The three major US stock indexes fell in the final trading session, while small-cap stock indexes continued to rise by 1%. Tesla fell nearly 5% after hours, and US oil fell nearly 2%, marking a four-day decline
The three major US stock indexes fell in the final trading session, while small-cap stock indexes rose by 1%. Tesla fell nearly 5% after hours, and US oil fell nearly 2%, marking a four-day decline. Today's focus is on financial reports, with Google and Tesla releasing their second-quarter reports. Google Cloud's quarterly revenue exceeded $10 billion for the first time, with a volatile after-hours trading session that saw a 3% increase at one point. Tesla's disappointing EPS earnings caused a post-market drop of over 4%. Below-expectation financial reports led to a 12% drop in the share price of shipping leader UPS, marking its largest decline in history, and also caused luxury goods giant LVMH's US stocks to drop by over 5% at one point. Apart from small-cap stocks, all other major stock indexes declined, with the S&P 500 index closing down 8.67 points, a decrease of 0.16%
Small-cap stocks rise 1% leading the way, while other major U.S. stock indices fall, Tesla and Nvidia decline, chip stocks and Chinese concept stocks generally decline
On Tuesday, July 23, small-cap stocks rose over 1% leading the way, while other major stock indices rose first and then fell, accelerating the decline towards the end of the session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 hit new daily highs in the morning, rising by about 0.67% and 0.4% respectively, but fell to intraday lows of 0.22% and 0.44% towards the end of the session; the S&P 500 rose nearly 0.38% at the opening, but fell over 0.24% to the daily low by the end of the session; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which gathers blue-chip stocks, hit a new daily high at midday with an increase of nearly 0.28%, but fell nearly 0.24% to the daily low by the end of the session; the Russell 2000 small-cap stocks rose steadily, closing nearly 1.5% higher at a new daily high.
At the close, small-cap stocks rose 1.02% leading the way, while other major stock indices all fell:
The S&P 500 Index fell 8.67 points, or 0.16%, to 5555.74 points. The Dow Jones fell 57.35 points, or 0.14%, to 40358.09 points. The Nasdaq fell 10.22 points, or 0.06%, to 17997.35 points.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.35%; the Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of Nasdaq 100 technology sector stocks, fell 0.25%; the Russell 2000 Index rose 1.02%; the VIX fear index fell 1.34% to 14.71.
All major stock indices except small-cap stocks fell
Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 Index, the energy sector fell 1.55%, the utilities sector fell 0.65%, the consumer staples sector fell 0.32%, the communication services sector fell 0.22%, the industrial sector fell 0.21%, the real estate sector fell 0.17%, the information technology/tech sector fell 0.13%, the healthcare sector, consumer discretionary sector, and financial sector remained flat, while the materials sector rose 0.38%.
Due to investors evaluating a series of latest quarterly reports from companies, the European stock market closed slightly higher, rising for two consecutive days, with SAP in Germany leading the way with a more than 7% increase:
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.13% to 515.47 points. The Eurozone STOXX 50 Index rose 0.40% to 4916.80 points. Among all the components of the European STOXX 600 Index, SAP in Germany rose by 7.15%, and ASM International rose by 4.18%
German DAX 30 index rose by 0.82%. French CAC 40 index fell by 0.31%. Italy's FTSE MIB index rose by 0.07%. UK's FTSE 100 index fell by 0.38%. Netherlands AEX index fell by 0.22%. Spain's IBEX 35 index rose by 0.62%.
## Two-year German bond yield drops more than 11 basis points, UK bond yields generally down by about 4 basis points
The yield on the 10-year German benchmark bond in the eurozone fell by 5.7 basis points to 2.439%, trading in the range of 2.495%-2.434% during the session. The two-year German bond yield dropped by 11.6 basis points to 2.714%, trading in the range of 2.775%-2.713% during the session.
French 10-year government bond yield fell by 1.7 basis points, Italian 10-year government bond yield fell by 2.7 basis points, Spanish 10-year government bond yield fell by 3.1 basis points, Greek 10-year government bond yield fell by 1.1 basis points. UK 10-year government bond yield fell by 3.8 basis points, hitting a daily low of 4.122%.
Analysts pointed out that investors are focusing on the prospect of central bank rate cuts amid shaky risk sentiment and thin liquidity, with the two-year German bond yield dropping by more than 11 basis points and UK bond yields generally down by about 4 basis points.
