Overnight US Stocks | The three major indexes fell, Nvidia (NVDA.US) dropped over 3.3%, gold approached a historical high

According to Jinse Finance APP, the three major indexes closed lower on Friday, but all recorded gains for the month. Due to the U.S. Labor Day holiday, the U.S. stock market will be closed next Monday (September 1). Today is the last trading day of August. For the month, the Dow Jones rose 3.21%, the Nasdaq rose 1.58%, and the S&P 500 Index rose 1.91%, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains. A report from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday showed that the core inflation rate of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, excluding food and energy costs, was seasonally adjusted at an annual rate of 2.9%, up 0.1 percentage points from June. On a monthly basis, the core PCE index rose 0.3%, also in line with expectations. The all-items index showed an annual rate of 2.6% and a monthly increase of 0.2%, both meeting consensus expectations.

On Friday, a U.S. appeals court ruled that most of the global tariff policies implemented by President Trump were illegal, stating that Trump exceeded his authority in imposing these tariffs. According to reports, a panel of judges in Washington upheld a previous ruling by the International Trade Court that Trump had wrongly invoked an emergency law to implement these tariffs.

[U.S. Stocks] As of Friday's close, the Dow Jones fell 92.02 points, or 0.20%, to 45,544.88 points; the Nasdaq fell 249.61 points, or 1.15%, to 21,455.55 points; and the S&P 500 Index fell 41.60 points, or 0.64%, to 6,460.26 points. Nvidia (NVDA.US) fell more than 3.3%, Apple (AAPL.US) edged down, and Amazon (AMZN.US) fell more than 1%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 Index fell 129.74 points, or 0.54%, to 23,914.49 points; the UK FTSE 100 Index fell 29.27 points, or 0.32%, to 9,187.55 points; the French CAC40 Index fell 58.70 points, or 0.76%, to 7,703.90 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 46.48 points, or 0.86%, to 5,350.25 points; the Spanish IBEX35 Index fell 141.76 points, or 0.94%, to 14,936.34 points; and the Italian FTSE MIB Index fell 251.10 points, or 0.59%, to 42,196.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Markets] The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.26%, the Korean KOSPI Index fell 0.32%, and the Indonesian Composite Index fell 1.53%.

[Crude Oil] The price of light crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.59 to close at $64.01 per barrel, a decrease of 0.91%; Brent crude oil futures for October delivery fell $0.50 to close at $68.12 per barrel, a decrease of 0.73%.

[Forex] The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.04% on the day, closing at 97.771 in the late foreign exchange market. As of the close in New York, 1 euro exchanged for $1.1699, higher than the previous trading day's $1.1689; 1 pound exchanged for $1.3510, lower than the previous trading day's $1.3516. 1 dollar exchanged for 147.02 yen, higher than the previous trading day's 146.82 yen; 1 dollar exchanged for 0.8001 Swiss francs, lower than the previous trading day's 0.8012 Swiss francs; 1 dollar exchanged for 1.3728 Canadian dollars, lower than the previous trading day's 1.3747 Canadian dollars; 1 dollar exchanged for 9.4643 Swedish kronor, lower than the previous trading day's 9.4679 Swedish kronor.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell 3.75% to $108,347.3; Ethereum fell more than 3.3% to $4,359.47.

[Metals] COMEX gold futures rose 1.19% to $3,515.50/ounce; spot gold rose 0.94% to $3,449.01/ounce, approaching historical highs.

[U.S. Treasuries] The yield on the U.S. 10-year benchmark Treasury note rose 2.51 basis points to 4.2284%, down 14.56 basis points for August. On August 1, it plunged from the monthly high of 4.4060%, dropped to 4.1826% (UTC+8) at the start of the Asia-Pacific session on August 5, then fluctuated upward. On August 14, the increase was relatively significant, and on August 18, it rebounded to around 4.35% (UTC+8), before expanding the monthly decline again. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 1.23 basis points to 3.6167%, down 34.04 basis points for August. On August 1, it plunged from the monthly high of 3.9571% (UTC+8), dropped to 3.6024% (UTC+8) on August 29, and overall showed an L-shaped long-tail decline.

