Global news: US stocks fell across the board, gold continued to refresh, and Tesla’s share price fell by nearly 30% during the year.
On Tuesday (April 2), Eastern Time, the second quarter of the US stock market seemed to have a bad start. The three major indexes of the US stock market fell across the board overnight. They all fell more than 1% in intraday trading, and the Dow fell nearly 400 points to a two-week low, the biggest daily decline in four weeks with S&P. The expectation of interest rate cuts in the first half of the year was frustrated, and the yield of US bonds rose again, which suppressed the market to some extent. However, the performance of gold is still strong and continues to refresh.
At the close, the S&P 500 index fell 0.72% to 5205.81 points; The Dow Jones index fell 1.00% to 39,170.24 points; The Nasdaq index fell 0.95% to 16,240.45.
In terms of US bond yield, the 10-year US bond yield once rushed above 4.4% to close at 4.36%, and the 2-year US bond yield, which is most sensitive to the Fed’s policy interest rate, closed at 4.70%.
Since Powell reiterated last week that he was in no hurry to cut interest rates, the market sentiment has not been high. And overnight, internal officials of the Federal Reserve once again consolidated this statement, and market sentiment was once again hit.
San Francisco Fed President Daley said that three interest rate cuts this year are a baseline forecast and can be increased or decreased if necessary. The former "big hawk" and Cleveland Fed President Meister also expect to cut interest rates three times this year, and it is not excluded to cut interest rates in June, and the reasons for cutting interest rates in May are insufficient; Both warned of the risk of cutting interest rates prematurely.
It is worth noting that the economic data of the United States even triggered speculation about whether the Fed will cut interest rates three times this year. The data released on Tuesday showed that the number of job vacancies in the United States has not changed much compared with the previous value, or it indicates that the labor demand is still stable at a high level in the high interest rate environment.
LPL Financial analysts pointed out that although the Fed does expect to cut interest rates sometime this year, the argument that interest rates will be higher for a longer period of time is playing a role again, so this worries the market. He also explained from another angle why the market will pull back. A healthy market really needs to pull back. The current trend is not necessarily a bad thing. The S&P 500 index has still risen by about 9% so far this year. Therefore, the market outlook still needs to keep a close eye on the US economic data.
On the enterprise side, Tesla released the latest car delivery data, which was not as good as the market expectation. The share price fell by 4.9% overnight, and it has fallen by nearly one-third during the year, and its market value has been erased by 260 billion US dollars. The data shows that Tesla’s delivery volume in the first quarter decreased by 8.5% year-on-year to about 386,800 vehicles, which was far lower than the analyst’s previous average expectation of 449,080 vehicles, which was the biggest worse than expected in history. During the same period, about 433,400 vehicles were produced, which was also lower than expected.
This is also the first time that Tesla has fallen below the 400,000-vehicle mark since the third quarter of 2022, a decrease of over 8.5% compared with the delivery of 422,875 vehicles in the first quarter of last year, recording the first year-on-year decline since the second quarter of 2020.
In the first quarter, Tesla faced a double blow of reduced demand for electric vehicles and high interest rates. Analysts had previously lowered their expectations for Tesla’s delivery. Some analysts pointed out that Tesla would experience the first year-on-year sales decline since the early days of the epidemic.
In addition, Tesla also faced many obstacles in the first quarter, such as the interruption of the supply of spare parts in the Red Sea caused by the attack of Houthi militia and the temporary suspension of production in the German factory. Although the next generation model is the key to growth, the production of this model is not expected to start until late next year, which means that the company may face the risk of slowing down growth before this.
[Hot stocks]
Among the popular US stocks, Microsoft fell by 0.74%, Google A by 0.60%, NVIDIA by 1.01%, Amazon by 0.16%, Apple by 0.70%, Meta by 1.23%, AMD by 2.53%, Arm Holdings by 2.07% and Netflix by 0.02%.
Due to the delivery of Q1 far less than expected, Tesla fell by 4.9%, and has fallen by nearly one-third during the year.
Global stock index
In the European stock market, the FTSE 100 index in Britain fell slightly by 0.22% to 7935 points. The French CAC40 index fell slightly by 0.92% to 8130 points. Germany’s DAX index fell 1.13% to 18,283 points.
In Asian stock markets, the Hang Seng Index rose 2.36% to 16,932 points. The index of state-owned enterprises rose 2.58% to 5961 points. The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.73% to 39,625 points.
[China Stock Market]
Nasdaq China Jinlong Index closed up 0.32%. In terms of popular Chinese stocks, Pinduoduo fell by 0.77%, TSMC by 0.88%, Weilai by 2.16%, Xpeng Motors by 2.26%, Alibaba by 0.61%, Baidu by 0.08% and Netease by 1.88%.
