Overnight US Stocks | S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq fell for the second consecutive day, NVIDIA dropped by 1.66%, US oil fell below $70

According to Zhitong Finance, on Wednesday, the three major indices showed mixed movements, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices declining for the second consecutive trading day. NVIDIA (NVDA.US) continued its downward trend this week, closing down by 1.66%.

[US Stocks] At the time of publication, the Dow Jones rose by 38.04 points, or 0.09%, to 40,974.97 points; the Nasdaq fell by 52.00 points, or 0.30%, to 17,084.30 points; the S&P 500 index dropped by 8.86 points, or 0.16%, to 5,520.07 points. C3.ai (AI.US) fell by 1.88%, dropping more than 15% after hours; Dollar Tree (DLTR.US) saw its stock price fall by 22%, marking the largest single-day decline since 2001; US Steel (X.US) closed down by 17%, the largest single-day drop in seven years; Frontier Communications (FYBR.US) closed up by 38%, marking the largest single-day increase since the company's US IPO.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 index fell by 176.22 points, or 0.94%, to 18,580.25 points; the UK's FTSE 100 index dropped by 27.99 points, or 0.34%, to 8,270.47 points; the French CAC40 index declined by 74.13 points, or 0.98%, to 7,500.97 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 62.97 points, or 1.28%, to 4,849.55 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index dropped by 63.25 points, or 0.56%, to 11,215.95 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell by 183.43 points, or 0.54%, to 33,680.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 index fell by 4.24%, the Indonesia Jakarta Composite Index rose by 0.74%, and the Vietnam VN30 index dropped by 1.04%.

[Gold] COMEX gold futures rose by 0.14% to $2,526.45 per ounce; COMEX silver futures rose by 0.98% to $28.622 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose by over 1.2% to $58,213.69, while Ethereum rose by over 1.6% to $2,464.02.

[Crude Oil] US WTI crude oil futures prices fell by 1.6% on Wednesday, dropping below $70 per barrel to hit the lowest level in 9 months. The price of WTI crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $1.14, a decrease of over 1.62%, to settle at $69.20 per barrel, marking the lowest closing price since December 23, 2023.

[Metals] Most London metals fell, with nickel down by 1.71%, zinc down by 1.41%, aluminum down by 0.31%, and copper up by 0.2%.

[Macro News]

US Job Openings Fall to Lowest Level Since January 2021. US job openings fell to their lowest level since early 2021 in July, with an increase in layoffs, consistent with signs of a slowdown in other labor demand. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released on Wednesday showed that US job openings decreased from a revised 7.91 million in the previous month to 7.67 million in July, below all economists' expectations U.S. mortgage rates further decline, boosting home loan applications. U.S. mortgage rates fell to their lowest level since April 2023 last week, prompting potential homebuyers to speed up their loan applications. Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday showed that the contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages slightly dropped to 6.43% as of the week ending August 30. This marks the fifth consecutive week of decline, stimulating a 3.3% increase in the MBA's home purchase application index to 136.1. With market expectations of the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates at the next meeting in two weeks, mortgage rates have recently decreased. However, borrowing costs and home prices remain high, putting the U.S. housing market in its least affordable period on record. The overall MBA mortgage application index, covering home purchases and refinancing, rose by 1.6% to 230.5.

U.S. trade deficit expands to the largest in two years. Driven by a surge in commodity imports, the U.S. trade deficit in July widened to its highest level in two years, reflecting efforts by businesses to ensure an adequate supply before a potential dockworker strike. Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday showed that the trade deficit in July increased by 7.9% from the previous month to $78 billion. Imports grew by 2.1%, while exports increased by 0.5%. These figures are not adjusted for inflation.

Fed's Bostic: Risks facing employment and inflation goals now balanced. Atlanta Fed President Bostic stated that since 2021, the goals of price stability and maximum employment have now achieved a balance for the first time, but he added that he is "not ready" to declare victory over inflation. In an article released by the Atlanta Fed on Wednesday, Bostic said, "While inflation rates have fallen significantly, risks to achieving the price stability mandate remain. We must remain vigilant." "Prematurely easing policy is a dangerous gamble." He did not explicitly state whether he would agree to a 25-basis-point rate cut at the September meeting. He mentioned that if the inflation rate falls all the way to 2% before cutting rates, there would be some risks in the labor market as well.