## Affected by the resumption of Middle East ceasefire negotiations and weak oil demand prospects, coupled with low summer liquidity and algorithm-related selling pressure, US oil fell nearly 2% for the fourth consecutive day to a six-week low, while Brent crude October contracts fell below $80
The strength of the US dollar weighed on oil prices, which fell for four consecutive days, marking the longest losing streak since early June. WTI September crude oil futures fell by $1.44, or about 1.84%, to $76.96 per barrel. Brent September crude oil futures fell by $1.39, or about 1.69%, to $81.01 per barrel.
After opening lower, US oil and Brent crude oil rose slightly, with European stocks hitting daily highs during the session, with US oil rising by over 0.42% at its peak and Brent crude rising by over 0.47%. Subsequently, both accelerated their decline, with US stocks hitting daily lows at midday, US oil falling by nearly 2.6% to approach the $76 level, and Brent crude September contracts falling by nearly 2.3% to approach the $80 level, with the October contract falling below the psychological $80 per barrel mark for the first time since June 10. By the close of US stocks, both partially recovered lost ground.
 Oil prices continued to decline, but US oil found support around $76.69 and rebounded slightly during the session
Analysis points out that the resumption of Middle East ceasefire negotiations and the weak outlook for oil demand have put pressure on oil prices, pushing them to a more than one-month low. The future direction of oil prices largely depends on the Fed's interest rate cuts and the progress of Middle East negotiations. Furthermore, the selling of long positions by commodity trading advisors intensified the decline after oil prices fell below the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. Algorithmic trading selling pressure and low summer liquidity have both added pressure to the market. Summer gasoline demand has not boosted oil prices, as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that gasoline demand was weak, averaging a decrease of 615,000 barrels per day as of the week ending July 12th.
Goldman Sachs stated on Tuesday that as the market largely overlooks the potential threat of the Middle East tensions to crude oil supply, the risk premium on oil prices remains close to zero.
U.S. August natural gas futures fell by 2.84% to $2.187 per million British thermal units. European benchmark TTF Netherlands natural gas futures dropped by 0.68% to 31.622 euros per megawatt-hour; ICE UK natural gas futures rose by 2.21% to 80.76 pence per therm at the close.
Investors focus on this week's economic data to find clues for interest rate cuts, as well as increased gold demand in India, supporting a slight rebound in gold prices of over 0.5%, ending a four-day decline.
Lower U.S. bond yields supported precious metal prices. COMEX August gold futures rose by 0.51% to $2406.8 per ounce at the close, breaking a four-day declining trend, while COMEX September silver futures edged up by 0.03% to $29.330 per ounce.
Spot gold prices fell first and then rose, breaking above $2400 per ounce in early Asian trading before falling back below $2390 per ounce, with a decrease of about 0.35%; it then quickly rebounded during the European stock market session, hitting above $2410 per ounce at the daily high, with an increase of nearly 0.65%, before slightly retreating at the close of the U.S. stock market.
Spot silver reached the daily high in early Asian trading with an increase of over 0.58%, but fell to the daily low before the European stock market session, with a decrease of nearly 1.57%, before slightly turning higher at the close.
Gold slightly rose, finding support at $2400 per ounce
Analysis indicates that the market focus has shifted from U.S. political situation to U.S. economic data, such as Thursday's U.S. GDP and Friday's PCE data. The market is still pricing in two rate cuts and assuming the Fed is likely to start cutting rates in September. Any data weaker than expected (PCE data) will be positive news for gold. India has significantly reduced import duties on gold and silver, which is favorable for boosting retail demand for gold in India, thus pushing up gold prices.
Goldman Sachs predicts a huge potential for long positions in gold, with gold prices expected to reach $2700 per ounce next year, due to the central government's firm gold purchases, possible rate cuts in the U.S., and geopolitical tensions London industrial base metals collectively fell. The economic barometer "Dr. Copper" fell by $50 to $9,166 per ton. London aluminum fell by $4 to $2,295 per ton. London zinc fell by $38, a decrease of over 1.39%, to $2,688 per ton. London lead fell by $24, a decrease of over 1.5%, to $2,060 per ton. London nickel fell by $169, a decrease of over 1.04%, to $16,021 per ton. London tin fell by $470, a decrease of over 1.57%, to $29,418 per ton