Overnight US Stocks | Market Plunges Amid Three-Month Oil Price Decline, WTI Falls Below $90

Intelligent Finance APP learned that on Wednesday, the three major indexes fell across the board to a one-month low. In August, they all dropped by more than 4%. The S&P technology sector performed the worst, with Nasdaq 100 falling over 5% in August, chip stocks dropping nearly 10%, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose over 6%. The US dollar hovered near a twenty-year high, attempting to break through the 109 mark, rising about 2.6% in August and increasing for three consecutive months. The yield on two-year US Treasury bonds broke above 3.50%, hitting another fifteen-year high; the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds rose nearly 8 basis points to approach 3.19%, reaching a two-month high. Oil prices fell nearly 4% during trading, with WTI crude oil dropping below $90. Oil prices fell for three consecutive months, with an almost 7% drop in August. US natural gas rose nearly 20% in August. Gold futures fell for four consecutive days, reaching a one-month low, down 3% in August and falling for five consecutive months.

[US Stock]At the close, the Dow Jones fell by 280.44 points, or 0.88%, to 31,510.43 points; the Nasdaq fell by 66.93 points, or 0.56%, to 11,816.20 points; and the S&P 500 Index dropped by 31.16 points, or 0.78%, to 3,955 points. Meta (META.US) rose nearly 4%, Netflix (NFLX.US) increased over 1%, while both Amazon (AMZN.US) and Apple (AAPL.US) fell more than 1%. Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.US) declined by 0.6%, marking their fourth consecutive day of losses and hitting a five-week low. Tesla (TSLA.US) dropped by 0.8%, also reaching a five-week low. Semiconductor stocks broadly declined, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling over 1%, marking its fourth consecutive day of losses to reach its lowest level since July 14th. For August, it has plummeted nearly 10%. Intel (INTC.US) fell more than 1%, hitting another six-year low. AMD (AMD.US) and Nvidia (NVDA.US) both dropped over 2%, extending their losing streak to four days and reaching their lowest levels since mid-July.

【European Stocks】Germany's DAX 30 Index fell 0.97%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.05%, France's CAC 40 Index declined 1.37%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 Index decreased by 1.25%.

【Asia-Pacific Stock Market】The Nikkei 225 index fell by 0.37%, the South Korean KOSPI index rose by 0.86%, the Singapore Strait Times Index dropped by 0.55%, the Vietnamese VN30 index increased by 0.25%, the Indonesian Jakarta Composite Index rose by 0.27%, the Thai SET Index declined by 0.03%, and the Indian Bombay 30 Index surged by 2.7%.

【Foreign Exchange】The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar against a basket of six major currencies, fell for two consecutive days but hovered near the 20-year high reached on Monday, attempting to break through the 109 level. It rose approximately 2.6% in August and has gained for three straight months.

[Cryptocurrency]Most mainstream cryptocurrencies rose, with Bitcoin up over 1%, breaking through the $20,000 mark but still near a six-week low; Ethereum rose more than 2%, staying above $1,500 for two consecutive days.

[Gold]COMEX December gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,726.20/ounce, marking the fourth consecutive decline and hitting a one-month low; August saw a cumulative drop of 3%, extending the losing streak to five months, the longest since September 2018.

[Crude Oil]WTI October crude oil futures fell 2.28% to close at $89.55 per barrel, with a monthly decline of approximately 6.90% in August, marking the worst monthly performance of the year. Brent October crude oil futures dropped 2.84% to close at $96.49 per barrel, falling 7.19% in August.

[Base Metals]London base metals all declined, LME copper futures dropped 1.11%, to $7,776.50/ton. LME nickel futures fell 0.03%, to $21,362/ton. LME aluminum futures dropped 1.28%, to $2,360.50/ton. LME zinc futures fell 0.63%, to $3,460.00/ton. LME lead futures dropped 1.71%, to $1,953.50/ton. LME tin futures fell 3.39%, to $22,850/ton.

[Macroeconomic News]

The White House: G7 Finance Ministers to Discuss Proposal for Capping Russian Oil Prices.On August 31 local time, the US White House announced that the G7 finance ministers' meeting would be held on September 2 to discuss a proposal to set a price cap on Russian oil.

U.S. Media: The U.S. Department of Justice may announce charges against Trump after the midterm elections.Sources reveal that if federal prosecutors in the U.S. determine that former President Trump has violated the law, they may wait until after the November midterm elections to announce charges against him, in order to avoid influencing the election. It is reported that the U.S. Department of Justice searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on suspicion that he illegally possessed classified documents. Additionally, another investigation by the Department of Justice focuses on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Hungary once again bypassed the EU to sign a natural gas supply increase agreement with Gazprom.On Wednesday (August 31) local time, Hungary reached an agreement with Russia on increased natural gas supply. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that Hungary had signed a gas supply increase agreement with Gazprom. Starting from September 1, the amount of natural gas transported to Hungary via the "Turkish Stream" pipeline will increase from 2.6 million cubic meters per day in August to up to 5.8 million cubic meters per day.