New York Fed survey shows AI-adopting companies not laying off in large numbers, service sector more vulnerable. A regional survey by the New York Fed revealed that companies using artificial intelligence (AI) have not conducted large-scale layoffs and are expected to net hire in the coming months. The study found that about 5% of AI-using service sector companies in the New York area reported layoffs in the past six months in net terms. Employment in manufacturing has remained almost unchanged. The turnover rate for AI-adopting companies is expected to increase, but service sector companies using AI are more likely to increase rather than decrease jobs in the next six months, contrary to the trend of the past six months. Overall, 25% of service sector companies reported using AI, and this proportion is expected to rise to 32% in the next six months. The proportion of AI usage among manufacturers is expected to remain at the current 16%. The most mentioned applications of AI are in marketing, advertising, business analysis, and customer service.

U.S. bank customers net sell U.S. stocks for the second consecutive week, marking the largest scale since November 2020. With increasing uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, U.S. bank customers have net sold U.S. stocks for the second consecutive week, marking the largest net selling scale since the end of 2020 and the second largest net selling scale since the company has data available since 2008 Quantitative strategist Jill Carey Hall and others stated in a report on Wednesday that as of the week ending August 30, institutions, hedge funds, and retail clients all reduced their holdings of US stocks, with a net sale of $8 billion. ETFs recorded outflows for the first time since June. In terms of sectors, technology stocks led the outflows, marking the largest outflow since May; energy stocks set a record for the longest consecutive decline in the past six weeks; industrial stocks saw outflows in seven out of the past eight weeks; only the communication services sector recorded inflows, and it was the sector with the longest consecutive inflows among all S&P 500 index sectors in the past 22 weeks.

[Stock News]

NVIDIA (NVDA.US) facing antitrust investigation denies receiving a subpoena from the US Department of Justice. NVIDIA stated that it has not been subpoenaed by the US Department of Justice. Foreign media reported on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is collecting evidence of antitrust violations and has sent subpoenas to the chipmaker and other companies. NVIDIA stated, "We win with strength, as reflected in our benchmark performance and the value we provide to customers, who can choose the solution that best suits them." The company added, "We have inquired with the US Department of Justice and have not received a subpoena. Nevertheless, we are happy to answer any questions from regulatory agencies about our business." Sources revealed that antitrust regulators are concerned that NVIDIA is making it difficult for customers to switch to other suppliers and punishing buyers who do not exclusively use its AI chips. As the matter is not public, the sources requested anonymity. The Department of Justice often issues information requests in the form of so-called civil investigative demands, commonly known as subpoenas. According to a source familiar with the matter, the Department of Justice has issued such a request seeking information on NVIDIA's acquisition of RunAI and its chip business.

Volkswagen (VWAGY.US) CFO responds to factory closures: European demand has not recovered, leading to excess factory capacity. Volkswagen's Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz stated at an employee meeting in Wolfsburg that since the outbreak of the pandemic, demand in Europe has not recovered, with the entire industry in the region delivering about 2 million fewer vehicles than at its peak. Antlitz said, "Volkswagen's sales have lost about 500,000 vehicles, equivalent to the capacity of two factories. We need to increase productivity and reduce costs." Volkswagen announced this week that it is considering closing German factories for the first time and terminating job security agreements. While Volkswagen stated that it will discuss all necessary measures with the union, the union explicitly expressed strong opposition to the factory closure and layoff plans.

Qualcomm (QCOM.US) launches 8-core Snapdragon X Plus platform. Tonight, Qualcomm President and CEO Anmon announced the launch of the new Snapdragon X Plus platform, which is equipped with an 8-core Oryon processor, with NPU performance still at 45TOPS. Anmon stated that the new X Plus platform offers 61% higher performance than competitors at the same power consumption, and the power consumption required by competitors for the same performance is 179% of Qualcomm's platform. With this platform, OEM manufacturers are expected to lower the price of Windows 11 AI+PC products to $700-900 Tesla (TSLA.US) to showcase latest technology at the 2024 Bund Summit, limited production of humanoid robots to start next year. From September 5th to September 7th, the 2024 Inclusion·Bund Summit will be held at the Huangpu World Expo Park in Shanghai. Tesla will showcase its latest hardcore products - the Cyber ​​Off-Road Adventure Vehicle and the Optimus humanoid robot. Tesla stated that its goal is to significantly reduce the cost of robots from hundreds of thousands of dollars to one or two thousand dollars. This requires continuous innovation in manufacturing. Currently, Tesla is facing challenges head-on. Tesla is expected to start limited production of humanoid robots next year, with over 1000 Optimus robots at Tesla factories assisting humans in production tasks