Overnight U.S. Stocks | S&P 500 Index Falls for Four Consecutive Days, Tech Stocks Decline, Gold and Oil Rise

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, on Wednesday, the three major indices had mixed results, with the S&P 500 index declining for the fourth consecutive trading day. The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes revealed increasing internal divisions, with several officials expecting economic growth to slow in the second half of the year.

The minutes showed that Fed policymakers kept interest rates unchanged at the July meeting, but Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented, marking the first time since 1993 that two voting Fed officials cast dissenting votes. At the July monetary policy meeting, most Fed officials emphasized that inflation risks outweighed concerns about the labor market, as tariff issues continued to escalate, leading to widening divisions within the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Officials acknowledged their concerns about rising inflation and weak employment, but "most participants believed that among these two risks, the risk of rising inflation was greater."

【U.S. Stocks】 At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.04 points, or 0.04%, to 44,938.31 points; the Nasdaq fell 142.10 points, or 0.67%, to 21,172.86 points; the S&P 500 index fell 15.59 points, or 0.24%, to 6,395.78 points. Tech stocks broadly declined, with Amazon (AMZN.US) down 1.84%, Tesla (TSLA.US) down 1.6%, and Intel (INTC.US) down 6.99%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.33%, with GDS Holdings (GDS.US) up over 7%, while Li Auto (LI.US) fell over 1%.

【European Stocks】 The German DAX 30 index fell 172.16 points, or 0.70%, to 24,263.39 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 99.06 points, or 1.08%, to 9,288.28 points; the French CAC 40 index fell 6.05 points, or 0.08%, to 7,973.03 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 13.33 points, or 0.24%, to 5,469.95 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index fell 27.70 points, or 0.18%, to 15,288.00 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 158.22 points, or 0.37%, to 42,863.00 points.

【Asia-Pacific Stock Markets】 The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.51%, the South Korean KOSPI index fell 0.68%, and the Indonesian Composite Index rose 1.03%.

【Crude Oil】 Light crude oil futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 86 cents, closing at $63.21 per barrel, an increase of 1.38%; October delivery of London Brent crude oil futures rose $1.05, closing at $66.84 per barrel, an increase of 1.60%.

【Foreign Exchange】 The dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.04% that day, closing at 98.221. As of the close of the New York foreign exchange market, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1655 dollars, up from 1.1647 dollars the previous trading day; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3452 dollars, down from 1.3485 dollars the previous trading day. 1 dollar exchanged for 147.27 yen, down from 147.51 yen the previous trading day; 1 US dollar exchanges for 0.8040 Swiss francs, down from 0.8076 Swiss francs the previous trading day; 1 US dollar exchanges for 1.3872 Canadian dollars, up from 1.3864 Canadian dollars the previous trading day; 1 US dollar exchanges for 9.5903 Swedish kronor, down from 9.5950 Swedish kronor the previous trading day.

【Cryptocurrency】 Bitcoin rose over 1.3%, priced at $114,367.6; Ethereum rose over 6.8%, priced at $4,356.85.

【Metals】 Spot gold rose 0.99%, priced at $3,348.46 per ounce, continuing to fluctuate upward throughout the day, with an overall trading range of $3,311.60 to $3,350.24. On the daily chart, gold prices rose to $3,500.10 on April 22, setting a historical high, and then continued to fluctuate at high levels, with $3,200 forming strong support. COMEX gold futures rose 0.99%, priced at $3,391.90 per ounce. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index closed up 2.21%, at 230.27 points.

【Macroeconomic News】

Federal Reserve Governor Waller calls for embracing AI and stablecoin-driven payment innovations. Federal Reserve Governor Waller called for embracing the "technology-driven revolution" propelled by artificial intelligence and stablecoins as a way to boost the U.S. economy. "The technology may be new, but using innovative technology to create new payment services is not a new story," Waller stated in a speech prepared for a blockchain seminar in Wyoming. Waller has previously supported certain decentralized finance elements (including technologies supporting virtual currencies) as a complement to traditional payment systems. He emphasized that distributed ledger technology can provide a more efficient and faster way to track asset transfers. On Wednesday, he highlighted the impact of decentralized finance in the payment sector, suggesting that collaboration between the private sector and the Federal Reserve could be a win-win situation. Waller noted that the Federal Reserve is researching the latest wave of innovations, including tokenization, smart contracts, and artificial intelligence in the payment sector.

Governor Cook embroiled in mortgage fraud scandal; Federal Reserve reported widespread such behavior two years ago. President Trump and his allies are calling for Federal Reserve Governor Cook to resign due to allegations of "owner-occupied mortgage fraud," which is a "prevalent" issue identified by the central bank across the country. Researchers at the Philadelphia Fed assessed the number of "fraudulent investors" in the mortgage market in a 2023 report, defining these individuals as those who applied for multiple owner-occupied mortgages within four quarters after the issuance of their first owner-occupied mortgage. The study's data covered 584,499 loans from 2005 to 2017, of which 22,431 were identified as fraudulent. However, researchers cautioned that some owner-occupied fraud may be unintentional, such as borrowers unable to sell their original property due to a poor real estate market. The scrutiny of Cook's mortgage appears to be the latest way for Trump and his allies to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates using new methods.

Federal Reserve Minutes: Tariffs exert upward pressure on commodity price inflation. The Federal Reserve released the minutes from the July meeting, which mentioned that the actual GDP growth rate was moderate in the first half of the year. The unemployment rate remains low, and consumer price inflation is still relatively high The trend of slowing inflation seems to have stalled, with tariffs exerting upward pressure on price inflation for goods. After significantly dragging down GDP growth in the first quarter, net exports contributed positively in the second quarter. The actual imports of goods and services saw a substantial decline, likely due to the follow-up effects of large amounts of early imports in the first quarter in anticipation of expected tariff increases. In contrast, the decline in goods exports was relatively moderate, while service exports continued to grow.

Federal Reserve Mouthpiece: A few officials hint they may join the rate cut camp in September. "Federal Reserve Mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos recently wrote: The policy meeting minutes released today show that, despite two officials opposing and advocating for a rate cut, the decision to maintain interest rates last month still received broad support. However, a few officials have aligned with Waller and Bowman, suggesting they may support a rate cut at the Federal Reserve's next meeting on September 16-17. They indicated that the transmission of tariff increases to consumer prices is slower than expected, which should alleviate concerns about new inflation shocks caused by rising import costs. However, inflation-focused "hawks" pointed out that price pressures have increased since last month's meeting, including service prices. Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George stated in a speech last week that the impact of tariffs on inflation is limited, partly because the Federal Reserve has maintained stable interest rates. Unlike Bowman, who has been calculating inflation levels excluding tariffs, George committed to never conducting such calculations, calling it "a concept that is both meaningless and unmeasurable."

【Stock News】

Google launches the Pixel 10 series phones with ambitious new AI features. Google (GOOG.US) launched a series of new consumer electronics on Wednesday, including several smartphones, a smartwatch, and new wireless earbuds, all aimed at showcasing the company's latest advancements in artificial intelligence. The phone series includes the Pixel 10 ($799), Pixel 10 Pro ($999), Pixel 10 Pro XL ($1199), and Pixel 10 Pro Fold ($1799). The Pixel Watch 4 is priced at $350 for the 41mm version and $400 for the 45mm version. Additionally, the company's latest budget earbuds, the Pixel Buds 2a, are priced at $130. Except for the XL, most phones have the same starting prices as their predecessors, but the storage for the XL has now doubled. Overall, Google is integrating its Gemini AI assistant more deeply, notably, while the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL will be available for sale this month, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixel Buds 2a will not be released until October