EUR/USD
1.13849
-0.009%
Gold
4023.32
-0.129%
Oil
81.159
3.612%
USD/JPY
163.857
-0.002%
GBP/USD
1.32846
-0.026%
GBP/JPY
217.681
-0.014%
Real-time News
Futures News, July 29th - According to foreign media reports, copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell on Tuesday, influenced by a stronger dollar and rising market expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. A rate hike could dampen demand for industrial metals. Brokerage firm Sucden Financial stated that overall, base metals will find support during declines as the supply side remains favorable. However, a stronger dollar and high US Treasury yields mean that a rebound may require a stronger macroeconomic environment, especially ahead of the Fed decision and key US data releases later this week. Market participants are awaiting the outcome of the Feds interest rate decision, particularly given the decline in oil prices following the easing of tensions between the US and Iran. The FedWatch Tool shows traders expect a 62% probability that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged this week, and a 38% probability of at least a 25 basis point rate hike, up from 16% a week ago. Rising interest rates could dampen economic activity, thereby suppressing copper demand.1. The WTI crude oil futures contract closed down 4.21% at $79.13 per barrel; the Brent crude oil futures contract fell 3.33% to $83.01 per barrel. 2. International precious metals futures generally closed lower. COMEX gold futures fell 1.18% to $4028.80 per ounce, and COMEX silver futures fell 2.35% to $57.34 per ounce. The current rising expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, coupled with high interest rate expectations suppressing precious metals, and the lack of substantial escalation in the US-Iran geopolitical situation, have led to a wait-and-see attitude in the market, all contributing to this price weakness. 3. London base metals all fell. LME lead fell 0.29% to $1885.5/ton, LME aluminum fell 0.60% to $3148.5/ton, LME copper fell 0.64% to $13644.5/ton, LME zinc fell 1.22% to $3567.5/ton, LME nickel fell 1.56% to $16945.0/ton, and LME tin fell 1.72% to $53405.0/ton. 4. The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.03% to 52747.32 points, the S&P 500 rose 0.21% to 7428.78 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.22% to 24876.91 points. IBM rose more than 5%, leading the Dow Jones gains. The Wind US Tech Big Seven Index rose 0.69%, with Google up over 2% and Microsoft up over 1%. SpaceX rose over 2%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 1.08%, with Autohome up over 7% and LuKong up over 6%. The memory sector plummeted, with SanDisk down over 14%, SK Hynix down nearly 9%, and Micron Technology and AMD both down over 8%. 5. European stock indices all closed higher: the German DAX rose 0.41% to 25464.01 points; the French CAC40 rose 0.63% to 8458.78 points; and the UK FTSE 100 rose 0.83% to 10871.02 points. A temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran led to a significant drop in international oil prices, easing energy cost pressures and boosting market sentiment. 6. Major Asia-Pacific stock indices closed lower. South Koreas KOSPI index closed down 10.84% at 6023.66 points, its biggest single-day drop since March 4, having briefly fallen below the 6000-point mark during the session. It has now fallen nearly 29% since July. Japans Nikkei 225 index closed down 3.95% at 62364.92 points. Indias SENSEX 30 index fell 0.09% to 76765.92 points.July 29 - According to Iranian reports, a senior Iranian military official responded strongly to the latest remarks by the Saudi Defense Minister, categorically denying Irans involvement in launching projectiles at targets within Saudi territory. The official warned that blaming Iran for any actions in the region targeting US interests is a serious strategic miscalculation and exposes a lack of understanding of the complex regional situation.On July 29th, SK Hynix (SKHY.O) released its financial report on Wednesday, showing a 557% surge in operating profit to 60.5 trillion won (approximately US$41.62 billion) in the second quarter, a record high, driven by strong demand for advanced memory chips fueled by increased investment in AI data centers by tech giants. This figure was compared to 9.2 trillion won in the same period last year. However, this figure fell short of market expectations of 64 trillion won, mainly because its high-end memory chips (HBM) accounted for a higher proportion of its product mix compared to competitors, thus failing to fully benefit from the current strong price increase cycle in conventional memory chips. This exacerbates concerns that the AI boom driving the semiconductor industry may be slowing down. SK Hynixs revenue also missed expectations, with the report showing second-quarter revenue of 79 trillion won, compared to market expectations of 84 trillion won. Following a 9% drop in its earnings report, SK Hynix shares fell another 9% in after-hours trading after closing down 9% on Tuesday. SanDisk (SNDK.O) and Micron Technology (MU.O) also fell by more than 4%, wiping out the boost from Seagate Technologys (STX.O) earnings report.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a grounding order for all American Airlines Group (AAL.O) flights across the United States due to an information technology problem.
