Today, the stock market experienced Black Friday, with the US stock market plummeting in the early morning and the Asia Pacific market collapsing throughout the day, witnessing history again! Let's take a look at what happened together.
A-shares decline
The three major indexes fluctuated and adjusted today, with all falling more than 1% in the closing session. As of the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.92%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.38%, and the ChiNext Index fell 1.66%.
995 individual stocks rose in the market, 57 stocks hit the limit up, and 4193 stocks fell.
Pharmaceutical stocks strengthened against the trend, with multiple stocks hitting the daily limit up.
The concepts of commercial aerospace and low altitude economy are repeatedly active!
Communication equipment and semiconductor chips are leading the decline!
The RMB exchange rate suddenly surged!
The entire Asia Pacific market has collapsed
Last night, Wall Street aggressively sold off US stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 500 points and the Nasdaq plummeting over 2%, directly leading to a majority of Asia Pacific stock markets falling today.
The Japanese stock market plummeted due to expectations of further tightening of monetary policy domestically. The tightening of monetary policy has put pressure on Japan's export-oriented economy, further exacerbating market sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 index fell below 36000 points, a drop of nearly 6%; The CSI Index fell 6.1%, marking the largest single day decline since 2016! The South Korean Composite Index fell nearly 4%, and the Taiwan, China Stock Index fell more than 4%!
So, what happened behind the scenes?
Some analysts suggest that in the United States, new economic data has raised concerns about the possibility of an economic recession and the possibility that it may be too late for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. In addition, as tensions escalate in the Middle East, investors are deterred from overvaluation.
The latest data released by the United States last night showed that the number of first-time applicants for unemployment benefits has increased the most since August 2023. The ISM Manufacturing Index, which measures factory activity in the United States, was 46.8%, lower than expected, indicating an economic contraction. The July ISM manufacturing PMI has been in a contraction range for four consecutive months; The Markit manufacturing PMI in July also fell into a contraction range, indicating a continued weakness in the US manufacturing industry and signaling an economic slowdown.
Data shows that the number of weekly unemployment claims in the United States has reached a nearly one-year high, while the manufacturing industry has shrunk, triggering broader risk aversion.
In addition, the profit prospects or performance of industry giants such as Intel and Amazon have been disappointing.
Intel's US stock fell more than 20% after the market closed. The company stated that its sales for the current quarter will reach $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, while analysts' average forecast is $14.38 billion. Intel has announced plans to lay off over 15% of its approximately 110000 employees. The statement stated that the company will also suspend dividend payments to shareholders starting from the fourth quarter and will continue the suspension until "cash flow improves to a sustainable higher level." The company has been paying dividends since 1992, marking the first suspension in 32 years. Intel, which has dominated the semiconductor industry for decades, is now forced to promote cost cutting measures and ensure funding for growth plans.
Amazon's US stock fell more than 6% after trading. Although the company's performance and profit in the second quarter of this year exceeded expectations, the growth rate of profits has significantly slowed down compared to previous quarters, and the forecast for next quarter's operating profit is significantly lower than the average analyst expectation. E-commerce revenue is under pressure, with seller services and advertising revenue both lower than expected, and online retail facing fierce competition from Temu and Shein; At the same time, the company is increasing its investment in AWS, and the huge capital expenditures are beginning to worry investors. The expensive AI capital expenditures and service fees are dragging out the return cycle.
Manish Bhargava, fund manager of Straits Investment Holdings in Singapore, said, "The recent strengthening of the yen, coupled with the weakness of the technology industry, is bound to have a significant impact on Asian stock markets. The appreciation of the yen will have a particularly serious impact on Japanese exporters, as it will erode the value of their overseas earnings
Kiyoshi Ishigane, Chief Fund Manager of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management in Tokyo, said, "I didn't expect the stock market to fall so much. This may be because people are worried that the US economy will collapse significantly, which is the most unpleasant pattern for the Japanese stock market