Technology stocks were the culprits behind Wednesday's decline in U.S. stocks. ASML, Europe's most valuable technology company, saw its total new orders fall far short of expectations in the first quarter, falling 61% quarter-on-quarter, dragging down both European and American chip stocks, and most of the tech giants such as AI benchmark Nvidia were not spared. The three major U.S. stock indexes opened higher and lower in early trading, and all turned down, while the S&P and Nasdaq rebounded again and lost again, further testing the trough in nearly two months. Intraday media said that the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was considering options, and some commentators believed that this had triggered a decline in U.S. stocks.
Corporate earnings continue to attract attention. Travelers, a weakly profitable insurer due to high losses due to the disaster, led the way in dragging down the Dow, and healthcare giant UnitedHealth, which reported excellent earnings on Tuesday, failed to salvage the Dow again. United Airlines, which has seen its own narrow-body aircraft delivery expectations almost halved in its second-quarter profit guidance but its full-year narrow-body aircraft delivery expectations have almost halved, while Boeing, another Dow index component, retreated. The earnings reports of two European consumer goods giants, LVMH and Adidas, respectively reported strong growth in some Chinese markets and strong demand for some footwear, helping to offset the impact of ASML-led technology stocks and supporting the overall rebound in European stocks.
Wall Street News has mentioned that U.S. stocks on Tuesday "don't care too much" about Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's expectations of a rate cut, partly because corporate earnings have replaced monetary policy as the main driver of U.S. stock market volatility. Barclays strategists recently said that corporate earnings are responsible for driving the stock market further as investors worry about high interest rates and uncertain geopolitical conditions. There are comments that the combination of geopolitical uncertainty, rising interest rates, a hawkish Fed stance and frustration with inflation has allowed the bears to temporarily dominate. Investor sentiment and behaviour have changed significantly from October last year, setting the stage for a long-term sideways move.
In the bond market, the U.S. Treasury Department completed a bid for $13 billion of 20-year Treasury bonds, and indicators such as bid multiples showed strong demand. After the auction results were announced, U.S. Treasury prices rebounded at an accelerated pace, and yields fell wider, accelerating off their five-month highs. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note returned below 4.60%, briefly down more than 10 basis points from Tuesday's high, and the yield, which is sensitive to interest rates, did not continue to hover at 5.0%.
In the currency market, the UK CPI growth slowed to a two-and-a-half-year low in March, reinforcing expectations of a rate cut by the Bank of England, and the pound rebounded against the dollar and hit a one-month high against the euro, and the dollar retreated. The U.S. dollar index, which hit a five-month high, took a break from its rally and closed lower for the first time in a week, allowing the yen to break free from its 1990 trough. Some analysts remain bullish on the dollar, with some saying that any escalation of the crisis in the Middle East would benefit the dollar from safe-haven inflows. Bitcoin accelerated its downward trend after the U.S. stock market turned lower, breaking below the lows set after Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend, falling below the $60,000 mark for the first time in more than a month.
Among commodities, gold, which closed at a record high for four consecutive days, retreated. International crude oil fell sharply, and demand-side concerns overwhelmed the impact of supply risks brought about by the situation in the Middle East. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that U.S. EIA crude oil inventories rose for four consecutive weeks last week, and the increase was more than 2.7 million barrels, more than double what analysts expected, and the decline in crude oil extended to more than 3% after the release of the data, erasing all gains this month and setting the worst one-day performance since Saudi Arabia cut its official crude oil selling price more than expected three months ago. Some commentators mentioned that the EIA data showed that gasoline demand disappointed again, with the four-week average falling to the lowest level since the same period in 2022. Analysts pointed out that Iran's attack on Israel is not expected to trigger U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports anytime soon, and the crude oil premium from the geopolitical conflict is collapsing.
The S&P Nasdaq fell four times in a row, and Google rose alone in the "seven sisters" of technology, Nvidia fell nearly 4% after the earnings report, Travelers fell sharply, and United Airlines rose
The three major U.S. stock indexes collectively opened higher, and the Nasdaq Composite Index, which had risen nearly 0.6% at the beginning of the session, turned lower after opening half an hour and extended its decline to more than 1% at midday. The S&P 500, which rose more than 0.5% at the beginning of the session, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose nearly 240 points at the beginning of the session, turned lower in early trading. The S&P fell nearly 0.7% at midday, and the Dow fell more than 160 points, down more than 0.4%, before narrowing its decline. In the end, the three major indexes collectively closed down on the second day of the week, with the S&P and Nasdaq falling for four consecutive days, and the S&P recorded its longest losing streak since January 5.
