On Wednesday local time, the Federal Reserve's latest national economic situation survey report, also known as the "Beige Book," indicated that the number of regions where economic activity was flat or weakening had increased, and consumer spending had slowed down. Employment data released on the same day showed signs of cooling in the U.S. labor market. These factors have led investors to continue to view the prospect of a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy with caution, resulting in mixed performances for the three major U.S. stock indices that day. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.09%, the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.16%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.30%. Chip giant NVIDIA continued its downward trend on Wednesday, closing down 1.66%, with a cumulative drop of over 11% in two trading days, leading to a market value loss of approximately $333 billion. Factors such as slowing future performance growth and concerns about the peak of AI industry investments have led investors to continuously reduce their holdings in NVIDIA stocks.
International oil prices fell on the 4th, with New York oil prices breaking below the $70 per barrel mark.
International oil prices continued to decline on Wednesday, with employment data and earnings reports from some U.S. companies causing investors to worry about a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending growth and a pessimistic outlook for the growth of U.S. oil consumption demand, leading to a drop in international oil prices that day. Among them, New York oil prices broke below the psychological threshold of $70 per barrel, reaching the lowest level in nine months. By the close, the price of light crude oil futures for October delivery at the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $69.20 per barrel, a decrease of 1.62%; the price of Brent crude oil futures for November delivery settled at $72.70 per barrel, a decrease of 1.42%.
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International gold prices rose slightly on the 4th.
Concerns about the outlook for U.S. economic growth have driven some funds to seek refuge in gold, leading to a slight increase in international gold prices on Wednesday. By the close, the December gold futures price at the New York Commodity Exchange settled at $2,526.0 per ounce, an increase of 0.12%.
U.S. media: The Biden administration will block the acquisition of a U.S. steel company by a Japanese steel company.
According to U.S. media reports on Wednesday, the Biden administration is preparing to announce a decision to block the acquisition of a U.S. steel company by a Japanese steel company, a deal that was announced in December last year with a transaction value of $14.9 billion. Hit by this news, the U.S. steel company's stock price plummeted by 17.47% on Wednesday, with a cumulative decline of about 40% since the beginning of the year. The company's CEO, Britt, stated that if the acquisition deal cannot be completed, U.S. Steel will be forced to abandon some traditional businesses, close some factories, and relocate its headquarters away from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is known that Pennsylvania is one of the swing states in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, and both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Harris and Trump, have expressed opposition to the acquisition of U.S. Steel by foreign capital.
European stock markets closed down collectively on the 4th.
Affected by the widespread decline in U.S. technology and chip stocks the previous trading day, European technology stocks led the decline in many national stock markets, and the three major European stock indices closed down collectively on Wednesday. By the close, the UK stock market fell by 0.35%, the French stock market fell by 0.98%, and the German stock market fell by 0.83%.
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