Data reignites inflation concerns, US bonds fall, US stocks plunge, the first monthly decline in six months, Tesla drops more than 5%, Amazon jumps after earnings report, AMD and Micron plummet

Market concerns about high inflation reignited by the release of labor cost data on Tuesday. The first quarter of the US labor cost exceeded expectations with a growth of 1.2%, marking the largest increase in a year, reflecting the continued pressure on wage increases in a high inflation environment. Consumer sentiment, usually seen as a barometer of the US economy, performed poorly. The April US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index hit a new low since July 2022. The survey by the Conference Board showed that high prices, especially food and gasoline prices, were the top concerns for surveyed consumers.

Commentators noted that following persistent high price pressures shown in data such as the PCE price index, the labor cost data may further worry the market, making the Fed's efforts to lower inflation difficult to achieve the expected progress. Observers believe that Tuesday's data will not prompt the Fed, which began its monetary policy meeting that day, to change its stance of not rushing to ease tightening, nor will it prompt the Fed to consider the need for rate hikes.

After the release of labor cost data, US Treasury bond prices accelerated their decline, with yields widening. The yield on the interest rate-sensitive two-year US Treasury bond quickly rose back above 5.0%, hitting a new high since November last year after two trading days, amid a sharp rise in yields in April as expectations of rate cuts were repeatedly frustrated. The US dollar index saw an expanded increase during trading, not only failing to approach the two-week low set last Friday, but also rising to a high level in the past week, maintaining a monthly upward trend this year. US stocks opened lower, led by a decline in technology stocks. The S&P and Nasdaq saw their largest declines since the Fed's heavy blow to rate cut expectations in late January, while the Dow saw its largest drop in over a year, all experiencing their first monthly cumulative declines in six months since the Fed signaled a shift in October last year.

Tech giants that supported the market on Monday retreated, with Tesla falling over 5% in early trading and Amazon, set to release its earnings after hours, dropping over 1%. Chip stocks and Chinese concept stocks, which had been rising steadily in the past week, paused their upward momentum. The performance of industry leaders in their earnings reports varied: McDonald's first-quarter profit fell short of expectations; industrial giant 3M's first-quarter performance exceeded expectations, performing the best among Dow components; weight loss star Zepbound and blood sugar-lowering drug Mounjaro's strong sales drove Eli Lilly up nearly 8% at one point; Amazon, whose first-quarter profit exceeded expectations by more than double, quickly stopped its post-market decline and rebounded; AMD, whose first-quarter revenue slightly exceeded expectations but saw a sharp drop of nearly 50% in gaming business revenue, plummeted after hours, while AI "demon stock" Supermicro, whose first-quarter profit exceeded expectations by more than double, also fell sharply after hours.

In the currency market, as the US dollar rebounded, the yen fell back after briefly jumping and reclaiming 155 during Monday's trading, approaching 158 at one point, getting close to the low point since 1990 after falling below 160 on Monday. The Bank of Japan's current account hint suggested that the central bank may intervene with 5.5 trillion yen to support the yen on Monday After the rebound of the Japanese Yen's "day trip", the prospect of intervention is highly anticipated. According to Morgan Stanley, Japan may only intervene in up to three series within six months, and 160 should not be seen as the intervention threshold. Bitcoin accelerated its decline, breaking below the $60,000 mark for the first time in over a week during intraday trading, dropping to a low not seen in a month, falling more than $5,000 from the daily high, dropping over 10% in April, marking the worst monthly performance since the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX nearly a year ago.

In the commodity market, after the announcement of US labor costs, international crude oil continued to decline, dropping more than 2% from the daily high intraday. US oil once again hit a new low since the end of March, ending the consecutive monthly gains since the beginning of the year, while Brent oil barely maintained its uptrend in April. The prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to weigh on oil prices. CCTV cited media reports that Israeli negotiators traveled to the Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday to participate in ceasefire talks with Hamas; the Hamas delegation temporarily left Cairo on Monday to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal internally and expressed hope to "respond as soon as possible." Increased US oil production also weighed on oil prices. The US Energy Department announced on Tuesday that domestic crude oil production in February increased by 570,000 barrels per day compared to the previous month, marking the largest increase since October 2021.