The Nasdaq closed down 1.15% at 15,683.37, and the S&P closed down 0.58% at 5,022.21, both of which refreshed their closing lows since Feb. 21 for three consecutive days. The Dow, which just ended a seven-day losing streak on Tuesday, closed down 45.66 points, or 0.12%, at 37,753.31, approaching Monday's closing low since January 18.
The Russell 2000, a small-cap index dominated by value stocks, closed down 0.99%, falling for four consecutive days to its lowest level since Feb. 5. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed down 1.24%, falling back to its lowest closing level since Feb. 21 after rebounding on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology components in the Nasdaq 100, closed down 1.75%, falling back to its lowest level since Feb. 28.
Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, a total of seven closed down on Wednesday, led by IT, where chip stocks such as Nvidia are located, fell 1.7%, other sectors fell no more than 0.8%, and Google's communication services fell more than 0.1%, the smallest decline. Among the four sectors that closed higher, utilities rose more than 2% to lead the way, consumer staples rose nearly 0.5%, and financials and materials rose 0.2%.
Among the Dow constituents, Travelers (TRV), an insurance company with lower-than-expected earnings and lower-than-expected revenues, led the decline, closing down 7.4%, Intel and Amazon fell more than 1%, Boeing (BA) fell more than 1% at midday, closing down 0.2%, and UnitedHealth (UNH), which rose more than 5% after Tuesday's earnings report, rose more than 4% at the beginning of the session and closed up 2.1%, leading the two-day gainer.
Including Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google's parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook's parent company Meta, and Tesla, among the "Seven Sisters" of technology giants, only Alphabet did not fall in the intraday. Tesla, which fell the most in the first two days, turned down at the beginning of the session, falling 2.1% in early trading, and then narrowed its decline, closing down nearly 1.1%, falling for four consecutive days and two days to refresh the low closing level since April 26, 2023.
Among the six major technology stocks of FAANMG, Meta and Netflix, which turned lower at the beginning of the session, closed down 1.1% and 0.6% respectively at midday, Meta fell for four consecutive days to the lowest level since April 1, Netflix failed to continue to get out of the low since March 15, which was refreshed on Monday, Apple closed down 0.8% after rising more than 0.7% in early trading, continuing to approach the low since October 26, 2023 set last Wednesday, and Microsoft turned down in early trading after rising 1% at the beginning of the session, closing down nearly 0.7% Amazon, which rose nearly 0.7% at the beginning of the session, turned down 1.1% in early trading, falling for four consecutive days and refreshed its low since April 4 for three days, while Alphabet, which fell for three consecutive days to the lowest level since April 5, rose 1.7% at the beginning of the session and closed up nearly 0.6%.
Chip stocks retreated after a broad rally on Tuesday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX turning lower at the start of the session, closing down nearly 3.3% and about 3%, falling back to their closing lows since Feb. 21. Among chip stocks, ASML's U.S. stocks, which are listed on the NASDAQ, fell more than 8% at midday, fell 8.3%, and closed down nearly 7.1%; Nvidia, which had risen nearly 1.6% at the beginning of the session, turned down less than half an hour after opening and closed down nearly 3.9%, falling back to the lowest level since March 1; at the close, AMD, which turned lower at the beginning of the session, fell 5.8%, Intel fell 1.6%, and TSMC, which rose nearly 2% at the beginning of the session, fell nearly 0.6%.
AI concept stocks generally followed the decline of the broader market. At the close, SoundHound.ai (SOUN), BigBear.ai (BBAI), Palantir (PLTR) fell more than 2%, ultra-micro computer (SMCI), Oracle (ORCL), Astera Labs (ALAB), known as "Little Nvidia", which sells data center interconnect chips, fell more than 1%, Adobe (ADBE) fell about 0.4%, and C3.ai (AI) rose 0.5%.
The bank stock index rebounded. The overall banking index, the KBW Bank Index (BKX), which fell back to its lowest closing since March 1, closed up 0.7% on Tuesday, the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed up nearly 0.2%, and the regional bank stock ETF SPDR and the S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) also rose nearly 0.2% , all rebounded after three consecutive days of decline, out of the closing lows since November 28, 2023 and November 30, 2023, which were refreshed on Tuesday.
Among the big banks, Morgan Stanley, which will also sell bonds after JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo after the earnings report, closed up nearly 1.1%, and continued to rise after Tuesday's earnings report, Bank of America, which fell 3.5% after Tuesday's earnings report, closed up 1.6%, Citigroup rose more than 2% in early trading, and will close higher for the first time since last Friday's earnings report, and by the close, Goldman Sachs rose nearly 1.8%, Wells Fargo rose nearly 1.4%, and JPMorgan Chase, which turned lower in early trading, fell 0.4%.
