At the close, the Dow fell 494.82 points, or 1.21%, to 40,347.97; the Nasdaq fell 405.25 points, or 2.3%, to 17,194.15; the S&P 500 Index fell 75.62 points, or 1.37%, to 5,446.68.
Intellifinance learned that on Thursday, the three major indices plummeted, with the Nasdaq falling 2.3% and the Dow falling by around 500 points. A series of weak economic data in the United States has again raised concerns that the US economy may fall into recession. US ISM manufacturing data contracted for the fourth consecutive month, and initial jobless claims surged last week.
At the close, the Dow fell 494.82 points, or 1.21%, to 40,347.97; the Nasdaq fell 405.25 points, or 2.3%, to 17,194.15; the S&P 500 Index fell 75.62 points, or 1.37%, to 5,446.68. AMD (AMD.US) fell more than 8%, Nvidia (NVDA.US) fell 6.67%, and Tesla (TSLA.US) fell 6.55%.
Major European stock indexes rose with the UK FTSE 100 up 1.01%, the German DAX30 down 2.3%, the France CAC 40 down 2.14%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 down 2.2%.
The Nikkei 225 Index fell 2.49%, the Indonesia Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.85%, and the Vietnam VN30 Index fell 2.09%.
COMEX December gold futures rose 0.39% to $2482.7/ounce, while COMEX September silver futures at the end of trading fell 1.77% to $28.425/ounce.
Bitcoin rose 0.39% to $64864.6/coin, and Ether fell 1.81% to $3173.36/coin.
WTI September crude oil futures fell $1.6, or nearly 2.06%, to $76.31/barrel, and Brent October crude oil futures fell $1.20, or nearly 1.49%, to $79.52/barrel.
Most London metals fell, with London copper down 2.35%, London nickel down 2.22%, and London aluminum down 0.76%; London zinc rose 0.36%.
Macro news
US initial jobless claims rose to their highest level in nearly a year. According to data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday, initial jobless claims rose by 0.014 million to 0.249 million for the week ending July 27, higher than the market expectation of 0.236 million. Furthermore, continuing unemployment claims rose to 1.88 million for the week ending July 20, the highest level since November 2021, further proving that the labor market is slowing down.
US labor productivity rebounds, reducing inflation risks. US labor productivity in the second quarter increased more than expected, which is conducive to easing the growth of labor costs and further proves that inflationary pressures are weakening. The preliminary estimate of non-farm productivity in the second quarter of the United States recorded 2.3%, an increase from a slight increase in the first quarter of this year. The preliminary estimate of non-farm unit labor costs recorded 0.9% in the second quarter, and labor costs increased 3.8% in the first quarter. Although the cost of borrowing is high, corporate investment remains strong, supporting long-term economic growth. This report provides further evidence to the Fed that the risk of accelerating inflation is diminishing.
US manufacturing orders fell in July, and producer price inflation slowed significantly. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Intelligence, said that manufacturing rebounded in July, but at the same time, inflation in the production sector cooled significantly. In July, the business environment deteriorated, and new orders fell for the first time since April, causing production to almost stagnate. Due to concerns about lower-than-expected sales, purchasing activity is declining, and recruitment activity is slowing. In July, the sales price inflation rate dropped significantly to the lowest level in a year, indicating that prices had only risen slightly in July. This almost stagnant producer price inflation is expected to be transmitted to consumer price inflation in the coming months.
OPEC+ maintains the plan to restore oil production in the next quarter. OPEC+ stated at the meeting that the oil supply will not change and will adhere to the preliminary plan of gradually freeing up production starting from the next quarter. In June of this year, OPEC+ agreed to gradually restore production from October, which was suspended at the end of 2022 to support oil prices. Oil production will increase by about 0.54 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter. Although the recent drop in oil prices may make consumers and central banks breathe a sigh of relief, it may have an impact on OPEC+ countries. Data from the International Energy Agency shows that if OPEC+ continues to increase supply in the fourth quarter, new surplus supply may appear. Citigroup predicts that the group will not begin to resume supply until mid-next year. Onyx Commodities head of oil research Harry Tchilinguirian said that OPEC+ still needs to see the current policies play a role in reducing inventories before considering a transition.
