Overnight US stocks | The Dow hit another record high SpaceX (SPCX.US) shares plummeted more than 13% as soon as the ban was lifted

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Wednesday, the three major indices had mixed ups and downs, and the Dow reached another record high. The S&P 500 index ended the previous four consecutive trading days of gains.

[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow closed up 263.24 points, or 0.49%, to 54349.12 points; the NASDAQ fell 221.55 points, or 0.83%, to 26363.44 points; the S&P 500 index fell 12.97 points, or 0.17%, to 7723.55 points. Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose 3.43%, Micron Technology (MU.US) rose 0.06%, American Ultra Micro (AMD.US) fell 7.04%, and SpaceX (SPCX.US) fell 13.61%. Insider holdings will lift sales restrictions on August 6 (Thursday), involving a market capitalization of about US$116 billion.

[European stocks] The German DAX30 index fell 83.97 points, or 0.32%, to 26139.29 points; the British FTSE 100 index rose 10.68 points, or 0.10%, to 10890.06 points; the French CAC40 index rose 2.67 points, or 0.03%, to 8669.30 points; the European Stoxx 50 index fell 7.45 points, or 0.11%, to 6479.25 points; Spain's IBEX35 index rose 31.20 points, or 0.16%, to report 20054.80 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index fell 99.50 points, or 0.19%, to 53441.00 points.

[Asian Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 Index rose 3.66%, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.76%.

[US Dollar Index] The US dollar index fell on the 5th. The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against the six major currencies, fell 0.18% on the same day and closed at 99.676 at the end of the foreign exchange market. As of the end of the exchange market in New York, 1 euro was worth $1.1553, up from $1.1533 on the previous trading day; 1 pound was worth $1.3469, up from $1.3452 on the previous trading day. 1 US dollar was worth 157.67 yen, up from 157.66 yen on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 0.8069 Swiss franc, lower than 0.8092 Swiss franc on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 1.4008 Canadian dollars, lower than 1.4066 Canadian dollars on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 9.4832 SEK, lower than 9.5192 on the previous trading day. The Bank of America said that after coordinated monetary intervention, the yen is now expected to appreciate by about 6% by the end of the year. Analysts at the bank, including Shusuke Yamada, wrote on Wednesday: USD/JPY is expected to fall from about 158 to 149 from the current level, supported by joint actions of the US and Japanese governments and expectations that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates in the coming months. The bank had previously anticipated an exchange rate of 152 between the US and Japan at the end of the year. They wrote, “The intervention raised the threshold for successfully defending the yen, which may require macroeconomic policy follow-up, specifically speeding up interest rate hikes. Acting in September rather than October will provide an opportunity for the Bank of Japan to show its determination to stay ahead of the curve in dealing with the upward risk of inflation.”

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin once surpassed $65,000. As of press time, it rose 0.67% to $64,702.79; Ethereum rose more than 1.7% to $1909.

[Crude oil] Oil prices fell for the third consecutive trading day because there are signs that the US and Iran are close to an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which may restore the supply of millions of barrels of crude oil per day interrupted by months of conflict. The WTI settlement price for September delivery was $75.22 per barrel. The settlement price of Brent for October delivery was $79.45 per barrel.

[Precious Metals] Spot gold surged, breaking through the 4,200 US dollar mark and closing at 4246.17 US dollars; spot silver broke through 60 US dollars to 62.047 US dollars.

[Macro News]

Iran says it is close to reaching an agreement with Oman that the two existing waterways in the strait will be closed. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Garibabadi said on the 5th that the agreement between Iran and Oman on commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz is nearing finalization. At that time, the northern waterway controlled by Iran and the southern waterway close to the Oman side will all be closed. According to a report by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency on the 5th, Garibabadi said in an interview that a new traffic model different from the past 60 years will be established in the Strait of Hormuz. Currently, the southern waterway through Oman's territorial waters and the northern waterway located within Iran's territorial waters will all be closed. According to the newly established waterway, commercial ships enter the Strait of Hormuz and part of their voyage out of the strait pass through Iran's territorial waters. However, the new waterway is also a temporary waterway and is expected to be used for 2 to 4 months. Garibabadi denied claims that Iran and the US are currently in negotiations, but said that Iran has received information from the US side, and that the US side said it is ready to resume fulfilling the commitments made in the memorandum of understanding signed earlier.