Among the stocks that reported their earnings reports, United Airlines (UAL), which reported a lower-than-expected EPS loss in the first quarter, higher-than-expected revenue, and higher-than-expected second-quarter profit guidance, closed up nearly 17.5%. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) closed down 8.1%. In addition, software company Autodesk (ADSK) fell more than 8% in early trading to close down 5.8% after announcing that it was further delaying the release of earnings due to an internal investigation of directors underway.
Among the volatile stocks, Eli Lilly (LLY), one of the "two heroes of diet pills", rose more than 3% in early trading to close up 0.5% after a phase III trial showed that its best-selling weight loss drug Zepbound has the potential to improve sleep apnea symptoms beyond institutional expectations, while Resmed (RMD), which makes devices for the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders, closed down nearly 6%. Outfitters (URBN) fell more than 4% at the beginning of the session and closed down 2.5%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks were mixed, with losses or narrowing in early trading. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) rose more than 0.7% at the beginning of the session, turned lower in early trading, closed down 0.3%, fell three times in a row, and refreshed the closing low since February 13 for three days. Chinese ETF KWEB closed down about 0.4%, and CQQQ closed up nearly 0.7%. Among the new car-making forces, Xpeng Motors rose 3.8% at the close, Weilai Automobile rose more than 2%, Li Auto rose more than 1%, and Xiaomi Fan rose about 0.5%. Among other stocks, by the close, Baidu fell nearly 2%, Alibaba fell more than 1%, NetEase fell 0.5%, Tencent fell 0.4%, Pinduoduo, which turned down in early trading, fell less than 0.1%, while JD.com rose nearly 0.4% in early trading, and Station B rose less than 1%.
In European stocks, the pan-European stock index, which posted its biggest drop in nine months, rebounded slightly on Tuesday. The Euro Stoxx 600 index, which closed down more than 1.5% on Tuesday, closed up less than 0.1%, taking a break from Tuesday's low closing since March 6. Stock indexes in major European countries basically closed higher, with British stocks that fell twice in a row and German, French, Italian and Spanish stocks that fell on Tuesday all rebounded, while the Dutch domestic stock index, where ASML is located, closed down nearly 1.1%.
Among the sectors, personal and household goods, where the luxury giants are located, closed up about 1.6%, thanks to LVMH closing up 2.8% after reporting first-quarter organic revenue growth in line with expectations and a 10% increase in fashion and leather goods demand in the Chinese market, which led Hermès to rise 2.3% and Richemont to rise nearly 3%, while the technology sector fell 3.4% and the Dutch-listed European most valuable technology stock ASML closed down 6.7%. Among other stocks that reported earnings reports, Adidas closed up more than 8.6% after reporting higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue and raising its full-year guidance on strong demand for sneakers, while Continental, a supplier of transportation industry components such as tires, fell 5.5% with lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue and margins, and Just Eat Takeaway, an online food delivery company with lower-than-expected first-quarter orders, fell 4.5%.
U.S. Treasury prices rebounded 10-year yields fell more than 10 basis points intraday from five-month highs
The yield on the U.S. 10-year benchmark Treasury bond rose above 4.68% in early Asian trading to refresh the daily high, and accelerated its decline since the pre-market of the U.S. stock market, with the U.S. stock market breaking through 4.60% at midday, and the 20-year U.S. bond after the bidding was completed, it fell below 4.58% at noon to refresh the daily low, falling more than 9 basis points in the day, down about 12 basis points from the high since November 13, 2023, which was refreshed for two consecutive days at 4.70% on Tuesday, and about 4.59% at the end of the bond market , down nearly 8 basis points on the day and down for the second day in the last six trading days.
The yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note, which is more sensitive to the outlook for interest rates, rose to 5.0% to refresh the daily high before the European stock market, and the U.S. stock market fell below 4.92% to refresh the daily low at midday, falling more than 7 basis points during the day, from the high since November 14, 2023, which rose above 5.0% on Tuesday, and was about 4.93% at the end of the bond market, falling nearly 6 basis points during the day, and also falling back after rising for two consecutive days.
The U.S. dollar index fell off a five-month high, the yen took a break from the 1990 trough, and Bitcoin fell nearly $5,000 intraday
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks a basket of six major currencies including the U.S. dollar against the euro, rose above 106.40 in pre-market trading in Europe, approaching the high since November 1, 2023, which rose above 106.50 on Tuesday and refreshed for two consecutive days, rising nearly 0.2% in the day.
