On April 18th local time, the three major US stock indexes closed with mixed gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.06%, the Nasdaq fell 0.52%, and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.22%.
Most popular technology stocks fell. Microsoft and Amazon fell more than 1%, while Meta rose more than 1%. The solar energy, semiconductor, oil and gas refining sectors saw the largest decline, with Ates Solar falling nearly 4%, Marathon crude oil falling more than 3%, and Kolei, Asma, and First Solar falling more than 2%. Social media, airlines, and WSB concept stocks rose, with Snap up over 6%, United Airlines up over 5%, JetBlue Airlines up over 4%, and Carvana up over 2%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks generally rose, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rising 0.99%. Weibo rose more than 3%, Tencent Music, NetEase, and NIO rose more than 2%, Ideal Automobile, Man Bang, Baidu, and JD.com rose more than 1%, while Futu Holdings, iQiyi, Bilibili, Pinduoduo, and Alibaba slightly rose. Xiaopeng Motors fell more than 3%, while Vipshop fell more than 1%.
The settlement price of WTI crude oil futures increased by 0.05% to $82.73 per barrel, while the settlement price of Brent crude oil futures decreased by 0.21% to $87.11 per barrel.
Tesla's market value evaporated by over 568 billion yuan in 5 days
Tesla closed at $149.93, down 3.55%, reaching a new closing low since January 2023. The latest market value is 477.5 billion US dollars, and its market value evaporated overnight by 17.6 billion US dollars (approximately 127.4 billion yuan).
It is worth noting that Tesla's stock price has fallen for five consecutive trading days, with a cumulative decline of 15%, and its market value has evaporated by a total of 78.6 billion US dollars (approximately 568.96 billion yuan).
According to Xinhua News Agency, US media reported on the 15th that Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated in an internal email to employees that the company will lay off more than 10% of its global employees to cut costs and improve productivity. According to Tesla's global employee count, the layoffs have affected over 14000 employees.
According to Beijing Business Daily, a person close to Tesla told reporters that Tesla employees have indeed received an internal email announcing a 10% global layoff.
Musk stated in an email that Tesla's "rapid growth" has led to "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas.". "It is extremely important to prepare for the company's next stage of growth by examining all aspects of the company to reduce costs and improve productivity."
Musk said that after thorough review, a difficult decision was made to reduce the global workforce by more than 10%. He stated that this will keep the company streamlined, innovative, and enter the next growth cycle.
When talking about Tesla's future, Musk stated that Tesla is researching some of the most revolutionary technologies in the fields of automobiles, energy, and artificial intelligence.
According to data released by Tesla, the company produced over 433000 vehicles and delivered approximately 387000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2024, which was lower than market expectations and the first year-on-year decline in recent years.
Among them, the delivery volume of Model 3/Y is 369783 units, a year-on-year decrease of 10%, and an estimated 426940 units. Tesla explained that part of the reason for the decline in sales was due to the early stages of production of the upgraded Model 3 at the Fremont factory, as well as geopolitical factors causing transportation disruptions and factory shutdowns.
According to the Shanghai Securities News, Robert W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo recently stated that Tesla's second quarter sales may decline again after an unexpected decline in sales in the first quarter of 2024.
Federal Reserve officials are releasing eagles again
Partial data released on April 18th showed that the US economy was robust: the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index in April far exceeded expectations and rose to a two-year high, with the number of first-time jobless claims falling instead of rising last week. At the same time, Federal Reserve officials are once again "hawking": On Wednesday evening, Federal Reserve Director Bauman stated that progress in reducing inflation is slow and may even come to a halt.
Williams, the "three in command" of the Federal Reserve and Chairman of the New York Fed, stated that he still does not feel the urgency of interest rate cuts. He also mentioned that if economic data proves it necessary, then a rate hike is possible. During the speech, the 2-year US Treasury yield, which is most closely related to the Federal Reserve's interest rate expectations, rapidly rose.
Federal Reserve official Kashkali said that I was surprised by the resilience of the US housing market; Once inflation continues to fall towards 2%, we can lower interest rates; We need to be patient and wait until we are confident that inflation will decrease; It may take until 2025 to lower interest rates; As political heat rises, the Federal Reserve is more focused on its own mission.
After Williams' speech, the increase in US Treasury yields widened, with the interest rate sensitive two-year Treasury yield testing 5.0%, approaching the five month high set on April 16 when it broke through this threshold.