On Monday Eastern Time, the three major US stock indexes collectively closed lower. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.65%, the Nasdaq fell 1.79%, and the S&P 500 index fell 1.20%. Large tech stocks generally fell, with Tesla falling more than 5%. According to reports, Tesla plans to lay off more than 10% of its global employees; Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Netflix fell more than 2%, Microsoft and Google fell nearly 2%, and Amazon fell more than 1%.
Bank stocks fluctuated, with Goldman Sachs up more than 2% and its first quarter revenue of $14.21 billion, higher than market expectations. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase followed suit; Citigroup, State Street, and UBS Group fell more than 1%.
Most popular Chinese concept stocks fell, with NIO falling more than 5%, Xiaopeng Automobile falling more than 3%, Ideal Automobile falling more than 2%, and Bilibili, Baidu, Tencent Music, and Pinduoduo falling more than 1%.
In terms of the commodity market, international precious metals continued to rise, with spot gold rising by over 1.5% on the day.
Global News

The "commodity bull" raises new concerns: Is the US interest rate cut even more distant?
Recently, in addition to the surge in technology stocks driven by artificial intelligence (AI), "bulk bulls" have become a new hot topic. However, this has also made the efforts of central banks in various countries to combat inflation more complex, and may make the prospect of significant interest rate cuts in the short term even more uncertain. Even before Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend raised concerns about broader regional wars and oil supply disruptions, crude oil prices had already risen significantly this year. This progress, combined with the resurgence of precious metals and other raw material markets, has pushed the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index to a nearly 7-month high.
Iran's Attack on Israel and Iran's Strong Statement on International Community's Promotion of Restraint
Iranian President Lehi stated on the 14th that Iran's military actions are a response to Israel's "aggressive actions", and any actions that harm Iran's national interests will elicit a stronger response. Israeli wartime cabinet member Ganz stated on the same day that Israel will retaliate against Iran at an "appropriate time". The United Nations and other parties call on all parties involved to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of tension.
Behind the skyrocketing gold price: Are there fewer and fewer people taking the issuance of massive US bonds?
Recently, the sharp rise in international gold prices has almost attracted the attention of investors around the world. Behind the frenzied gold market buying, another safe haven asset, US treasury bond, presented a completely different depression scene. A series of weak auction performances of US treasury bond bonds have aroused investors' concern that the market will be unable to absorb a large number of issued treasury bond. In the past week, after the auction demand of 10-year treasury bond bonds with a scale of US $39 billion was weak, the bond market selling tide caused by the higher than expected CPI in March of the United States intensified. Investors are also less interested in the auction of three-year and 30-year US bonds.
The US dollar has achieved its largest weekly increase in a year and a half, and emerging markets are once again launching a "currency defense war"
The Federal Reserve's expectation of interest rate cuts has been repeatedly lowered, coupled with the escalating situation in the Middle East leading to a surge in safe haven demand, collectively driving the US dollar to its largest weekly increase in a year and a half last week. Emerging market economies, especially some Asian emerging market economies, have to once again engage in a "currency defense war". Specific data shows that the US dollar index rose over 1.4% last week, recording its largest weekly increase since September 2022.
Federal Reserve officials interpret the March CPI explosion: placing greater emphasis on PCE data
Last Friday (April 12th) local time, Chicago Fed Chairman Goolsby stated that although the continued rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is worrying, he is more concerned about the Fed's preferred inflation indicator, the Personal Consumer Expenditure Price Index (PCE). Although CPI is a more familiar inflation indicator for the public, the Federal Reserve prefers PCE data, and decision-makers' so-called 2% inflation target is based on the core PCE.
Company News
After a week of turbulence, Wall Street will change its tone: the "Big Seven" of the US stock market will continue to outperform the market
Keith Lerner, Co Chief Investment Officer of Truist, stated that many large growth stocks have abundant cash and low debt levels, resulting in a low dependence on financing needs, which makes them less susceptible to interest rate fluctuations. According to S&P Global Statistics, taking the "Magnificent 7" as an example, namely Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla, the total free cash flow of the "Big 7" increased by 34% year-on-year in 2023, reaching an astonishing $309.2 billion, with a strength equivalent to the market value of an AMD.
Apple's "number one" position gives way! IDC: iPhone shipments in the first quarter are less than Samsung's
The global smartphone industry is recovering, but Apple is regressing. A report from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that compared to the same period in 2023, Apple's global iPhone shipments in the first three months of 2024 decreased by 9.6%. One of the reasons for the decline in Apple's shipment volume in the first quarter is that it has hit a wall in the Chinese market. Faced with competition from competitors such as Huawei, iPhone sales in China have been greatly affected.
AI chip breakthrough: Intel Gaudi3 hard core NVIDIA grabs market share
In 2024, AI's "chip business" will usher in a new milestone. Recently, Intel released the new generation AI accelerator Gaudi 3. Intel claims that the new Gaudi 3 chip has an average improvement of 50% in inference ability and 40% in energy efficiency compared to the Nvidia H100 chip, and runs artificial intelligence models 1.5 times faster than the H100. According to the Intel Gaudi 3 white paper, this product will be roughly equivalent to Nvidia's latest H200 and may even perform better in certain areas.
Musk releases a letter to all employees: Tesla will lay off 10% of its workforce globally
According to Phoenix Technology, Musk sent a full staff email this afternoon stating that Tesla will cut 10% of its workforce globally. Earlier, foreign media reported that some employees expressed that the layoff rate could reach up to 20%. But according to verification, Tesla's official full staff letter was released around 3pm Beijing time on April 15th, confirming a layoff rate of 10%.
The world's first airworthiness "three major licenses"! What does it feel like to sit on a low altitude aircraft of 239 million units?
On April 13th, at the 4th China International Consumer Products Expo, reporters experienced an aircraft, which is the Yihang Intelligent EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft. This aircraft is priced at 2.39 million yuan, and the feeling of sitting in the cockpit is the same as in an unmanned car. It is pure electric, without a joystick or dashboard, only two minimalist screens, and a large windshield, providing a very broad view. It is a vertical takeoff and landing, capable of flying up to 120 meters, with a maximum level flight speed of 90 km/h.