The expectation of the Federal Reserve to accelerate the tightening of monetary policy put pressure on the market, and on April 8, local time, the three major U.S. stock indexes diverged, and the Nasdaq index fell more than 186 points.
On the news side, the comprehensive Xinhua News Agency and CCTV news reported that the EU diplomatic mission in Ukraine is moving back to Kiev, Zelenskiy called on the West to increase sanctions against Russia; the Russian Defense Ministry said that the plan to exchange captured personnel with the Ukrainian side has failed again; and the United States has provided Slovakia with the "Patriot" missile system. Russia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 17 percent.
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed down this week
Wind data shows that on April 8, local time, the three major U.S. stock indexes diverged, and the Nasdaq index fell more than 186 points. As of the close, the Dow Jones closed up 0.4 percent at 34,721.12 points; the Nasdaq fell 1.34 percent at 13,711.00 points; and the S&P 500 fell 0.27 percent at 4,488.28 points. All three major stock indexes closed lower this week, with the S&P 500 ending a three-week streak of gains, down 1.3 percent this week; the Dow jones down 0.3 percent this week and the Nasdaq down 3.9 percent this week.
Source: Wind
U.S. big tech stocks were down across the board, with Apple down 1.19 percent, Amazon down 2.11 percent, Netflix down 1.73 percent, Google down 1.91 percent, Meta down 0.28 percent, and Microsoft down 1.46 percent.
U.S. bank stocks rose collectively, with JPMorgan Chase up 1.86 percent, Goldman Sachs up 2.34 percent, Citi up 1.7 percent, Morgan Stanley up 1.14 percent, Bank of America up 0.74 percent and Wells Fargo up 2.07 percent.
U.S. energy stocks rose across the board, with ExxonMobil up 2.16 percent, Chevron up 1.74 percent, ConocoPhillips up 3.14 percent, Schlumberger up 3.88 percent and Western Oil up 7.19 percent.
In terms of popular Chinese stocks, Jiufu rose 19.79%, All Things Xinsheng rose 12.21%, Taihecheng Medical rose 10.34%, Monster Charging rose 8.33%; in terms of declines, Singularity Future fell 36.05%, Dingdong Buy Vegetables fell 14.47%, Tianjing Bio fell 11.38%, Canaan Technology fell 9.4%, and 21Vianet fell 9.4%.
Chinese new energy vehicle stocks fell across the board, with WEILAI Down 1.67%, Xiaopeng Automobile down 3.3%, and Ideal Automobile down 2.01%.
On April 8, local time, European stocks closed up across the board, with the German DAX index up 1.46% at 14283.67 points, the French CAC40 index up 1.34% at 6548.22 points, and the British FTSE 100 index up 1.56% at 7669.56 points.
Biden signed a bill to tighten trade and energy sanctions against Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden signed two bills previously approved by Congress on April 8 local time. The bill provides for the suspension of normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and the prohibition of the import of Russian energy due to the situation in Ukraine. According to the information released by the US government, the two bills are the "Act on The Cessation of Imports of Russian Oil", which prohibits the import of energy from Russia, and the "Suspension of Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus" Act aimed at further strengthening commercial restrictions.
The United States will supply Slovakia with the Patriot missile system
According to CCTV News, US President Joe Biden confirmed on April 8 that Slovakia has supplied Ukraine with the S-300 air defense missile system, and in return, the United States will provide Slovakia with the Patriot missile system.
U.S. Defense Secretary Austin previously said U.S. European Command would deploy the Patriot missile system to Slovakia in the coming days.
On April 8, local time, British Prime Minister Johnson announced that he would provide Ukraine with weapons worth 100 million pounds. These include the "Star pattern" anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles.
Johnson also said Britain would provide precision munitions "capable of wandering the sky until they are directed to a target", as well as more helmets, body armor and night vision goggles.
Leader of the Donetsk Armed Forces: The attack on the Kramatorsk railway station has killed 50 people
On April 8, local time, the leader of the Donetsk Armed Forces said that the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station in Ukraine had killed 50 people.
That night, the Russian Defense Ministry again issued a statement on the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station.
The statement said that on the 8th, the Ukrainian armed forces used Polka-U tactical missiles to attack the Kramatorsk railway station. Fragments of Polka-U missiles were found near Kramatorsk railway station. By analyzing the warhead kill radius and the tail characteristics of the Dot-U missile, it can be confirmed that the missile was launched from the southwest direction of Kramatorsk.
Available information indicates that at the time of the missile attack, a battalion under Ukraine's 19th Independent Rocket Brigade equipped with the Dot-U missile system was located in the dobropolje settlement area, 45 kilometres southwest of the city of Kramatorsk. The area is still under the full control of the Ukrainian army.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy confirmed on social media that the train station had been attacked. Alestovich, an adviser to the president's office in Ukraine, said the missiles that landed near the train station were Russian-made weapons.
Adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine: Several working groups in Ukraine and Russia continue to hold online consultations
According to CCTV news reports, on the 8th local time, Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that although the "Bucha incident" affected the atmosphere of Ukrainian-Russian negotiations, the diplomatic, military, legal and other working groups of the two sides are still consulting through online means. The representatives of the two countries are working hard to discuss the elaboration of a text on the issue of security and security in Ukraine with a view to ending the war as soon as possible.
The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a notice on the 8th local time that the exchange of captured personnel with the Ukrainian side that was scheduled to be carried out on the same day failed again. The announcement pointed out that russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on April 5 to exchange 251 captured personnel each, but only reached a list of 38 people to exchange, and in the end there was no exchange due to the refusal of the Ukrainian side.
EU officials: The EU diplomatic mission in Ukraine is moving back to Kiev
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell said on social media on the 8th that the head of the EU mission in Ukraine has now returned to Kiev and is preparing for the resumption of mission operations.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the EU diplomatic mission in Ukraine moved from Kiev to the Polish city of Rzeszów.
Russia's central bank resumed allowing individuals to buy cash in foreign currencies
On the 8th local time, the Russian Central Bank issued an announcement that citizens who have opened foreign currency accounts or deposits before March 9 this year, if they have not yet used the amount of cash withdrawal, from April 11, they can not only receive cash in US dollars, but also receive euros, but the total withdrawal limit before September 9 is still 10,000 US dollars or the equivalent of euros. During this period, individuals withdrawing rubles from their foreign currency accounts remain unrestricted.
In addition, the Russian Central Bank also announced that banks in Russia will resume the business of selling foreign currency cash to individuals from April 18, but banks can only sell foreign currency cash received through the counter since April 9 this year.
Russia will allocate 8 billion rubles to develop domestic scientific instruments
On April 8, local time, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy delivered a video speech in the Finnish parliament, urging the Finnish government to further isolate Russia and calling on Western countries to increase sanctions against Russia and ban Russian gas.
In a video address, Zelenskiy urged Western countries to pressure all companies in the country that cooperate with the Russian military and said the international financial system must cut ties with all Russian banks. In addition, he once again sought more weapons support from Western countries.
Medvedev, vice chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council, pointed out in a social media post on the 8th that the United States and other Western countries have continuously increased illegal sanctions against Russia, the purpose of which is to fundamentally weaken Russia, and in a vain attempt to cause the Russian people to be dissatisfied with the government and encourage the people to overthrow the current regime.
On the 8th local time, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Cherneshchenko said that the Russian government will increase the development of domestic scientific instruments, for which it will allocate 8 billion rubles to replace foreign imported instruments and equipment.
Edit: Yu Hongbo