Japan's Defense Budget Application for Fiscal Year 2023 Hits Record High.Japan's Ministry of Finance announced on August 31 the total amount of budget requests for the 2023 fiscal year submitted by various government departments, among which the defense budget application reached a record high of 5.5947 trillion yen (approximately 278.4 billion yuan).

Energy Crisis Spreads, German Beer Industry Under Pressure.The Impact of the Energy Crisis Has Spread to Germany's Beer Industry. Soaring energy prices have led to a sharp increase in costs across multiple segments of the supply chain in Germany's beer brewing industry, resulting in significantly reduced profits for manufacturers and raising concerns about the future of business operations. Ulrich Biene, PR Director of a German beer company, stated: "Our costs started rising last year, and after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, our costs increased further, with natural gas and electricity expenses rising two to three times."

A nuclear power plant in France experienced a significant reduction in power generation due to an unexpected power outage.On August 31 local time, EDF (Électricité de France) reported that the No. 2 nuclear reactor at the Nogent Nuclear Power Plant on the Seine River in France experienced an unexpected power outage. It is expected that between 17:10 on August 31 and 17:10 on September 1 local time, the power generation will decrease from 1,310 MW to 630 MW. Whether normal operations can be restored will be assessed within 24 hours.

Suez Canal Halts Navigation Due to Ship GroundingAccording to Egyptian media reports, on the evening of August 31 local time, an oil tanker flying the Singapore flag, with a load capacity of 64,000 tons and a length of 252 meters, ran aground in the Suez Canal, causing the suspension of navigation in the Suez Canal waterway. The Suez Canal Authority is currently assisting in refloating the vessel as soon as possible.

【Individual Stock News】

Snap (SNAP.US) Announces Restructuring Plan, to Cut 20% of Workforce and Appoint New Chief Operating OfficerSnap Shares Surge 15% at Intraday High After Confirming Reports of 20% Workforce Reduction, Project Cancellations Including Pixy Camera Drone and Snap Originals. Jerry Hunter Promoted to COO from SVP of Engineering.

Tesla (TSLA.US) accelerates again within a month, reducing the delivery time for the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive version in China to 1-4 weeks.Tesla's official website in China shows that the delivery time for the rear-wheel drive version of the Model Y will be shortened to 1-4 weeks, previously 4-8 weeks. This is the second adjustment this month.

FDA Approves Moderna (MRNA.US) and Pfizer (PFE.US) Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines.FDA Authorizes Emergency Use of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines

Boeing (BA.US) Secures Contracts Worth Over $2.2 Billion and $900 Million from the U.S. Air Force and Israel, Respectively.Boeing (BA.US) secures a revised contract valued at over $2.21 billion to produce and deliver the 8th batch of KC-46A aircraft to the U.S. Air Force, including subscription fees and license revisions.

Eni (E.US) to Pay Italy 1.4 Billion Euros in Windfall Tax, Far Exceeding Expectations.Italian energy giant Eni (E.US) will pay a windfall tax of 1.4 billion euros, much higher than the initially estimated 550 million euros. Due to the surge in oil and gas prices, Italy has imposed a 25% windfall tax on energy companies this year.

3B Home (BBBY.US), a stock favored by retail investors, plummeted over 20%.U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday pre-market, the meme stock 3B Home announced that the company has secured approximately $500 million in new financing and will close a large number of stores in the future. In addition, 3B Home also stated that it plans to sell up to 12 million shares through Jefferies. Affected by this, 3B Home closed down 21.30% on Wednesday at $9.53 per share.

Arm Sues Qualcomm (QCOM.US) and Nuvia for Breach of Licensing Agreement and Trademark Infringement.SoftBank-owned chip technology firm Arm files lawsuit against Qualcomm and Nuvia for alleged breach of licensing agreement and trademark infringement. Qualcomm acquired chip design company Nuvia last year for $1.4 billion. Arm is reportedly seeking an injunction to have Qualcomm destroy designs developed under Nuvia’s licensing agreement with Arm, stating that the designs cannot be transferred to Qualcomm without its approval.

[Major Ratings]

Citi: Downgraded Snap (SNAP.US) from "Buy" to "Neutral", and reduced the target price from $16 to $10.

Rui Mu: Raised CrowdStrike (CRWD.US) target price from $220 to $230.

UBS: Downgrades HP (HPQ.US) Target Price from $40 to $32.

Deutsche Bank: Raised CrowdStrike (CRWD.US) target price from $225 to $230.