The Fed's hawkish minutes, the Dow posted its biggest monthly decline this month, Nvidia, a high-performing stock, surged more than 7% after hours, while metals and crude oil fell across the board

The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting turned hawkish. The minutes show that due to poor first-quarter inflation data, Fed officials expect to wait longer than they previously expected to have more confidence in inflation reaching the target, implying that they are not in a hurry to cut interest rates and that high rates will be maintained for longer. Several officials also expressed a willingness to raise rates further once inflation picks up. Nick Timiraos of the "New Fed News" stated that Fed officials expect to wait longer for rate cuts, and some are open to raising rates in the event of accelerated inflation.

After the release of the Fed minutes, the major US stock indexes, which had been trading slightly volatile, saw their declines rapidly expand. Resource stocks such as crude oil led the decline, with the Dow posting its worst performance this month, erasing gains from the past week. The price of US Treasuries fell, and yields accelerated higher during trading, with the yield on the two-year US Treasury, sensitive to interest rates, hitting a daily high. The US dollar index accelerated to a one-week high, erasing losses since the release of the slowing growth in US April CPI on Wednesday last week.

The market's expectations for the Fed's rate cuts this year had fallen to less than 40 basis points and less than 80 basis points for next year after the release of the Fed minutes.

Leading stocks releasing earnings reports had mixed performances: Walmart's rival Target reported its first quarterly EPS below expectations since November 2022, with management mentioning a softer trend in consumer spending on discretionary goods. Target, which announced price cuts on 5000 items earlier this week, raised concerns among investors about the overall level of consumer health, causing its stock price to plummet by 10% at one point. Nvidia, referred to by Goldman Sachs traders as the "most important stock on Earth," reported a 260% increase in revenue in the first quarter, exceeding expectations once again this quarter, signaling strong demand for AI and boosting investor confidence in the future of the AI-driven rally in US stocks. Its stock price, which had a slight decline, rose after hours.

Following the post-earnings announcement, Nvidia, which had fallen nearly 0.5%, surged, rising over 7% at one point and breaking the $1000 mark for the first time in history.

Google, which recently hit record highs, and Tesla, which rebounded strongly on Tuesday, retreated, while some tech giants continued to rise. Microsoft maintained its upward trend this week after releasing a suite of new AI features called Copilot at its annual developer conference, reaching new historical highs. Most Chinese stocks fell, while Pinduoduo, which saw a two-fold increase in net profit and a 131% increase in revenue in the first quarter, initially rose nearly 8% before giving back most of its gains Photovoltaic concept stocks followed the A-share photovoltaic sector's big outbreak, rising by more than 10%.

In the foreign exchange market, the UK's April CPI growth slowed less than expected, causing the pound to hit a two-month high against the US dollar; after the release of the Fed minutes, the dollar accelerated upwards, causing the pound to give back most of its gains. Other major non-US currencies fell, with offshore renminbi falling below 7.25 for the first time in nearly three weeks. Bitcoin's gains narrowed, falling below the $70,000 mark. Ethereum, which surged significantly in the previous two days on hopes of SEC approval for related ETFs, also saw its gains narrow significantly.

In the commodity market, metals fell across the board. London copper fell by over 4%, continuing to move away from the record high set on Monday. New York copper, which had set consecutive closing highs, fell sharply, dropping by over 6% at one point. Analysis suggests that the sharp drop in copper prices may be due to investors taking profits after reaching record highs, recent weak demand, and the possibility of increased production in Peru, the world's third-largest copper producer last year. The Fed minutes dampened expectations of a rate cut, leading to an expanded decline in gold prices, which fell by nearly 2% at one point, accelerating away from the historical high set on Monday.

International crude oil continued its decline from the previous two days earlier this week, falling by over 1% to a one-week low. However, the US Energy Department's announcement of a lower-than-expected increase in EIA crude oil inventories last week, along with positive supply news, and gasoline demand exceeding seasonal levels for the first time in over a month, led to a significant narrowing of the decline in crude oil prices after the EIA data was released, pushing prices to refresh daily highs. The prospect of a rate cut that could stimulate oil demand was hit, and after the Fed minutes were released, the decline in crude oil prices widened again, with US oil hitting a one-week low intraday, and Brent oil falling by nearly 2% at one point.