Most metals fell on Tuesday. The rise in the US dollar and US bond yields put pressure, with gold falling to a low not seen in over three weeks intraday, with New York gold futures falling more than 2%, erasing most of the declines earlier this month. The easing of Middle East risks led to a decline in gold prices over the past week, but after hitting historical highs for several days in late April, gold ultimately maintained its monthly uptrend; led by London, some industrial metals fell on Tuesday, with London copper breaking through the $10,000 mark for the first time in two years. However, in April, driven by tight supply, reduced production by Chinese smelters, and demand in areas such as new energy vehicles, copper and other metals saw double-digit gains.

The three major US stock indices fell by at least 1%, with the Dow hitting its largest drop in 13 months. After earnings reports, Amazon turned higher, AMD fell by over 7%, and AMD fell by over 10%.

The three major US stock indices opened low and continued to decline. At midday, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index fell by more than 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell by over 1% at midday. All three indices hit new daily lows at the close, with all three indices falling after two consecutive days of gains. The S&P and Nasdaq both recorded their largest declines since Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's speech on January 31, which dampened expectations of a rate cut in March, while the Dow saw its largest percentage drop since March 9, 2023.

The Nasdaq fell by 2.04% to 15,657.82 points, falling from the high close since April 12 after two consecutive days of gains. The S&P fell by 1.57% to 5,035.69 points, hitting a low since April 22. The Dow fell by 570.17 points, a 1.49% decline, to 37,815.92 points, hitting a low since April 19 at the close The small-cap stock index Russell 2000, which is mainly composed of value stocks, fell by 2.09%, underperforming the broader market. After rising for two consecutive days to a high since April 11, it fell to a low since April 22. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index dropped by 1.92%, after hitting a high since April 12 for two consecutive days. The Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index, fell by 2.02%, continuing to move away from the high reached after the rebound on last Friday, falling by 3.92% in April.

Major US stock indices opened lower on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq dropping by about 2% and small-cap indices falling by over 2%, underperforming the broader market.

In April, major stock indices have all experienced cumulative declines. The Dow fell by 5%, marking the largest monthly decline since September 2022, while the S&P fell by 4.16%, the Nasdaq by 4.41%, and the Nasdaq 100 by 4.46%. Both the Dow and the Russell 2000 fell after five consecutive months of gains, with the Russell 2000 falling by 7.09% after two months of gains.

Among the Dow components, Caterpillar led the decline by falling by over 4% at the close; Boeing, Amazon, and Microsoft fell by over 3%; Coca-Cola (KO), which reported first-quarter revenue higher than expected and raised its full-year guidance, initially rose by over 1% but turned lower in early trading, closing down by 0.4%; McDonald's (MCD), which reported its first quarterly profit below expectations in over two years, initially fell by 4% and closed down by nearly 0.2%; while 3M (MMM), an industrial giant that announced revenue and profit higher than expected for the first quarter and will reduce dividends after divesting its healthcare business, initially rose by over 6% in early trading, closing up by over 4.7%, and Procter & Gamble, which rose by nearly 1%, were the only two components that closed higher on Tuesday.

All major sectors of the S&P 500 suffered losses on Tuesday, with energy leading the decline by around 2.29%, followed by IT, which includes chip stocks, and non-essential consumer goods such as Tesla, both falling by over 2%, materials and real estate down by nearly 2%, and industrials falling by over 1%. Among the sectors, utilities, which had only risen by 1.6% in April, were the only sector to rise, while real estate, sensitive to interest rates, fell by 8.6%, IT and healthcare by over 5%, and financials and materials by over 4%.

In the S&P 500 sector ETFs, utilities and energy ETFs performed relatively well in April, while real estate performed the worst Including Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Google's parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla, the tech giants "Seven Sisters" all experienced declines during the trading session. Tesla, which surged 15% on Monday after news of the imminent launch of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in China, fell back, dropping nearly 5.7% near midday and closing down by 5.6%. This marked a fall from the high closing level set on March 1st after a 13% decline in March and a 4.3% rebound in April.

Among the FAANMG six major tech stocks, Microsoft fell by 3.2%, marking a two-day decline and hitting a low not seen since January 12th. Alphabet, which initially rose by over 1%, turned lower in early trading and closed down by 2%, moving further away from the record high set last Friday. Apple, which rebounded on Monday to its high closing level since April 12th, initially rose by nearly 0.9% but turned lower at midday, closing down by 1.8%. Meta, which initially rose by over 1%, closed down by nearly 0.6%, extending a two-day decline from the low set on February 1st after announcing earnings last Thursday. Netflix fell by nearly 1.6%, marking a three-day decline to a low not seen since January 24th. Amazon, which had risen for two consecutive days to its high closing level since April 17th, closed down by 3.3%, but quickly rebounded after announcing earnings, rising by 6% in after-hours trading.

