Overnight US Stocks | Three major indices fell, NVIDIA plunged 8% after hours

According to the Wise Finance APP, on Wednesday, the three major indices fell, with investors continuing to focus on the prospect of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Following the release of its latest financial report, NVIDIA's stock price plummeted. NVIDIA generates about 40% of its revenue from large data center operators such as Google under Alphabet and other companies like Meta Platforms, which are investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Despite Meta and other companies increasing their capital expenditure budgets this quarter, concerns arise that the number of infrastructure deployments currently exceeds demand, potentially leading to a bubble.

[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones fell by 159.08 points, or 0.39%, to 41,091.42 points; the Nasdaq dropped by 198.79 points, or 1.12%, to 17,556.03 points; the S&P 500 Index declined by 33.60 points, or 0.6%, to 5,592.20 points. NVIDIA (NVDA.US) fell by 2.1%, dropping as much as 8% after the financial report; Super Micro Computer (SMCI.US) fell by 19%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index closed down by 3.5%, Alibaba (BABA.US) fell by 2%, and Li Auto (LI.US) plummeted by 16% after its earnings report.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 Index rose by 89.08 points, or 0.48%, to 18,787.15 points; the UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped by 2.06 points, or 0.02%, to 8,343.40 points; the French CAC40 Index increased by 11.89 points, or 0.16%, to 7,577.67 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose by 13.37 points, or 0.27%, to 4,912.15 points; the Spanish IBEX35 Index rose by 4.10 points, or 0.04%, to 11,331.00 points; the Italian FTSE MIB Index rose by 93.20 points, or 0.28%, to 33,872.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.22%, the Indonesia Composite Index rose by 0.8%, and the Vietnam VN30 Index rose by 0.1%.

[Gold] COMEX gold futures fell by 0.52% to $2,539.80 per ounce; COMEX silver futures fell by 2.80% to $29.145 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell by 0.23% to $59,254.8 per coin; Ethereum surged by over 3% to $2,536.26 per coin.

[Crude Oil] U.S. crude oil fell by 1.3% on Wednesday, dropping below $75 per barrel. The oil market continued to give back gains earlier in the week due to the threat of disruptions in Libyan oil supply. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $1.01, or 1.34%, to settle at $74.52 per barrel. This futures contract has fallen for the second consecutive trading day. Barclays energy analyst Amarpreet Singh stated, "Despite the potential for a significant disruption in Libyan oil supply and escalating tensions in the Middle East, oil prices remain range-bound." 【Metals】 London metals fell, with London nickel down 0.9%, London copper, London zinc, and London aluminum all falling by over 2%.

【Macro News】

The U.S. Department of Labor admits! Error occurred when revising non-farm data last week. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor stated that last week, due to technical issues, the U.S. government failed to timely share key non-farm (revised) data. The spokesperson admitted that staff provided this data to callers before it was officially released. In the future, the Labor Statistics Bureau under the Department of Labor will publish data on multiple platforms, including social media, to ensure data availability upon release. The Department of Labor spokesperson stated in an email that a new policy has been implemented, requiring staff handling data queries to only share data with clients after senior officials at the Labor Statistics Bureau confirm that the data can be widely accessed by the public. The spokesperson mentioned that on August 21st local time, the preliminary benchmark revision of non-farm data by the Labor Statistics Bureau was delayed by over half an hour, forcing staff to manually upload the data. Although these numbers were visible to Labor Statistics Bureau staff within the website by 10:10 am Washington time, it was not available to external network users until around 10:32 am. The spokesperson also mentioned that due to a lack of communication on how to respond to public queries within the bureau, the issue became more complicated. As the 10 o'clock embargo had passed, some Labor Statistics Bureau staff provided information to those requesting data from them.

U.S. mortgage rates fall to the lowest level since April 2023. U.S. mortgage rates fell to the lowest level since April 2023 last week, stimulating a slight increase in housing applications. Data released showed that the contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the fourth consecutive week to 6.44%, marking the longest decline this year. This provided a slight boost to housing applications for the week ending on August 23rd, after a significant decline in the previous period. Mortgage rates move in sync with Treasury yields, and Treasury yields have recently declined in anticipation of the Federal Reserve starting rate cuts in September. The minutes of the Fed's July meeting released last week showed that "several" officials believed there was a reason for a rate cut at that time, and Powell also stated last Friday that the time to adjust policy had come.

【Individual Stock News】

Market value surpasses $1 trillion! Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US, BRK.B.US) joins the "Trillion Dollar Club". On Wednesday, Berkshire Hathaway's market value exceeded $1 trillion, reflecting investors' confidence in this conglomerate built by "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett over nearly 60 years. Many consider Berkshire Hathaway to be a representation of the U.S. economy. This also means that Berkshire Hathaway has joined the "Trillion Dollar Club" consisting of six other companies with market values exceeding $1 trillion (mainly from the technology industry), namely: Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta.

NVIDIA (NVDA.US) revenue guidance diverges, plunging 8% in after-hours trading. NVIDIA's revenue forecast was lower than the most optimistic market expectations, sparking concerns about the weakening of its explosive growth The company said on Wednesday that its third-quarter revenue is expected to reach around $32.5 billion. Although analysts' average expectation is $31.9 billion, the highest expectation is $37.9 billion. The company also stated that it is working to address production obstacles for the highly anticipated next-generation Blackwell chip, which has put pressure on the company's stock price in after-hours trading. Prior to announcing this news, there were concerns about issues with NVIDIA's Blackwell design. NVIDIA acknowledged production issues and stated that changes are being made to increase its output. Meanwhile, the company expects the product to generate "tens of billions of dollars" in revenue in the fourth quarter. Following the financial report, NVIDIA's US stock initially rose and then fell in after-hours trading, with a maximum decline of 8%.

Salesforce (CRM.US) reported higher-than-expected adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter. Salesforce's second-quarter revenue was $9.33 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations of $9.23 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $2.56, surpassing analysts' forecast of $2.35; projected third-quarter revenue is expected to be between $9.31 billion and $9.36 billion, while analysts expected $9.42 billion; the full-year revenue forecast remains at $37.7 billion to $38 billion, compared to analysts' expectation of $37.84 billion; the full-year adjusted operating profit margin is expected to be 32.8%, up from the previous estimate of 32.5%.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI.US) experiences largest intraday drop in nearly six years, CEO's personal wealth shrinks by nearly 70% since March. Super Micro Computer announced today that it will delay the submission of its annual financial report, stating that there have been no updates to the previously reported fiscal year and quarterly performance, leading to the company's largest intraday drop in nearly six years. The day before the filing delay, short-selling firm Muddy Waters released a report alleging issues such as "accounting manipulation, insider family transactions, and sanctions evasion" at Super Micro Computer. The company's stock fell by over 27% at one point during the day, marking its worst intraday performance since October 9, 2018. Billionaire and Chairman/CEO of Super Micro Computer, Charles Liang, saw his wealth peak at over $9 billion in March, but as of this Wednesday, his net worth has dropped to $3.1 billion, a 66% decrease from the peak.

OpenAI in talks for financing at over $100 billion valuation, Microsoft (MSFT.US) continues to co-invest. According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is in discussions to raise billions of dollars in a new financing round, which would value the company at over $100 billion. Sources revealed that venture capital firm Thrive Capital is leading this round of financing with an investment of around $1 billion. Microsoft is also expected to contribute funds. This new round of financing will be the largest external investment in OpenAI since Microsoft's investment of around $10 billion in January 2023. At the end of last year, when employees sold existing shares, OpenAI was valued at $86 billion. Thrive Capital has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in OpenAI since last year. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and currently holds a 49% profit share in the company