly optimistic language, and mitigate conflicts of interest between sponsors and investors.

Oil dropped sharply, with West Texas Intermediate down 4.9156% to $102.59 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, sank 5.51% to $107.20 a barrel.

Gold slipped by 0.0928% to 1,937.20 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield was down three basis points to 2.32%.

Bitcoin traded up 0.49% to $47,224.74.