Among these six major tech stocks, only Alphabet saw an increase in April, rising by about 8.1%. Meta fell by 11.4%, Netflix by 9.3%, Microsoft by nearly 7.5%, Amazon by around 3%, and Apple by nearly 0.7%.

Chip stocks overall fell, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX both turning lower in early trading and closing down by about 1.9% and 2.1% respectively, ending a six-day rally from the high set on April 11th. Among chip stocks, NVIDIA briefly rose in early trading, hitting a high with a 1.2% increase, but closed down by 1.5% after turning lower, marking a 4.4% decline in April following a 14% surge in March. AMD closed down by 1.1% and accelerated its decline after announcing earnings, dropping by over 7% in after-hours trading. At the close, Intel fell by 2.8% after three consecutive days of decline following disappointing second-quarter guidance, Broadcom dropped by 2.9%, Micron Technology by 1.2%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ADR by 0.8%.

NVIDIA, Tesla, and other tech giants saw an overall decline in April, marking the first monthly decline in six months and the largest monthly decline since September last year.

AI concept stocks experienced a significant decline, underperforming the broader market. Super Micro Computer Inc. (SMCI), which had doubled since the beginning of the year, closed down by 3.5%, with its decline rapidly expanding after announcing earnings, dropping by over 10% in after-hours trading. At the close, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) fell by over 8%, BigBear.ai (BBAI) by over 5%, Palantir (PLTR) by nearly 4%, C3.ai (AI), Adobe (ADBE), and Oracle (ORCL) by over 2%, collectively known as the "Little NVIDIA" Astera Labs (ALAB), which sells data center interconnect chips, fell more than 1%.

Overall, popular Chinese concept stocks fell. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC), which had risen for six consecutive days until March 13th, closed down 3.2% on Monday, underperforming the broader market, but up 0.7% in April. Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ fell by about 2.9% and 2.4% respectively. New energy vehicle companies had mixed performances, with Nio rising by 2.6% at the close, XPeng rising by nearly 0.4% after an initial drop of over 2%, Li Auto falling by 2.5%, and Xiaomi falling by 0.9%. Among other individual stocks, Bilibili fell by over 5%, JD.com and NetEase fell by over 3%, Baidu fell by over 2%, Alibaba fell by 2%, Pinduoduo and Tencent fell by over 1%.

Among the stocks that released earnings reports, Lilly (LLY) rose by 7.9% in early trading and closed up by about 6% due to strong first-quarter profits from star weight-loss drug Zepbound and blood sugar drug Mounjaro, which exceeded expectations and raised full-year revenue and profit guidance. PayPal (PYPL), which raised its full-year profit guidance, rose by over 3% in early trading and closed up by 1.4%. Social media platform Pinterest (PINS), which reported first-quarter profits and revenues above expectations, rose by nearly 19% after hours. On the other hand, medical equipment company GE Healthcare Technologies (GEHC) fell by 14.3%. Education stocks Chegg (CHGG) and Coursera (COUR), which both issued second-quarter guidance below expectations due to the impact of AI tools like GPT, fell by 27.9% and 14% respectively. Application security cloud company F5 (FFIV), which reported second-quarter revenue and third-quarter guidance below expectations, fell by 9.2%. Starbucks (SBUX) fell by over 10% after hours due to unexpectedly declining same-store sales in the second quarter, lower-than-expected profits and revenues, and a downward revision of its 2024 fiscal year guidance.

In Europe, the pan-European stock index fell after two days of gains. The STOXX 600 index fell after hitting a closing high not seen since April 8th for two consecutive days. Major European stock indices fell on Tuesday. The German-French stock index fell for two consecutive days, the Spanish stock index fell by over 2%, the UK stock index, which had risen for three consecutive days, fell slightly, ending its streak of closing at historical highs.

