On Tuesday, July 23rd, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed slightly lower, with the market focusing on the earnings reports of large technology stocks and the impact of the U.S. election on the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts this year.
Tesla's second-quarter performance was "mixed," and its stock fell more than 8% after hours. Tesla stated that a "cheaper" electric vehicle is expected to begin production in the first half of 2025.
International oil prices fell across the board, with WTI crude oil experiencing a four-day losing streak, setting a record for the longest consecutive decline since early June, causing energy stocks to decline.
The three major U.S. stock indices closed slightly lower. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.14% to 40,358.09 points, the S&P 500 index fell by 0.16% to 5,555.74 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.06% to 17,997.35 points.
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According to Hong Kong's Wind Information, on July 23rd local time, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at a seminar in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, that the global economy faces unfavorable factors such as persistently high inflation, slowing growth, and geopolitical conflicts.
Georgieva said in an online meeting, "Although inflation has declined, it remains stubborn, which means that interest rates may remain high for a longer period of time." "It is very important to bring inflation down to the target level."
The market is paying attention to the impact of the U.S. election on the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts this year. According to Sina, Mercer, the world's largest institutional investment consulting firm, said that as Biden withdraws from the race and the U.S. election becomes increasingly heated, the Federal Reserve is increasingly likely to stand pat until the end of the year rather than getting involved.
After Tesla's second-quarter results were announced, its stock fell more than 8% after hours. Companies that account for 29% of the S&P 500 index's market value will release their earnings reports this week, with Tesla and Alphabet being the first among the "seven tech giants" to announce.Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52 for the second quarter, versus the expected $0.60; revenue was $25.5 billion, exceeding the expected $24.63 billion; net profit was $1.478 billion, below the expected $1.806 billion; gross margin was 18%, slightly higher than the expected 17.4%.
Free cash flow (FCF) for the second quarter was $1.34 billion, below the expected $1.92 billion. Production is expected to increase sequentially in the third quarter.
Global electric vehicle (EV) penetration rates resumed growth in the second quarter and are capturing market share from internal combustion engine vehicles. Sales growth rates are expected to significantly decrease by 2024. Plans are underway to start production of a new model in the first half of 2025.
Tesla's shares fell over 8% in after-hours trading.
Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89 for the second quarter, above the expected $1.84; revenue was $84.74 billion, exceeding the expected $84.37 billion; net profit was $23.619 billion, above the expected $22.87 billion.
Google's advertising revenue for the second quarter was $64.62 billion, slightly above the expected $64.53 billion. Google Cloud revenue for the second quarter was $10.35 billion, above the expected $10.09 billion. YouTube advertising revenue for the second quarter was $8.66 billion, below the expected $8.95 billion.
Most tech stocks rose, while chip stocks generally fell.
On Tuesday, most tech stocks rose, with the Wind US TAMAMA Tech Index up 0.22%, Apple up 0.47%, Amazon up 2.11%, Netflix down 0.73%, Google up 0.07%, Facebook up 0.26%, Microsoft up 0.43%, and Tesla down 2.04%.
In other news, Meta Platforms released the LLAMA 3.1 405B open-source artificial intelligence model.
Apple is developing a foldable iPhone, which is expected to be released as early as 2026.Elon Musk announced the commencement of training on the "world's largest AI training cluster," with the goal of training "the world's most powerful artificial intelligence by December this year."
Chip stocks generally declined, with NXP Semiconductors down 7.58%, GlobalFoundries down 4.39%, Microchip Technology down 3.66%, Intel down 1.26%, Advanced Micro Devices down 1.2%, ASML down 0.9%, Qualcomm down 0.83%, and NVIDIA down 0.77%.
International oil prices fell across the board:
- The September delivery price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell by $1.44, a decrease of 1.84%, closing at $76.96 per barrel.
- The September delivery price of Brent crude oil futures fell by $1.39, a decrease of 1.69%, closing at $81.01 per barrel.
According to Sina, analysts stated that ceasefire negotiations in the Middle East and uncertainty about the U.S. macroeconomic outlook exerted downward pressure on oil prices this week. Additionally, the future trend of oil prices in the coming days will be influenced by the progress of ceasefire negotiations and the possibility of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Energy stocks fell across the board, with ExxonMobil down 1.63%, Chevron down 1.85%, ConocoPhillips down 1.34%, Schlumberger down 0.77%, and Occidental Petroleum down 1.31%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks declined:
- The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index fell by 1.84%.
- Nenglian Zhidian fell by 8.06%.
- Bitdeer fell by 7.63%.
- Canaan Inc. fell by 6.9%.
- iQIYI fell by 6.51%.
- ZTO Express fell by 5.42%.
- Gaotu Group fell by 5.26%.
- Wanjia Data fell by 4.8%.
- Lufax Holding fell by 4.15%.
- Jinko Energy fell by 3.67%.
On the rise, Brain Regeneration surged by 343.92%, Shangcheng Shuke rose by 3.94%, and Tencent Music rose by 2.62%.Chinese concept new energy vehicle stocks plummeted across the board, with NIO Inc.'s stock falling by 4.37%, XPeng Inc.'s stock declining by 6.67%, and Li Auto Inc.'s stock dipping by 3.47%.