By the close of trading on Wednesday, the U.S. dollar index was just below 106.00, down 0.3% on the day, and the Bloomberg dollar spot index, which tracks the exchange rate of the greenback against 10 other currencies, fell more than 0.3% on the day, falling from the same period since November 2023 for four consecutive days, and the U.S. dollar index retreated after five consecutive days of gains.
Among non-U.S. currencies, the yen temporarily left its 1990 low, and the U.S. dollar fell below 154.20 to refresh the daily low against the Japanese stock market at midday, down nearly 0.4% during the day, falling to the high since 1990 near 154.80 on Tuesday and hitting a four-day high, and the pound against the dollar rose above 1.2480 in early European trading, up nearly 0.5% on the day, off the low since November 17, 2023 that fell below 1.2410 after Powell's speech on Tuesday.
The offshore yuan (CNH) refreshed its daily low of 7.2685 against the US dollar in early Asian trading, and then rebounded in shock, and the US stock market rose to 7.2425 after the close, refreshing the high since April 10, and rising 260 points from the daily low, away from the low since November 13, 2023, which fell below 7.28 on Tuesday. At 4:59 a.m. on April 18, Beijing time, the offshore yuan was quoted at 7.2440 yuan against the U.S. dollar, up 204 points from the end of New York on Tuesday, and rebounded after retreating on Tuesday.
Bitcoin (BTC) in the European stock market before the market above $64,000 to refresh the daily high, some platform trading prices rose above $64,500, and then continued to decline, the U.S. stock market accelerated after the opening, fell below $59,800 at midday, fell below $60,000 for the first time since March 5, fell more than $4,700 from the daily high, down more than 7%, and then regained $61,000, the decline narrowed, once rose above $61,400, the U.S. stock closed above $61,000, down more than 2% in the last 24 hours.
Crude oil fell more than 3%, the biggest drop in three months, and fell to a three-week low for three consecutive days
International crude oil futures are basically in a downward trend, only in the Asian morning short-term turn up, U.S. stocks opened after the acceleration of the decline, at midday refreshed the daily low, the United States WTI crude oil fell below $82.60, down 3.3% on the day, Brent crude oil fell below $87.20, down 3.2% on the day.
As a result, crude oil closed lower for three consecutive days, its biggest daily decline since Saudi Arabia cut the selling price of official crude oil sold to Asia on January 8 in a more than expected manner. WTI crude oil futures for May delivery closed down $2.67, or nearly 3.13%, at $82.69 a barrel, a new closing low since March 27, while Brent crude oil futures for June delivery closed down $2.73, or about 3.03%, at $87.29 a barrel, also updating a three-week low.
Lunsilon copper rebounded to nearly two-year high Gold fell to a record closing high for four consecutive days
Base metals futures in London rose on Wednesday. Lunxi, which led the rally, rose 3%, erasing the previous two-day losses and hitting a new high since June 2022 after last Friday. London nickel, which fell back to a more than one-week low on Tuesday, rose nearly 3% and rebounded to a one-week high. London zinc, which has fallen for two consecutive days, rose more than 2%, refreshing the high since April last year set last Friday. London copper, which fell back on Tuesday, rose more than 1%, refreshing the high since June 2022 set on Monday. London aluminum rose about 1%, rising for four consecutive days, and hitting a new high since February last year for three days. Lead rebounded slightly, not continuing to fall from Monday's highest level since November.
New York gold futures were in a downward trend for most of Wednesday, in the European stock market before and in the morning, the U.S. stock market had a short-term rally, the U.S. stock market at noon refreshed the daily low of $2376.5, down 1.3% on the day, failed to approach the intraday record high set by last Friday near $2450.
Spot gold rose above $2,395 in early U.S. stocks to refresh daily highs, and then continued to decline and turned down, U.S. stocks fell below $2,362 intraday, refreshing the low since Monday, April 15, down more than 0.9% during the day, down more than 1.4% from the daily high, falling from the intraday all-time high set by last Friday's rise above $2,430.
By the end of the day, COMEX June gold futures, which had risen for four consecutive sessions, closed down 0.81% at $2,388.4 an ounce, down from Tuesday's record close of $2,407.8 for the fourth consecutive day. At the close of U.S. stocks, spot gold was just above $2,370, down about 0.4% on the day, and for the first time since last Thursday, it did not refresh the record for the same period.
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