In terms of sectors, the automotive sector fell by about 4.2%, marking the largest decline since September 2022, due to declining first-quarter sales and revenue. Italian-listed Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen fell by about 10.1%, 5.2%, and 4.6% respectively. The banking sector fell by nearly 0.4%, with BBVA, the second largest bank in the EU and based in Spain, falling by 6.6% after announcing negotiations to potentially acquire Sabadell, dragging down domestic stock indices for the second consecutive day across European countries. However, HSBC, Europe's largest bank listed in London, rose by nearly 2.8% after reporting first-quarter revenue growth exceeding expectations by 3%, reaffirming full-year performance guidance, and announcing the CEO's departure The Stoxx 600 Index fell by about 1.8% in April, dropping after five consecutive months of gains, marking the largest monthly decline in six months, reflecting the impact of Middle East tensions and uncertain policy outlook of the European Central Bank. Most stock indexes in April saw declines, with the German stock market leading the way with a drop of over 3%, followed by French and Italian stocks which fell after five consecutive months of gains. The Spanish stock market, which rebounded in March, also fell, while the UK stock market rose by over 2%, marking two consecutive months of gains.

In terms of sectors, commodity-related sectors performed well in April, with the basic resources sector, which includes mining stocks, rising by 9.5%, and the oil and gas sector rising by nearly 5%. Banks, which rose by over 9% in March, rose by nearly 3% in April; however, the automotive sector, which suffered a sharp decline on Tuesday, fell by over 6% in April. Financial services fell by nearly 6%, retail, which led with over 14% gains in March, fell by over 5%, and insurance also fell by over 5%.

After the release of US labor cost data, the 2-year US Treasury yield rose above 5.0%, reaching a five-month high. The yield on the 10-year US benchmark Treasury bond briefly dipped below 4.60% in early Asian trading, but quickly rose above 4.67% after the release of US labor cost data. The yield approached 4.69% towards the end of the US stock market session, still below the high of 4.73% reached on November 2, 2023. By the end of the bond market session, the yield was around 4.68%, up by about 7 basis points for the day. After two consecutive days of decline, the yield has risen by approximately 48 basis points in April, marking the third consecutive monthly increase this year.

The 2-year US Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate expectations, briefly fell below 4.97% in early Asian trading but quickly rose back above 5.0% after the release of labor cost data. The yield rose above 5.04% towards the end of the US stock market session, reaching a high not seen since November 14, 2023. By the end of the bond market session, the yield was around 5.04%, up by over 6 basis points for the day. After no change in March, the yield has risen by approximately 42 basis points in April, marking the second consecutive monthly increase this year after February.

The US Dollar Index reached a one-week high, with the Japanese Yen experiencing a significant rebound the following day, dropping by nearly 1% intraday. Bitcoin fell below the $60,000 mark, marking its largest monthly decline in over a year. The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major currencies including the Euro, maintained its upward trend throughout Tuesday. The index was below 105.70 in early European trading, but rose rapidly after the release of US labor cost data, surpassing 106.00 in pre-market trading and rising above 106.30 after the US stock market closed, marking a more than 0.7% increase for the day. The index did not approach the low of around 105.40 seen on April 12 since the rebound on Friday, which was close to the low seen on April 12 At the close of the US stock market on Tuesday, the US Dollar Index was above 106.20, up 0.6% intraday, with a nearly 1.7% increase in April; the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US dollar against ten other currencies, rose by about 0.6% intraday, hitting a high since April 16, with a cumulative increase of over 1.6% in April. Both the US Dollar Index and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rebounded after falling on Monday, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

The US Dollar Index has risen for four consecutive months, with a cumulative increase every month since the beginning of the year.

Among non-US currencies, the Japanese Yen's strong rebound lasted only one day on Monday. The US dollar against the Japanese Yen rose above 157.80 after the US stock market closed, up nearly 1%, approaching the level near 160.20 before the decline on Monday and after six consecutive days of hitting highs not seen since 1990. The Euro against the US dollar rose above 1.07030 during European stock trading, but continued to decline, falling below 1.0670 after the US stock market closed, hitting a daily low with a 0.5% intraday decline, moving away from the high above 1.0740 reached on April 11. The British Pound against the US dollar fell below 1.2490 after the US stock market closed, hitting a daily low with a nearly 0.6% intraday decline, moving away from the high above 1.2570 reached on April 11.

Offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH) against the US dollar hit a daily high of 7.2418 in the early Asian session, quickly turned lower and maintained a downward trend. Before the European stock market opened, it fell to 7.2572 to hit a daily low, dropping 133 points intraday, moving away from the high above 7.24 reached on March 25 after rising above 7.24 on Monday. At 4:59 am on May 1st Beijing time, the offshore Chinese Yuan against the US dollar was quoted at 7.2548, down 109 points from the New York closing on Monday, falling after a rebound on Monday, with a 24-point increase in April, reversing the three-month downward trend.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $64,700 in the early Asian session, hitting a high of around $64,800 on some platforms, before continuing to decline. During the European stock market session, it fell below $61,000, and at the end of the US stock market session, it fell below $60,000 for the first time since April 19, dropping to below $59,200 on some platforms, hitting a low since February and dropping more than $5,000 from the daily high, down over 8%. At the US stock market close, it hovered around $60,000, dropping nearly 5% in the past 24 hours, with a drop of over $10,000 in April, a cumulative drop of about 16%, marking the largest monthly decline since the bankruptcy of FTX, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, in November 2022.

After rising for seven consecutive months, Bitcoin experienced a significant drop of over 10% in April

US Oil Hits One-Month Low, Ending Three-Month Rally, Brent Oil Up for Four Consecutive Months

International crude oil futures fell during the session, with European stocks turning higher before the European stock market hit a daily high. US WTI crude oil rose to $83.3, up 0.8% intraday, while the Brent crude oil main contract for July rose to $87.8, down nearly 0.7% intraday. After the US labor cost data was released and continued to fall, the US stock market turned lower before the opening. During early trading, US oil fell to $80.95, falling below $81 for the first time since April 23, with a intraday decline slightly exceeding 2%. Brent oil fell to $85.45, down 2% intraday.

In the end, oil, which had risen for two consecutive days, fell for two days. WTI June crude oil futures closed down $0.70, or 0.85%, at $81.93 per barrel, hitting a low for the second consecutive day since March 27 for the front-month contract. Brent June crude oil futures closed down $0.54, or 0.61%, at $87.86 per barrel. The Brent July contract closed down $0.87, or about 1%, at $86.33 per barrel.

In April, the US oil front-month contract fell by 1.49%, ending a three-month rally, while Brent oil rose by 0.43%, rising for four consecutive months.

After hitting a new low since the end of March on Tuesday, US WTI crude oil saw its first monthly decline of the year.

US gasoline and natural gas futures both fell. NYMEX May gasoline futures closed down about 1.4% at $2.7108 per gallon, falling for two consecutive days after four consecutive gains, continuing to move away from the high set on April 16 and falling by about 1.8% in April after rising for three consecutive months. NYMEX June natural gas futures, which rebounded over 5% on Monday, closed down 1.92% at $1.9910 per million British thermal units, rising by about 12.9% in April after falling for five consecutive months.

London Tin Falls Over 4% in April Despite Large Gains, London Zinc Up 20% in April, Gold Falls Over 2% But Still Up for Two Consecutive Months

London base metal futures saw mixed movements on Tuesday. London tin fell over 4%, leading the decline and hitting a three-week low. Both London zinc, which led the gains on Monday, and London tin fell after rebounding on Monday, with London zinc falling from the 3.5% surge on Monday to the high since March last year. London copper, which rose for four consecutive days, fell by over 1%, retreating from the high set in April 2022 after breaking through $10,000 in Monday's close, falling below the $10,000 mark. London lead, which rose to a high since November last year on Monday, also fell. Meanwhile, London aluminum closed slightly higher, rising for three consecutive days and moving away from the low set over a week ago. London nickel rose for two consecutive days, still some distance from the high set since September last year on Monday.

In April, base metals rose across the board, with London zinc leading the gains with nearly 20% increase. London copper rose by nearly 13%, London aluminum by nearly 11%, London tin by nearly 14%, and London nickel by nearly 15%, while London lead rose by nearly 8%, all rebounding after two consecutive months of decline Copper futures in New York surged more than 10% in April

Gold remained downward on Tuesday, with New York gold futures testing below $2300 during midday trading in the US stock market. Intraday, it fell more than 2.4%, and spot gold dropped below $2290, down nearly 2%, with both gold futures hitting their intraday lows since April 5th.

By the close, COMEX June gold futures, which had risen for three consecutive days, fell by 2.3% to $2302.9 per ounce, hitting a closing low since April 2nd. Gold has accumulated a 2.88% gain in April after falling for two consecutive months and rising for two consecutive months.

At the US stock market close, spot gold was slightly above $2290, down more than 1.8% intraday. Gold has accumulated a gain of over 3% for the entire month of April, rising for three consecutive months.

Spot gold has been declining for over a week, after hitting a historical high above $2400 in early April