On Monday Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed collectively lower. At market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 200.52 points, or 0.45%, to 43,975.09; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 64.62 points, or 0.30%, to 21,385.40; and the S&P 500 declined by 16.00 points, or 0.25%, to 6,373.45.
Sector Highlights:
- Major Tech Stocks Mostly Down: Apple (-0.83%), Amazon (-0.62%), Meta (-0.45%), NVIDIA (-0.3%), Google (-0.21%), Microsoft (-0.02%).
- Tesla rose nearly 3%, marking its fourth consecutive day of gains.
- Mortgage Giants Surge: Fannie Mae (+15%) and Freddie Mac (+13%) both hit their highest closing levels since 2008.
- Banking Sector Mixed: Morgan Stanley (+0.53%), Bank of America (+0.38%), JPMorgan (+0.32%); Citigroup (-0.44%), Goldman Sachs (-0.24%), Wells Fargo (-0.31%).
- Gold Stocks Broadly Lower: Harmony Gold, Eldorado Gold, AngloGold Ashanti (all -1%+), Coeur Mining (-0.3%).
- Hot Chinese ADRs Mixed: Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index dipped 0.29%. XPeng (+6%), Tencent Music (+2%+), Bilibili, NIO, Pony.ai (+1%+); WeRide (-4%+), TAL Education (-3%+), Li Auto (-3%), Baidu, Alibaba (-1%+), JD.com (-1%).
Global Markets:
- FTSE China A50 futures fell 0.32% to 13,881 points.
- Oil Prices Edged Up: September WTI crude rose 8 cents (0.13%) to $63.96/barrel; October Brent crude added 4 cents (0.06%) to $66.63/barrel.
- Precious Metals Tumbled: COMEX gold plunged 2.78% to $3,394.10/oz; silver dropped 2.29% to $37.66/oz.
- Currency Moves: The U.S. dollar index rose 0.35% to 98.519. Offshore yuan (CNH) traded at 7.1965 against the dollar, down 72 pips from Friday’s close.
Key Developments:
- U.S.-Russia Summit: Former President Trump announced via Truth Social that he will meet Russian President Putin in Alaska on August 15.
- Inflation Focus: Upcoming U.S. CPI data (July) is the week’s highlight, especially after weak jobs data raised rate-cut bets. Investors will scrutinize tariff impacts on inflation.
- Economic Data Watchlist:
- Retail sales (Fri): Clues on consumer impact from tariffs.
- Jobless claims (Thu), Michigan consumer sentiment (Fri).
- Tariff Effects: IG Group’s Chris Beauchamp noted rising service-sector prices signal lingering inflation. Citi economists warn tariffs may further boost core goods prices in July.
- Sector-Specific Tariffs: Markets await updates on U.S. reciprocal tariffs, particularly targeting pharmaceuticals.