Overnight US Markets: S&P 500 Falls for Fourth Consecutive Day as Tech Stocks Decline, Gold and Oil Advance

Stock News
08/21

US major indexes showed mixed performance on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 extending its decline for a fourth consecutive trading session. Federal Reserve meeting minutes revealed deepening internal divisions, with multiple officials anticipating economic growth slowdown in the second half of the year.

The Fed minutes showed that monetary policymakers maintained unchanged interest rates at their July meeting, but Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented, marking the first time since 1993 that two voting Fed officials cast opposing votes. During the July monetary policy meeting, most Fed officials emphasized that inflation risks exceeded concerns about the labor market, with internal FOMC divisions widening as tariff issues continue to develop. Officials acknowledged concerns about both upside inflation risks and employment weakness, but "most participants viewed upside risks to inflation as greater of the two risks."

**US Equity Markets** At market close, the Dow Jones gained 16.04 points or 0.04% to 44,938.31; the Nasdaq fell 142.10 points or 0.67% to 21,172.86; the S&P 500 dropped 15.59 points or 0.24% to 6,395.78.

Technology stocks broadly declined, with Amazon (AMZN.US) falling 1.84%, Tesla (TSLA.US) down 1.6%, and Intel (INTC.US) dropping 6.99%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.33%, with GDS Holdings (GDS.US) surging over 7% while Li Auto (LI.US) declined more than 1%.

**European Markets** Germany's DAX 30 fell 172.16 points or 0.70% to 24,263.39; the UK's FTSE 100 gained 99.06 points or 1.08% to 9,288.28; France's CAC 40 dropped 6.05 points or 0.08% to 7,973.03; the Euro Stoxx 50 declined 13.33 points or 0.24% to 5,469.95; Spain's IBEX 35 fell 27.70 points or 0.18% to 15,288.00; Italy's FTSE MIB dropped 158.22 points or 0.37% to 42,863.00.

**Asia-Pacific Markets** Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.51%, South Korea's KOSPI declined 0.68%, while Indonesia's Composite Index gained 1.03%.

**Oil Markets** WTI crude oil futures for September delivery rose 86 cents to $63.21 per barrel, a 1.38% increase. Brent crude futures for October delivery gained $1.05 to $66.84 per barrel, up 1.60%.

**Currency Markets** The US Dollar Index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.04% to close at 98.221. At New York market close: EUR/USD traded at 1.1655, up from 1.1647; GBP/USD at 1.3452, down from 1.3485; USD/JPY at 147.27, down from 147.51; USD/CHF at 0.8040, down from 0.8076; USD/CAD at 1.3872, up from 1.3864; USD/SEK at 9.5903, down from 9.5950.

**Cryptocurrencies** Bitcoin rose over 1.3% to $114,367.60; Ethereum surged over 6.8% to $4,356.85.

**Precious Metals** Spot gold gained 0.99% to $3,348.46 per ounce, maintaining upward momentum throughout the session with a trading range of $3,311.60-$3,350.24. On the daily chart, gold prices reached a historical high of $3,500.10 on April 22, subsequently consolidating at elevated levels with strong support at $3,200. COMEX gold futures rose 0.99% to $3,391.90 per ounce. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index climbed 2.21% to 230.27.

**Policy News** Fed Governor Waller advocated embracing AI and stablecoin-driven payment innovations as part of a "technology-driven revolution" to boost the US economy. In prepared remarks for a Wyoming blockchain symposium, Waller emphasized that while current technology may be new, using innovative technology to create new payment services is not a new story. He highlighted how distributed ledger technology could provide more efficient and faster asset transfer tracking methods.

Fed Governor Cook faces mortgage fraud allegations, though Fed research from two years ago indicated such behavior was widespread. President Trump and allies are demanding Cook's resignation over alleged "owner-occupied mortgage fraud," an issue the central bank itself identified as "pervasive" nationwide in a 2023 Philadelphia Fed study covering 584,499 loans from 2005-2017, with 22,431 deemed fraudulent.

The Fed meeting minutes noted that tariffs create upward pressure on goods price inflation. Real GDP growth was moderate in the first half of the year, unemployment remained low, and consumer price inflation stayed relatively elevated. The disinflationary trend appears to have stalled, with tariffs contributing upward pressure on goods prices.

Few officials hinted they might join the rate-cutting camp in September, despite broad support for maintaining rates unchanged in July. Some officials aligned with Waller and Bowman's positions, suggesting potential support for rate cuts at the Fed's September 16-17 meeting, noting that tariff pass-through to consumer prices has been slower than expected.

**Individual Stock News** Google (GOOG.US) unveiled its ambitious new Pixel 10 series featuring advanced AI capabilities. The lineup includes Pixel 10 ($799), Pixel 10 Pro ($999), Pixel 10 Pro XL ($1,199), and Pixel 10 Pro Fold ($1,799). The Pixel Watch 4 is priced at $350 for 41mm and $400 for 45mm, while the Pixel Buds 2a cost $130. Most phones maintain similar pricing to predecessors, though the XL model now offers double the storage. Google is deeply integrating its Gemini AI assistant across products, with most devices launching this month except the Pro Fold, Watch 4, and Buds 2a, which arrive in October.

免責聲明:投資有風險,本文並非投資建議,以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請,作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考,不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證,投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。

熱議股票

  1. 1
     
     
     
     
  2. 2
     
     
     
     
  3. 3
     
     
     
     
  4. 4
     
     
     
     
  5. 5
     
     
     
     
  6. 6
     
     
     
     
  7. 7
     
     
     
     
  8. 8
     
     
     
     
  9. 9
     
     
     
     
  10. 10