S&P, Nasdaq, Google Fall from Record Highs, Microsoft Hits New High, Target Plunges After Earnings, Pinduoduo Rises and Falls, Chinese Photovoltaic Stocks Rise by Over 10%

The three major US stock indexes opened with slight fluctuations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which opened slightly lower, and the S&P 500, which initially fell by 0.1%, saw minor fluctuations before turning slightly higher, with the S&P later falling slightly. The Dow, which opened down more than 70 points and nearly 0.2%, saw a decline of over 70 points and nearly 0.2% in the early session. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which opened slightly higher, rose by over 0.1% at one point before turning lower in the afternoon and falling slightly. After the release of the Fed minutes in the afternoon, the three major indexes quickly expanded their declines and hit daily lows, with the Nasdaq falling by over 0.7%, the S&P falling by nearly 0.7%, and the Dow falling by over 310 points, nearly 0.8%.

In the end, the three major indexes collectively closed lower for the week. The Dow, which rebounded on Tuesday, fell by 201.95 points, or 0.51%, marking its largest daily decline since April 30, closing at 39,671.04 points, hitting its lowest closing level since May 14. The S&P, which set a new closing high for three consecutive days, fell by 0.27% to 5,307.01 points. The Nasdaq, which set new historical highs for two consecutive days, fell by 0.18% to 16,801.54 points SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) fell by 0.23% and 0.53% respectively. The former fell from its record high, while the latter hit a new low since May 14th.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index, which is mainly composed of value stocks, dropped by 0.79%, underperforming the broader market for two consecutive days and hitting a low since May 13th. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index fell by 0.05%, with the related ETF Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ) declining by 0.02%. The Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index, remained relatively flat, stabilizing at the closing historical high set over the past two days.

The three major US stock indexes closed lower together for the first time this week, with the Nasdaq leading the decline and small-cap stocks continuing to underperform the broader market.

Among the Dow components, Dow Inc. led the decline with a drop of over 2%, followed by 1.7% declines in Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson. 3M, which fell nearly 2% on Tuesday, dropped by 1.6%, while oil and gas giant Chevron fell by 1.5%. Within the S&P 500 sectors, only Healthcare, Industrials, and the IT sector where Nvidia is located closed higher, with gains not exceeding 0.2%. Energy stocks, part of the cyclical sector, fell by over 1.8%, leading the decline, while defensive sector Utilities fell by nearly 1.2% and Materials fell by about 1%.

Tech giants including Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Meta parent company of Facebook, and Tesla saw mixed performance in early trading. Tesla, which opened lower, fell by nearly 4.5% at midday and closed down by nearly 3.5%, moving away from the high set on April 29th after a rebound of nearly 6.7% on Tuesday.

Among the FAANMG six major tech stocks, Apple, which had risen for seven consecutive days to a high since January 26th, initially turned slightly higher by over 0.2% before falling, closing down by nearly 0.8%. Alphabet, which had risen for seven consecutive days, closed down by 0.8%, ending the streak of setting new closing record highs for five consecutive days. Netflix, which had risen for three consecutive days and repeatedly set new closing highs since November 2021, fell by nearly 1.6%. Microsoft, which fell midday but rebounded towards the end, closed up by over 0.3%, setting new closing highs for two consecutive days. Meta, which had fallen for four consecutive days to a low since May 3rd, rose by over 1% in early trading and closed up by nearly 0.7%. Amazon, which had fallen for two consecutive days to a low since May 1st, closed roughly flat.

Chip stocks rebounded overall, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX rising by approximately 1% and 1.2% respectively, setting new closing highs since March 7th on Monday. Among chip stocks, Nvidia initially rose by nearly 0.7% after-hours but quickly turned lower, dropping by nearly 0.5% at the close. After reporting earnings after-hours, the stock quickly surged, with the after-hours gain expanding to over 7% For the first time in history, the stock price broke through the $1000 mark; Analog Devices (ADI) announced second-quarter revenue and earnings higher than expected, closing up 10.9%; at the close, TSMC's US stocks rose over 1%, Qualcomm rose 1%, AMD rose 0.5%, while Intel fell 1%, Micron Technology fell nearly 1%, and Broadcom fell 0.5%.

NVIDIA released its financial report after hours, and overall, Tesla, NVIDIA, and other seven major technology stocks fell on Wednesday.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks continued to decline. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) initially turned higher but maintained a downward trend, closing down nearly 1.2%. The related ETFs, Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF (PGJ), also fell 1.2%, both falling for three consecutive days, refreshing the closing low since May 10th. Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ fell 1.3% and 0.3% respectively.