[Individual stock news]
Amazon's (AMZN.US) earnings guidance falls short of expectations, and the stock price falls 6% after hours. Amazon's third-quarter net profit guidance fell short of analysts' expectations, indicating that the company's expenses to meet the demand for artificial intelligence services exceeded expectations. The company's stock price fell more than 6% after hours. Amazon expects operating profit in the third quarter to reach $11.5 billion to $15 billion, while analysts' average forecast is $15.7 billion. The company expects third-quarter sales to reach $154 billion to $158.5 billion, with an increase of 8% to 11%, while analysts expect $158.4 billion. The company's CEO, Andy Jassy, has been cutting costs, focusing on the profitability of Amazon's main online retail business, while investing heavily in artificial intelligence services. The company stated that this is an "operational business with billions of dollars in revenue." Sales of Amazon's cloud services department increased by 19% to $26.3 billion, exceeding expectations, and achieved consecutive quarter-on-quarter growth for the second quarter. However, the strong performance of cloud computing was offset by the weakness of Amazon's main e-commerce business. Amazon's second-quarter seller services and advertising revenue were both below expectations.
Intel (INTC.US) suspends dividend for the first time in 32 years, and the stock price falls 18% after hours. Intel said on Thursday that third-quarter revenue will be far below analysts' expectations, and announced layoffs of more than 150,000 people. The company's stock price once fell more than 18% after hours. The company said that sales in the current quarter will reach $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, while analysts' average forecast is $14.38 billion. Intel plans to lay off more than 15% of its approximately 110,000 employees. The statement stated that the company will also suspend the payment of dividends to shareholders from the fourth quarter and will continue to suspend them before the "cash flow improvement reaches a sustainable higher level." The company has been paying dividends since 1992. This performance result highlights Intel's headwind. The company has dominated the semiconductor industry for decades and is now forced to promote cost-cutting measures and ensure funds for growth plans.
Apple (AAPL.US) requests US judge to dismiss antitrust lawsuit. Apple said that the US government's antitrust lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market is unrealistic and should be dismissed by federal judges. The US Justice Department, 19 states, and Washington, DC accused Apple of illegally monopolizing the smartphone field, imposing contract restrictions on developers, and preventing them from entering key areas. Apple argued that reasonable restrictions on third-party developers accessing its technology do not constitute anti-competitive behavior. Forcing it to share technology with competitors will hinder innovation. The lawsuit filed in March this year targeted Apple's restrictions and charges on application developers and technological obstacles to third-party devices and services (such as smartwatches, digital wallets, and messaging services), these devices and services may compete with Apple's own products. The US Department of Justice stated that by obstructing the interoperability between the iPhone and third-party applications and devices, Apple locks users into its products and harms market competition. But Apple argued that the lawsuit failed to provide any evidence that its actions harmed competition or consumers.
IT failures disrupt the US Olympic delegation's itinerary, and Delta Air Lines (DAL.US) refuses CrowdStrike's help. The US Olympic team has won more than 30 medals in the past week. But to get them to the competition venue on time, they made unusual efforts. This is because Delta Air Lines (DAL.US), the official airline of the US delegation, was paralyzed by technical failures caused by CrowdStrike (CRWD.US) when transporting 1,800 athletes, coaches, staff, and equipment to Paris. The affected athletes had to transfer to other routes, including partner airlines, and even some competing airlines. Delta Air Lines also needs to add a flight from New York at the last minute to transport groups of athletes before the pre-match activities and the opening ceremony on July 26. A CrowdStrike spokesperson said, "We express our regret and apologies to all customers for this event and the resulting interference." "Although its main competitor quickly recovered from the failure, Delta Air Lines refused our efforts to help it recover quickly."