International Morning News, July 24: Brent oil returns to $100 after two months, the European Central Bank warns that inflation will remain high
[Market Review] On July 24, Beijing time, South Korea's KOSPI index opened down 1.4% to 7,000.78 points; the Nikkei 225 index opened 1.3% lower to 65,584.25 points. On July 23, local time, all three major U.S. stock indexes closed down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.97% to 51,711.65 points, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.21% to 7,408.3 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.15% to 25,137.69 points.
On July 24, Beijing time, South Korea's KOSPI index opened down 1.4% to 7,000.78 points; the Nikkei 225 index opened 1.3% lower to 65,584.25 points. On July 23, local time, all three major U.S. stock indexes closed down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.97% to 51,711.65 points, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.21% to 7,408.3 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.15% to 25,137.69 points. On the market, large technology stocks fell collectively, with Tesla closing down 14.52%, and Google Class A and C shares falling 7.13% and 6.89% respectively. On July 23, local time, the three major European stock indexes closed down across the board. The German DAX index fell 1.56% to 24763.12 points; the French CAC40 index fell 1.64% to 8299.09 points; the British FTSE 100 index fell 0.73% to 10639.17 points. International oil prices rose sharply on the 23rd. As of the close of the day, the price of light crude oil futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $5.36 to close at $92.19 per barrel, an increase of 6.17%; the price of London Brent crude oil futures for September delivery rose by $6.62 to close at $100.69 per barrel, an increase of 7.04%. This is the second time since May that Brent crude oil futures have exceeded the $100 per barrel mark. Intel's second-quarter revenue was US$16.13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25%; market estimates were US$14.43 billion. Data center and artificial intelligence (AI) revenue in the second quarter was US$6.26 billion, compared with market expectations of US$5.54 billion. The company expects third-quarter revenue of US$15.8 billion to US$16.8 billion, while analysts expected US$15.06 billion. During the after-hours trading period of US stocks on the 23rd, Intel rose more than 3%. As of June 30, Google’s parent company Alphabet’s publicly traded equity securities included $80 billion in SpaceX shares, and the right to sell these shares is subject to short-term restrictions. The conversion rules for SK hynix’s domestic common stocks and U.S. stock ADRs have recently been officially implemented. The Korea Securities Depository (KSD) said that SK Hynix has set a limit on the number of Korean-listed shares that can be converted into ADRs at 2.5% of the total number of issued shares. Regulatory documents show that SK Hynix ADRs implement a fixed exchange ratio with local stocks, with each U.S. stock ADR corresponding to 0.1 Korean ordinary shares. At the same time, existing ADR holders enjoy cancellation rights and can withdraw corresponding shares of Korean basic ordinary shares by canceling the American depositary receipts in their hands. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Nasdaq exchange to adjust its rules and accelerate the delisting of micro-cap stocks. According to the new regulations, if the market value of listed securities is less than US$5 million for 30 consecutive trading days, trading will be suspended and delisting procedures will be initiated. Currently, there are nearly 180 listed companies on Nasdaq with a total market value of less than US$5 million. According to Xinhua News Agency, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued an announcement on the 23rd, announcing that in accordance with Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, it will impose additional tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on dozens of countries and regions in the name of so-called "forced labor" to replace the global import tariffs that are about to expire. The new tariffs will take effect on the 24th Eastern Time. According to Xinhua News Agency, U.S. President Trump said on the 23rd that he was "seriously considering" restarting large-scale combat operations against Iran. Trump said in an interview with the U.S. Axios news website that day: "I am considering launching a large-scale strike of unprecedented scale. I am close to making a decision. We are fully prepared for this." He said that Iran "wants to negotiate" but is not yet ready to reach an agreement. "The lessons they have received are not deep enough." According to Xinhua News Agency, European Central Bank President Lagarde said on the 23rd that since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, the rise in energy prices and its impact on the prices of goods and services are likely to cause the euro zone inflation rate to continue to be higher than the target level until the first half of 2027. The European Central Bank held a monetary policy meeting that day and decided to keep the three key interest rates in the euro area, the euro area deposit mechanism interest rate, the main refinancing rate and the marginal lending rate unchanged at 2.25%, 2.40% and 2.65% respectively.