NASDAQ fell nearly 1%, small-cap stock indices rose by over 1%, NVIDIA initially fell by about 7% before rebounding, while silver saw the deepest decline of 5%

US Stock Market Trends Diverge, Small-Cap Stocks and Blue-Chip Stocks Rise, Tech Stocks Continue to Fall

On Thursday, July 25th, the US stock indices showed divergent performance, with investors continuing to sell off tech stocks and instead buying blue-chip and small-cap stocks.

At the opening, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices quickly fell to refresh daily lows, with the Nasdaq dropping nearly 1.8% and the S&P falling nearly 0.7%. However, following other stock indices, they rebounded to refresh daily highs at midday, with major US indices briefly turning all green. However, towards the closing, all indices began to decline again, accelerating towards the daily lows at the close.

At the close, only the Dow Jones and small-cap indices closed higher, while the Nasdaq, Nasdaq 100, and S&P broad market closed lower:

The S&P 500 index fell by 27.91 points, a decrease of 0.51%, closing at 5399.22 points. The Dow Jones rose by 81.20 points, an increase of 0.20%, closing at 39935.07 points. The Nasdaq fell by 160.69 points, a decrease of 0.93%, closing at 17181.72 points.

The Nasdaq 100 fell by 1.06%; the Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of Nasdaq 100 technology sector components, fell by 1.63%; the Russell 2000 index rose by 1.26%; the VIX fear index rose by 2.33% to 18.46.

In the past 12 days, the Nasdaq has underperformed the Russell 2000 index for 11 days, erasing the outstanding performance of large tech indices so far this year. Most of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 index closed lower, with the telecommunications sector down by 1.86%, the information technology/tech sector down by 1.14%, the consumer discretionary sector down by 0.42%, the financial sector up by about 0.3%, the industrial sector up by 0.76%, and the energy sector up by 1.47%.

The "Tech Seven Sisters" all fell except for Tesla. Tesla closed up by 1.97%, following a 12.33% plunge the previous day.

Tech stocks dragged down European stock markets, falling for two consecutive days:

Chip stocks like STMicroelectronics dragged down the STOXX 600 index, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index falling by 0.72% to 508.63 points. The Eurozone STOXX 50 index fell by 1.04% to 4811.28 points.

The German DAX 30 index fell by 0.48%. The French CAC 40 index fell by 1.15%. The Italian FTSE MIB index fell by 2.03%. The UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.40%. The Dutch AEX index fell by 0.54%. The Spanish IBEX 35 index fell by 0.58%.

![](https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/ef5f04c8-7855-4565-8017-f6b5a960379d.png? Among the stocks with significant changes due to yesterday's after-hours and today's pre-market financial reports:

• STMicroelectronics fell by 13.75%. Although STMicroelectronics' Q2 performance was slightly better than expected, the continuous low demand for chips in the automotive industry led the company to lower its full-year revenue and profit expectations for the second time, resulting in a sharp drop in stock price.

• Stellantis fell by 8.69%. The net profit in the first half of the year was lower than expected, with a year-on-year decrease of 48% to 5.65 billion euros, and net revenue decreased by 14% year-on-year.

• Hermes fell by 1.57% in European stocks before the performance report was released. The financial report showed that Hermes' second-quarter revenue exceeded expectations by 13%, making it a "bright spot in a sea of luxury brands" this quarter. Hermes' US stocks rose by over 4.4% at one point during trading and eventually closed up by 1.08%.

The U.S. economy remains resilient, weakening inflation boosts rate cut expectations, and a decrease in crude oil inventories supports two consecutive days of oil rebound

WTI crude oil futures for September rose by 0.69 US dollars, an increase of nearly 0.89%, to 78.28 US dollars per barrel. Brent crude oil futures for September rose by 0.66 US dollars, an increase of about 0.81%, to 82.37 US dollars per barrel.

After falling initially, oil prices rebounded. When US stocks hit a daily low before the market opened, US oil and Brent oil both fell by nearly 2%, approaching the $76 and $80 levels respectively. Subsequently, both prices rose significantly, hitting daily highs at the close of the US stock market. US oil rose by over 1.1% to break through the $78 mark, while Brent oil rose by over 1% to surpass the $82 mark.

Analysis indicates that the U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter exceeded expectations, showing that the economy remains resilient and there is a possibility of a soft landing. The core PCE price index for the second quarter shows that inflation is gradually weakening, boosting expectations of the first rate cut in September. Additionally, last week's decrease in US crude oil and gasoline inventories also indicates an increase in demand, all of which support the continued rise in oil prices.

The price of oil rebounded in the last two days of this week, almost erasing the declines from the previous two days.

In the U.S., natural gas futures for August fell by nearly 3.59%, to 2.0410 US dollars per million British thermal units. The TTF Dutch natural gas futures in Europe fell by 2.58%, to 31.779 euros per megawatt-hour; ICE UK natural gas futures rose by 2.21%, to 80.76 pence per kilocalorie.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US EIA natural gas inventories increased by 22 billion cubic feet last week, a weekly increase of 0.69% (compared to 0.31% growth last week).

Investors took profits, spot gold and silver plummeted, gold fell to a two-week low, and silver fell by 5% during trading

COMEX gold futures for August fell 2.21% to $2362.4 per ounce at the close, while COMEX silver futures for September fell 4.51% to $27.995 per ounce.

Spot gold continued its earlier decline during the day, with US stocks hitting a daily low of over 1.8% at midday, falling below the $2360 per ounce mark, bidding farewell to last week's historical high of $2483.60 per ounce; spot silver weakened all the way, hitting a daily low before the US stock market announced the actual GDP for the second quarter of the United States, with a drop of over 5% pushing below the $27 per ounce integer mark.

Analysis points out that gold and silver have been in a significant uptrend recently, therefore, long liquidation and profit-taking from recent gains have intensified selling pressure.

Gold plunges, not breaking below the $2350 per ounce support level

London industrial base metals have been declining for several days in a row. The economic barometer "Dr. Copper" closed up $18 at $9122 per ton, ending an eight-day decline, bidding farewell to the lowest level in over three months, having fallen below $9000 per ton during the day, the first time since early April.

London aluminum fell $30, a decline of over 1.30%, to $2270 per ton. London zinc fell $4 to $2681 per ton. London lead fell $16 to $2028 per ton. London nickel fell $58 to $15769 per ton. London tin fell $374, a drop of over 1.25%, to $29416 per ton.

Some analysts point out that if Trump is re-elected, it will be bearish for copper, aluminum, and other non-ferrous metal varieties. One of the important themes in the non-ferrous metal sector is the strong driving force of demand for green energy and transportation, and the attitudes of the Trump and Biden administrations towards green energy are completely different. If Trump is re-elected, there will be great uncertainty in the consumption of non-ferrous metals for green energy, which will be bearish for copper, aluminum, and other non-ferrous metal varieties