U.S. stocks continued to fall in early trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 600 points. The market focused on the Federal Reserve meeting and earnings report
On the evening of July 29th, Beijing time, U.S. stocks continued to fall in early trading on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 600 points. U.S. Treasury yields moved higher. The market is awaiting the Federal Reserve's closely watched interest rate decision. Tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher. Many companies have released financial reports one after another. The Dow fell 621.42 points, or 1.18%, to 52125.90 points; the Nasdaq fell 117.23 points, or 0.47%, to 24759.69 points; the S&P 500 fell 29.15 points, or 0.39%, to 7399.63 points. U.S. Treasury yields were broadly higher Wednesday. The market is waiting for the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and Chairman Kevin Warsh's press conference. At the same time, a sharp jump in international oil prices has also intensified the volatility of the bond market. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, a key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing costs, rose 2 basis points to 4.624%; the 2-year U.S. bond yield, which is more sensitive to short-term interest rate policies, rose 3 basis points to 4.308%; the long-term 30-year U.S. bond yield was basically unchanged at 5.10%. (Note: Bond yields move inversely with prices.) Investors are looking forward to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon and the subsequent press conference held by Chairman Kevin Warsh. According to CME's FedWatch tool, federal funds rate futures traders believe that the probability that the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged at the current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% is close to 70%, and the probability of raising interest rates by 25 basis points is about 30%. However, according to data from the CME Group's FedWatch tool, the market has priced in a 76% chance of a rate hike in September. Although inflation data has cooled recently, rising energy prices and renewed tensions between the United States and Iran have made the decision-making environment facing Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh more complex. The Federal Reserve's inflation rate has continued to be above the 2% target level since 2021. However, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of inflation, unexpectedly fell in June, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3.5%. But in the weeks since, oil prices have soared again, driven by escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Chief U.S. economist Michael Gapon said that slowing job growth and weaker inflation data in June made the case for raising interest rates in July less than in June. Dallas Fed President Lori Logan and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack both publicly support raising interest rates to push inflation back to target. Krishna Guha, vice chairman of Evercore ISI, pointed out: "It would be strange to raise interest rates immediately after the June inflation data improved, but given that Warsh refused to clarify his strategic framework, we cannot set the probability of a rate hike too low." Since taking over as Fed chairman in May, Warsh has tended to reduce forward guidance, advocating that policy should depend entirely on subsequent data. Analysts believe that if interest rates are kept unchanged this time, the September meeting will be an important policy window, when the Federal Reserve will receive more inflation and employment data. Energy prices surged again on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hit Iran "hard" in response to an attack. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 6.9% to $89.88 a barrel. The U.S. Central Command posted on social media that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "launched multiple ballistic missiles in an attempt to launch a surprise attack on U.S. troops in the Middle East." The U.S. Central Command stated that the missile had been successfully intercepted. "We continue to believe markets are overly focused on inflation risks and not enough on the economic consequences of further tightening," said Julia Herman, global market strategist at New York Life Investments. "A tougher communications stance may test more of current narrow market leadership than the impact on the broader market." The semiconductor sector continues to be under pressure, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) down slightly. Chip stocks have fallen for four consecutive sessions, down nearly 7% so far this week, as anxiety grows over the returns on massive artificial intelligence spending and worries about growing competitive pressure from China. Shares fell more than 2% after the consumer products company's latest quarterly revenue missed expectations. Shares jumped 4.9% after the automaker beat profit expectations and raised its 2026 outlook. But Shares were down about 1% premarket after the payments giant issued disappointing guidance.
Investors have just endured another mixed trading session. Tuesday, The index surged by more than 500 points, marking the third consecutive day of gains for the blue-chip index, with the recent fall in oil prices providing upward momentum. But The Composite Index ended lower for the fifth consecutive trading day, affected by the continued downturn in chip stocks.
Investors have just endured another mixed trading session. Tuesday, The index surged by more than 500 points, marking the third consecutive day of gains for the blue-chip index, with the recent fall in oil prices providing upward momentum. But The Composite Index ended lower for the fifth consecutive trading day, affected by the continued downturn in chip stocks.