[Macro News]

U.S. consumer confidence falls to a three-month low as economic outlook dims. Due to ongoing concerns about tariffs, the U.S. consumer confidence index fell to a three-month low, with pessimism about the economic outlook and inflation spreading among the public. A survey released by the University of Michigan on Friday showed that the final value of the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index for August fell to 58.2 from 61.7 in July, below the preliminary value of 58.6. The latest data show that consumers expect prices to rise by 4.8% over the next year, up from 4.5% last month; the expected annual inflation rate for the next 5-10 years is 3.5%, an improvement from the preliminary survey value of 3.9% earlier this month. These data highlight consumers' anxiety about job prospects and business conditions. About 63% of consumers expect the unemployment rate to rise in the coming year, an increase from the previous month and much higher than the same period in 2024. The August employment report to be released next week is expected to show that job growth remains moderate.

Fed's Daly hints at September rate cut, says dual mandate faces tension. San Francisco Fed President Daly said policymakers will soon be ready to cut rates and that inflation caused by tariffs may be only temporary. "It's soon time to recalibrate policy to better match the economy," she wrote in a social media post shared by the San Francisco Fed on Friday. Daly said the price increases related to tariffs "will be one-off." "It will take time to determine this," she wrote, "but we can't risk damaging the labor market while waiting for complete certainty." Daly said, "There is currently tension between the Fed's dual mandate: tariffs have pushed up inflation, while the labor market is showing signs of slowing."

Citadel Securities' Q2 trading revenue declines, but H1 revenue hits record high. Citadel Securities' net trading revenue declined in the second quarter, but benefited from geopolitical tensions and market volatility triggered by Trump's tariffs, total revenue for the first half of the year still hit a record high. According to sources, net trading revenue in the second quarter fell 8.4% to $2.39 billion, but strong performance in the first quarter brought first-half revenue to a record $5.77 billion. Since Trump began imposing tariffs on multiple countries globally earlier this year, market trading volumes have remained high, benefiting banks and market makers. Sources said the company's net profit for the first half of the year grew 20% to a record $2.66 billion. However, net profit in the second quarter fell 23% to $922 million.

[Stock News]

U.S. judge does not rule immediately on Trump's attempt to remove Cook. The lawsuit in which Trump seeks to dismiss Federal Reserve Governor Cook did not result in an immediate ruling during Friday's hearing, meaning the Fed policymaker will temporarily remain in office. After a two-hour oral argument in federal court in Washington, D.C., Judge Jia Cobb asked Cook's lawyer to submit a supplemental brief by next Tuesday, detailing why the dismissal was unlawful. The case is expected to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. "The so-called 'reason' by the President is simply that she disagrees with a rate cut," Cook's lawyer, renowned Washington attorney Abbe Lowell, said in court. Cook denied committing mortgage fraud, calling the allegations "baseless and unsubstantiated," but has not yet detailed the basis for her position.

Fed finalizes new capital requirements for major banks, Morgan Stanley seeks review. The Fed announced on Friday that it has finalized new capital levels for the largest U.S. banks following June's stress tests, but added that Morgan Stanley (MS.US) is seeking a reassessment of its soon-to-be-effective capital level. The new capital requirements will take effect on October 1, and if the Fed adopts a pending proposal to average the results of two-year stress tests, the requirements will be updated. Based on the annual large bank financial stress tests, the Fed assesses banks' performance under hypothetical economic downturn scenarios and sets their capital buffer levels accordingly. Morgan Stanley is requesting a reconsideration of its results, and the Fed will announce its decision by the end of September.

EU plans "moderate" fine for Google's advertising business. Three sources said Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.US) will face a moderate EU antitrust fine in the coming weeks over alleged anti-competitive behavior in its advertising technology business. The decision, made by the European Commission, stems from a complaint by the European Publishers Council, which led to a four-year investigation and formal charges in 2023 that Google favored its own ad services and suppressed competitors. The moderate fine marks a shift in strategy by new EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera in handling violations by big tech companies. Unlike her predecessor Margrethe Vestager, who favored imposing hefty punitive fines, Ribera wants to focus more on pushing companies to stop anti-competitive behavior rather than simply punishing them. The fine is expected to be far less than the record 4.3 billion euro fine imposed by EU competition regulators on Google in 2018.