Photovoltaic stocks rose across the board, with Daqo New Energy, JinkoSolar, and Canadian Solar rising by over 17%, 17%, and nearly 15% respectively. New energy vehicle companies all fell, with ZEEKR falling 2%, Li Auto falling 0.9%, Nio falling nearly 0.2%, XPeng, which rose 6% after releasing its financial report on Monday, initially rose nearly 2.9%, then turned lower in early trading, falling 1.8% intraday, and closing down over 0.2%. Among other individual stocks, Pinduoduo, which announced its financial report before the market opened, initially rose nearly 7.6%, closing up 1.1%, with a market value still exceeding Alibaba. At the close, Alibaba fell 4%, Baidu fell over 2%, JD.com fell nearly 2%, Tencent Music fell nearly 0.9%, NetEase fell nearly 0.6%, and Bilibili rose nearly 1%.

Overall, AI concept stocks continued to decline, underperforming the broader market. The AI and robotics ETF, Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ), fell 1.1%. By the close, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) fell nearly 2.9%, C3.ai (AI) fell nearly 4.9%, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) fell nearly 1%, and BigBear.ai (BBAI) fell 3.2%.

Among the stocks that released their financial reports, Target (TGT) saw a slight increase in first-quarter revenue compared to expectations but a 3% year-on-year decrease, with EPS earnings lower than expected. The stock initially fell 10.1%, marking the largest intraday decline since November 2022, and closed down 8%. Urban Outfitters (URBN), a fast-fashion company for clothing and accessories, saw its first-quarter earnings and revenue lower than expected, with sales of its namesake brand declining by 12.5%, leading to a 4.6% decline.

Two-year US Treasury yield hits daily high after Fed minutes

The US Treasury Bond ETF, iShares US Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT), fell slightly, failing to continue the rebound after ending a three-day decline on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark US Treasury bond in the US rose to nearly 4.46% before the US stock market opened, hitting a high since May 14th, but later retraced its gains. After the release of the Fed minutes, the US stock market rebounded from below 4.42% to above 4.43% at midday, and by the end of the bond market session, it was around 4.42% The intraday rise is about 1 basis point.

The 2-year US Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate prospects, was below 4.84% in the early Asian session, then rose overall. After the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, the increase quickly expanded, approaching 4.88% at one point, and was around 4.87% at the end of the bond market session, rising more than 4 basis points during the day, while other maturity US Treasuries overall retreated after three consecutive rises on Tuesday.

Various maturity US Treasury yields rose overall on Wednesday, with short-term bond yields leading the way.

After the Federal Reserve minutes, the US Dollar Index jumped to a one-week high, the British Pound hit a two-month high after UK CPI, and Bitcoin fell below $70,000 during the session.

The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies including the euro, fell below 104.60 in the Asian session to hit a daily low, down nearly 0.1% during the day. European stocks turned higher in the early session and maintained their gains. After the release of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes, the gains quickly expanded, with US stocks approaching 105.00 at midday, hitting a high since May 15 last Wednesday when the US April CPI was announced, rising nearly 0.3% during the day.

By the end of Wednesday's US stock market session, the US Dollar Index was above 104.90, up 0.3% during the day; the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US dollar against ten other currencies, rose nearly 0.3% during the day, hitting a high since May 14 in the same period, rising for three consecutive days along with the US Dollar Index.

Among non-US currencies, after the UK CPI was released, the British Pound against the US dollar rose above 1.2760 in the pre-European stock session, hitting a high since March 21, rising over 0.4% during the day, then falling back. During the European stock session, there was a brief downturn, testing below 1.2700 to hit a daily low, and during the US stock midday session, it briefly rose above 1.2750. After the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, most of the gains were given back, and by the end of the US stock market session, it was below 1.2720, up less than 0.1% during the day. The euro against the US dollar accelerated its decline after the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, falling below 1.0820 at midday to hit a low since May 15, down over 0.3% during the day. The yen, which rebounded on Tuesday, fell back, and the US dollar against the yen accelerated its rise after the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, approaching 156.80 at the end of the forex session, hitting a high since May 2, rising nearly 0.4% during the day.

Offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH) against the US dollar hit a daily high of 7.2446 in the early Asian session, then maintained a downward trend overall. After the US stock market closed, it fell to 7.2561, hitting an intraday low since April 30. At 4:59 am Beijing time on May 23, the offshore Chinese Yuan against the US dollar was reported at 7.2542, down 73 points from the New York session close on Tuesday, falling back after halting a three-day decline on Tuesday.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $69,300 in the Asian session to hit a daily low. In the early US stock session, it rose back above the $70,000 mark, briefly rising above $70,600 to hit a daily high, rising over $1,000 from the low, up about 2%. Before the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, it had already fallen below $70,000, and after the minutes were released, it further gave back gains, briefly falling below $69,300 again, approaching the daily low At the close of the US stock market, Bitcoin was above $69,700, up around 0.4% in the past 24 hours, with some platforms up nearly 0.7%. It failed to approach the high of $71,900 on Tuesday, the highest since April 8.

Bitcoin rebounded overall on Wednesday, but failed to hold above $70,000 in the US stock market, narrowing its gains.

The second largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH), which surged by double digits for two consecutive days, showed a significant slowdown in its rise. European stocks turned lower during the session, briefly falling below $3,660 to refresh the daily low. In early trading, US stocks rose to nearly $3,800, but retreated after the release of the Fed minutes. At the close of the US stock market, it was close to $3,750, up around 0.5% in the past 24 hours, with some platforms up by about 1%, moving away from the high of $3,840 on Tuesday, the highest since March 15.

Crude Oil Falls for Three Consecutive Days, Drops Nearly 2% After Fed Minutes

International crude oil futures remained on a downward trend throughout Wednesday. In early European trading, US WTI crude oil fell below $77.40, down nearly 1.7%, while Brent crude oil fell below $81.60, down nearly 1.6%. After the release of US EIA data in early US stock trading, the decline in oil prices narrowed. At the beginning of US stock trading, US oil rose back above $78.40, and Brent oil rose back above $82.60, both down 0.3% during the day.

By the close, oil prices fell for three consecutive days after rising for three days. WTI July crude oil futures fell by $1.09, a drop of over 1.38%, to $77.57 per barrel. Brent July crude oil futures fell by $0.98, a drop of over 1.18%, to $81.90 per barrel.

After the release of the Fed minutes, the decline in oil prices widened. US oil fell below $77.30 during midday trading, continuing to refresh intraday lows since May 15, down nearly 1.8%. Brent oil fell below $86.70, approaching the daily low.

Copper and nickel in London fell by over 4%, with New York copper, which hit a record high, falling by over 6% at one point. After the Fed minutes, gold fell by nearly 2%.

London base metal futures fell across the board on Wednesday. Nickel in London led the decline with a 4.4% drop, while copper in London also fell by over 4%, both falling for two consecutive days after rising for four days to retreat from their respective highs since August last year and record highs. Lead and tin in London fell by over 3% and over 2% respectively, continuing to fall from their highs since April 2022 and late April this year set on Monday London aluminum fell more than 3% on Tuesday after rising for two consecutive days to its highest level since June 2022. London zinc, which had risen for three consecutive days to its highest level since February last year, fell more than 2%.

New York copper futures, which had risen for three consecutive days, maintained a downward trend after turning lower in the early Asian session on Wednesday. The COMEX July copper futures closed down 5.04% at $4.8485 per pound. After bidding farewell to the record closing highs set for three consecutive days, the price of copper in the US stock market fell to below $4.7920 in after-hours trading, refreshing the daily low and dropping nearly 6.2% intraday. The US Copper Index Fund (CPER) closed down 5.8% after reaching a record high following three consecutive days of gains, falling to its lowest level since May 13.

Gold maintained a downward trend after turning lower in the early Asian session on Wednesday. When US stocks hit a daily low in the morning session, New York gold futures fell to $2385.30, down nearly 1.7% intraday, while spot gold approached $2382.30, down nearly 1.6% intraday. By the close of the US stock market, COMEX June gold futures closed down 1.36% at $2392.9, falling for two consecutive days and continuing to move away from the record closing highs set for two consecutive days until Monday.

After the release of the Federal Reserve minutes at the midday of the US stock market, the decline in gold prices widened, with gold futures falling to $2378 after-hours, down nearly 2% from Tuesday's close, and spot gold falling below $2376, down nearly 1.9% intraday, erasing all gains for the week.

The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) closed down 1.84%, continuing to retreat after hitting a historic high on Monday. At the close of the US stock market, spot gold hovered around $2380, down approximately 1.7% intraday.

Spot gold extended its decline to nearly 2% after the release of the Federal Reserve minutes, marking its worst single-day performance since April