Overnight US Stocks | Three major indexes closed slightly higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recording their fourth consecutive week of declines

According to the Wise Finance APP, on Friday, the three major indexes closed higher. The market continues to focus on the possibility of a soft landing for the U.S. economy, U.S. stock earnings reports, and the monetary policy outlook of the Federal Reserve. This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.6% for the week, the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.04%, and the Nasdaq fell by 0.18%. Both the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq recorded their fourth consecutive weekly decline.

[U.S. Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose by 51.44 points, or 0.13%, to 39,497.93 points; the Nasdaq rose by 85.28 points, or 0.51%, to 16,745.30 points; the S&P 500 Index rose by 24.87 points, or 0.47%, to 5,344.18 points. The weight loss drug sector led the gains, with Eli Lilly (LLY.US) up by 5.5% and Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) up by over 4%. Apple (AAPL.US) rose by 1.37%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 Index rose by 45.30 points, or 0.26%, to 17,711.75 points; the UK's FTSE 100 Index rose by 23.20 points, or 0.28%, to 8,168.17 points; the French CAC40 Index rose by 22.26 points, or 0.31%, to 7,269.71 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose by 5.81 points, or 0.12%, to 4,674.55 points; the Spanish IBEX35 Index rose by 77.00 points, or 0.73%, to 10,635.00 points; the Italian FTSE MIB Index rose by 44.09 points, or 0.14%, to 31,786.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.56%, the Indonesia Composite Index rose by 0.8%, and the Vietnam VN30 Index rose by 1.73%.

[Gold] COMEX December gold futures closed slightly up by 0.15% at $2,467.1 per ounce; COMEX September silver futures closed down by 0.46% at $27.480 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose by nearly 1.7% to $60,647.7 per coin; Ethereum fell by over 3% to $2,592.12 per coin.

[Crude Oil] New York Mercantile Exchange September WTI crude oil futures prices closed up by $0.65, or over 0.85%, at $76.84 per barrel. It rose by 4.52% for the week. Brent October crude oil futures rose by over 0.63% or $0.5. It rose by 3.71% for the week.

[Metals] London metals rose, with LME copper up by nearly 0.82%, LME aluminum up by 1.23%, LME tin up by over 2.65%, and LME zinc up by 3.4%.

[Macro News]

Fed's Collins: Rate Cut Could Come "Fairly Soon" If Inflation Keeps Falling. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Susan Collins said that if inflation continues to decline against a backdrop of a strong labor market, the Fed may start easing policy. "If the data continue to evolve as I expect, I do think that it would be appropriate to start adjusting policy fairly soon," Collins said. "My expectation is that, with a healthy labor market, (inflation) will gradually return to our 2% target." "Collins added that despite the latest employment data being weaker than expected, the US labor market remains strong. She also reminded that the inflation rate is returning to the 2% target, although at a slower pace than expected.

Former US Treasury Secretary Summers: Does the surge in VIX involve liquidity issues? SEC and other institutions should investigate. Former US Treasury Secretary Summers urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and related trading institutions to investigate the historic surge in the most watched US financial volatility index on Monday. "My understanding is that due to the consideration of some illiquid instruments in calculating the VIX, there was a certain degree of artificial volatility in the VIX index on Monday," Summers said in an interview on Friday. "Given that this is an index that receives such widespread attention, I believe that liquidity issues and settlement issues should be investigated by industry stakeholders and regulatory agencies, namely the SEC."

Nasdaq takes action on low-priced stocks, clearing suspicious companies with stock prices below $1 per share. Documents released on the official website of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange on Thursday show that the exchange is taking steps to clear suspicious companies with stock prices below $1 per share, as some have criticized the exchange for becoming a haven for hundreds of high-risk low-priced stocks. Two proposed rule changes announced by Nasdaq on Thursday will tighten some rules regarding stocks below $1, potentially speeding up the delisting process for non-compliant companies. According to one proposed rule change, companies reaching the second 180-day grace period will not be able to delay delisting through appeals. The second proposed rule change will expedite the delisting process for companies that have recently undergone reverse stock splits.

