On August 19 local time, the US Commerce Department announced that 407 product categories would be added to the steel and aluminum tariff list, subject to a 50% tax rate. According to the Commerce Department statement, this new expanded list covers a wide range of products including wind turbines and their components, mobile cranes, railway vehicles, furniture, compressors and pump equipment, among hundreds of other products.

The Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized expanding the coverage of steel and aluminum tariffs to protect domestic manufacturing and curb import dependence. Previously, on the evening of August 15, the US Commerce Department issued an announcement stating that the Bureau of Industry and Security had added 407 product codes to the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule. These products will be subject to additional tariffs due to their steel and iron aluminum content. The announcement stated that non-steel and aluminum portions of these products will be subject to tariff rates imposed by President Trump on goods from specific countries. The expanded tariff list officially took effect on August 18.

Market Performance As of the close on August 19 local time, the three major US stock indices posted mixed results. The Nasdaq fell 314.82 points, down 1.46%; the S&P 500 declined 0.59%; while the Dow Jones gained 0.02%. The Dow Jones reached an intraday record high during trading.

Most large-cap technology stocks declined, with AMD falling over 5%; Netflix and Meta dropping more than 2%; Tesla, Microsoft, and Amazon declining over 1%; Apple and Google posting slight declines. Intel surged approximately 7% after SoftBank Group announced a $2 billion equity investment in Intel. Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) plummeted over 42%, marking the company's worst single-day performance since its US IPO.

NVIDIA fell 3.50%, posting its largest single-day decline since April 21. The company's market capitalization evaporated by $155.4 billion overnight (approximately 1.116 trillion yuan).

OpenAI CEO Altman believes the current AI industry is in a bubble phase. He acknowledged that investor enthusiasm for AI has reached "crazy" levels with valuations out of control, and some investors will inevitably suffer serious losses in the future. However, he emphasized that such bubbles are natural phenomena in technological development, just as the internet bubble destroyed many companies but gave birth to the modern internet. He holds the same belief for AI - that despite experiencing failures, it will ultimately drive profound social change. Therefore, despite recognizing the risks, Altman still plans to invest trillions of dollars in data center construction, firmly betting on the future value of artificial intelligence.

Popular Chinese concept stocks mostly declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closing down 0.9%. Xunlei fell over 10%, Weibo dropped more than 6%, Kingsoft Cloud declined nearly 5%, iQiyi and Sohu fell over 2%, while JD.com, Alibaba, NetEase, and Baidu dropped over 1%.

The FTSE A50 futures index closed down 0.38% at 14,206 points in overnight trading.

COMEX gold futures fell 0.56% to $2,359.1 per ounce. COMEX silver futures declined 1.81% to $27.34 per ounce. WTI September crude oil futures closed down 1.69% at $72.35 per barrel; Brent October crude oil futures fell 1.22% to $75.79 per barrel.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks suffered heavy losses on Tuesday as investors fled from tech stocks and higher-risk market sectors. Among cryptocurrency trading platforms, Robinhood and Bullish both fell over 7% at one point. Crypto financial services company Galaxy Digital plunged as much as 12%. Bitcoin prices retreated 3% intraday to below $58,000. Ethereum fell over 5% at one point to around $2,500.

Coinglass data shows that in the past 24 hours, 144,529 people were liquidated in cryptocurrencies, with total liquidation amounts reaching $510 million (approximately 3.7 billion yuan). Analysts believe that due to characteristics such as growth-oriented investors, narrative-driven price movements, high speculation, and preference for low interest rate environments, cryptocurrency markets are often extremely sensitive to tech stock volatility.

Economic Data and Policy Outlook US new housing starts in July climbed to a five-month high, with multi-family residential construction speed reaching its fastest pace in over two years. Treasury Secretary Yellen stated that Federal Reserve rate cuts could help boost housing construction recovery, thereby continuing to suppress home prices over the next one to two years.

Following significantly weaker-than-expected US July non-farm payroll data, market expectations for September rate cuts have heated up. Combined with dovish official nominations and multiple Federal Reserve officials expressing support for rate cuts, the market now expects a 94% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in September.

Notably, this week's market focus will be on the global central bank annual meeting to be held in Jackson Hole from August 21-23, where Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech. This year's Jackson Hole symposium theme is "Labor Market Transformation: Demographics, Productivity, and Macroeconomic Policy."

Industry insiders point out that this theme is closely related to the dramatic changes recently occurring in the US labor market. Currently, Powell faces a challenging economic dilemma: on one hand, cooling signs in the labor market indicate that risks of economic growth slowdown cannot be ignored; on the other hand, the Trump administration's tariff policies are pushing up inflation, making rate cut decisions complex.

Between contradictory economic signals and continued political intervention, the Federal Reserve's correct judgment of economic trends is crucial. Investors also hope to find key clues about America's future monetary policy path from the speech.

Treasury Partners Chief Investment Officer Richard Saperstein stated: "We expect the Federal Reserve to use the Jackson Hole meeting to prepare the market, signaling a 25 basis point rate cut in September and adopting a potentially accommodative stance by year-end."

"Since this will be Powell's last Jackson Hole meeting as Federal Reserve Chairman, he may emphasize the necessity of Federal Reserve independence from the executive branch."

According to the CME's FedWatch tool, federal funds futures markets show an 83% probability that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points at its next policy meeting in September.