[foreign exchange commodities]
The US dollar index rose first and then fell, once standing above the 105 mark in intraday trading, and once fell to an intraday low of 104.67 during the US session, then rebounded and finally closed down by 0.19% to 104.81.
Gold futures for June delivery in the New York Mercantile Exchange closed up 1.09% at $2,281.80 an ounce, a record closing high, having risen to $2,297.70 an ounce in intraday trading. May silver futures closed up 3.39% at $25.923 an ounce.
Geopolitical risks have enhanced the attractiveness of gold, while traders have avoided the shadow cast by the strong economic data of the United States on the prospect of the Fed raising interest rates.
Oil prices continue to rise due to supply concerns. WTI crude oil rushed above $85 in intraday trading, rising more than 2% in the day, and continued to hit a new high since October last year, finally closing up 1.76% to $85.47/barrel; Brent crude oil also hit a new high since October last year, and finally closed up 2.12% to $89.27/barrel.
[Highlights]
The Fed reiterated that it is not in a hurry to cut interest rates, but it is still possible to start in June?
San Francisco Fed President Daley said that three interest rate cuts this year are a baseline forecast and can be increased or decreased if necessary. Regardless of changing the inflation target, the continuous rise in oil prices will become a problem; The former "Great Hawk" and Cleveland Fed President Meister also expect to cut interest rates three times this year, and it is not excluded to cut interest rates in June, and the reasons for cutting interest rates in May are insufficient; Both warned of the risk of cutting interest rates prematurely.
Job vacancies in the United States in February were slightly higher than expected
The voluntary turnover rate is the lowest since 2020, and the number of layoffs is the highest in nearly a year. The number of JOLTS vacancies in the United States in February was 8.756 million, slightly better than expected, and the value was revised down to 8.748 million before January. The voluntary turnover rate in February was 2.2%, the lowest level since 2020. Due to the increase in layoffs in the leisure and hotel industries, the number of layoffs has risen to the highest level in the past year.
Tesla’s quarterly delivery dropped for the first time in nearly four years, and its market value has evaporated by $260 billion in the year.
On Tuesday, Tesla Corporation, an American electric vehicle manufacturer, released a report on automobile production and delivery in the first quarter of 2024. According to the specific data, Tesla delivered a total of 386,810 vehicles in the first three months of this year, far below the analyst’s previous average expectation of 449,080 vehicles, which was the biggest worse than expected. This is also the first time that the company has fallen below the 400,000-vehicle mark since the third quarter of 2022, which is over 8.5% lower than the delivery of 422,875 vehicles in the first quarter of last year, recording the first year-on-year decline since the second quarter of 2020.
Intel’s report shows that the loss of its foundry business expanded in 2023.
In a document submitted by Intel on Tuesday, Intel said that the sales of its new manufacturing division, Intel Foundry, in 2023 were $18.9 billion, down from $27.5 billion in the previous year, and the operating loss increased from $5.2 billion in 2022 to $7 billion. It is estimated that the loss will reach its peak in 2024 and will be realized at the operational level "in the middle of now to the end of 2030". Intel shares fell more than 2% after the report was released. Intel’s entry into outsourcing chip production is one of the biggest transformations in the company’s history. CEO Pat Gelsinge’s recovery plan also includes restoring the company’s once impeccable technological advantage, which the chip giant lost in the years before he took office in 2021.
A major breakthrough in AI pharmaceutical! Stanford SyntheMol model develops new antibiotics
According to a report by Stanford Medical College on March 28th, researchers from Stanford Medical College and McMaster University have made important progress in this field. They have developed an AI model called SyntheMol, which can synthesize drugs and create formulas for chemists in the laboratory.
The model creatively designed six new drugs for drug-resistant bacterial strain Acinetobacter baumannii, which is one of the main pathogens causing antibiotic resistance-related deaths. The model not only created a new drug structure, but also provided a detailed formula for chemical synthesis, enabling chemists to synthesize these drugs in the laboratory.
Abbott’s heart valve repair system has been approved by FDA to provide patients with new treatment options.
On Tuesday, US medical and health company Abbott announced that its heart valve repair system has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is suitable for patients with potentially fatal heart disease. Abbott’s minimally invasive transcatheter TriClip repair system aims to treat tricuspid regurgitation (TR), which is a disease in which the valve between the right ventricle and the right atrium of the heart cannot be closed normally, resulting in blood reflux. Abbott has incorporated TriClip into its so-called "Fab 5" () equipment portfolio, which is expected to promote the company’s sales growth in the next few years, representing Abbott’s technological innovation and market leadership in their respective fields.
[financial calendar]