BlackRock strategist: Trump poses a risk to the independence of the Federal Reserve. BlackRock's Global Chief Investment Strategist Wei Li said that US Treasury investors should consider the possibility of Trump being elected president, as Trump has stated that if elected, he will seek to influence US monetary policy. "When we consider possible scenarios, this risk exists," Li added, noting that fiscal issues will also impact the demand for long-term government bonds. Trump stated on Thursday that the president should have some say in setting interest rates. Whether during his presidency or in his recent 2024 campaign, Trump's challenge to the independence of the Federal Reserve breaks the long-standing norm of presidents not influencing the decisions of Fed policymakers. Li stated, "Whoever enters the White House, all of this indicates that in the future, we need to carefully consider the construction of investment portfolios around US government bonds."

[Stock News]

Merck (MRK.US) to acquire Synimmune Biopharma's B-cell depletion therapy investigational drug CN201. On August 9th, Merck announced an agreement with private biotechnology company Synimmune Biopharma, under which Merck will acquire the novel investigational clinical-stage bispecific antibody CN201 for the treatment of B-cell-related diseases through a subsidiary. As per the agreement terms, Merck will make an initial cash payment of $700 million through its subsidiary to obtain global rights to CN201. Additionally, based on the development and regulatory progress of CN201, Synimmune will also receive up to $600 million in milestone payments. CN201 is currently in Phase 1 and 1b/2 clinical trial stages for the treatment of relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)." The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024 and will be booked as an asset acquisition.

The U.S. Department of Justice may seek to force Google (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) to implement major changes or divest its Android system. According to reports, following the Department of Justice's victory in the antitrust case against Google on Monday, it is not stopping at seeking to weaken the company's lucrative alliance with Apple. Lawyers following the case suggest that in the next phase, government lawyers may also try to hinder Google's efforts to dominate the next version of search (conversational AI) and make it easier for other search service providers to erode Google's 95% market share. Gene Burrus, former Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, stated that the Department of Justice lawyers are almost certain to ask the judge to take "structural remedies," such as forcing Google to divest its Android system (the judge stated that the Android system helped Google improperly maintain its monopoly position), rather than just making "behavioral" changes to Google's search business operations and its cooperation with companies like Apple.

U.S. network equipment manufacturer Cisco (CSCO.US) is reportedly planning to lay off thousands of employees. U.S. network equipment manufacturer Cisco is set to lay off thousands of employees in the second round of layoffs this year, with a focus on high-growth areas such as network security and artificial intelligence. The number of people affected by the layoffs may be comparable to or slightly higher than the 4,000 employees laid off by Cisco in February, and may be announced as early as next Wednesday when the company reports its Q4 earnings. Cisco's core business has been struggling to cope with weak demand and supply chain constraints. The company has been trying to incorporate AI products into its offerings and reiterated its goal of reaching $1 billion in AI product orders by 2025 in May. In June this year, the company launched a $1 billion fund to invest in AI startups such as Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI. The company stated at the time that it had completed 20 AI-focused acquisitions and investments in the past few years.

U.S. lawmakers write to Tesla (TSLA.US) chairman expressing concerns about Elon Musk's alleged misuse of Tesla resources for the benefit of his other companies. Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren today wrote to Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm, inquiring whether the board has investigated CEO Elon Musk's use of company resources to profit other companies including SpaceX and xAI. Warren wrote in the letter, "The Tesla board appears to have failed in its fiduciary duty to Tesla shareholders by not addressing the clear conflicts of interest posed by the company's CEO Musk." In addition to Tesla, Musk also runs the social platform X, the brain-machine interface company Neuralink, and the tunnel construction company The Boring.

【Major Bank Ratings】

Bank of America: Downgrades Super Micro Computer (SMCI.US) to "Neutral" with a target price lowered to $700