Federal Reserve Governor Cook: If inflation does not slow down, I will be prepared to support interest rate hikes. Federal Reserve Governor Cook reiterated her position: if inflation does not slow down, she is ready to raise interest rates, and warned that policymakers may not have room to wait for inflation to return to the 2% target. Although Cook supported the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged at the July policy meeting, she warned that the longer inflation is above the Federal Reserve's target, the more difficult it will be to contain it. Speaking at an event in Alaska, Cook said, “If I don't see signs that inflation continues to fall any time soon, I'm ready to act. With inflation above target for five consecutive years, the risk that inflation is ingrained in price and wage setting behavior is rising, which will lead to continued inflation that is more difficult for us to deal with.” However, Cook said that the weakening impact of tariffs, the possibility of falling oil prices, and the easing of pressure related to the AI boom may provide a buffer for inflation, so there is no need to tighten policies. She said that her priority remains to bring inflation back to the target level of the Federal Reserve.

US service sector activity continues to expand steadily, and demand resilience supports growth. The US service sector maintained a steady expansion trend in July due to new orders and a recovery in commercial activity. According to data released on Wednesday, the ISM service index rose 0.1 points to 54.1 in July. The index above 50 indicates that the industry is expanding. The growth rate of new orders accelerated, and indicators measuring commercial activity rose to a five-month high, indicating that consumer demand is still resilient. However, the cost of services and materials continues to rise, putting pressure on enterprises. The ISM investment cost index rose sharply to 70.3 in July due to the breakdown of the provisional agreement between the US and Iran, driving up crude oil and gasoline prices. In a situation where continuing high costs are squeezing corporate profits and affecting consumer spending, some companies may choose to delay recruitment. The agency's employment indicators show the most obvious contraction in the number of people employed in enterprises since March.

[Individual Stock News]

SanDisk's performance guide fell 8% after a poor market. SanDisk (SNDK.US) had strong Q4 results in FY2026, and both revenue and profit exceeded market consensus. Revenue surged 372% year over year and 51% month over month. Options due in the week of August 7 showed that the exercise price of $1,370 held the highest volume of open positions among both bullish and bearish options. Intense options trading after the earnings report was announced may be at least part of the reason for the weak stock price performance. The revenue forecast for the next quarter (US$10.3 billion to US$10.8 billion) falls short of expectations and may also be one of the reasons for the lower share price after the market. SanDisk management said, “Revenue exceeded expectations due to our shift to a portfolio of high-value customers (437% increase in data center business) and price increases.” SanDisk shares fell 8% after the market.

Meta launches Muse Code, the first programming agent that works with Muse Spark 1.2. Meta Platforms (META.US) launched its first programming agent, Muse Code, to challenge Anthropic and OpenAI. Muse Code is the latest major release since Alexandr Wang, head of artificial intelligence at Meta, took office. He heads the Meta Super Intelligence Laboratory (MSL) and is responsible for basic model development. Muse Code is designed to make it easier for users to develop applications within a single user interface while managing AI-driven agents. Currently available as a beta or preview, this programming agent works with Meta's newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.2. Developers can use Muse Code through a pay-as-you-go model, which uses API pricing similar to Muse Spark 1.1, with $1.25 per million tokens input and $4.25 per million tokens output.

More than half of Microsoft's AI revenue comes from OpenAI, showing that it is still highly dependent on partners. According to the latest information disclosed by Microsoft (MSFT.US), most of its artificial intelligence revenue comes from OpenAI. Microsoft said in a document submitted last week that in the fiscal year ending June, Microsoft received 24.1 billion US dollars in sales from OpenAI. Microsoft CEO Nadella said earlier that by the end of the March quarter, the company's AI business revenue for the whole year is expected to reach 37 billion US dollars. This disclosure shows that in the most recent fiscal year, OpenAI contributed more than half of Microsoft's actual AI sales, and probably accounted for about 70%. Under the agreement between the two companies, OpenAI pays Microsoft for computing power, AI model development related costs, and part of the revenue share.

Google has made major adjustments to the AI leadership, and AI leader Hassabis stepped down from the main management position. Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.US) announced a major leadership change in its artificial intelligence division on Wednesday. AI leader Demis Hassabis has stepped down from key management positions, and many Gemini model leaders, including senior engineer Jeff Dean, have also left their posts one after another. This personnel change comes at a critical moment for Google DeepMind: although the flagship version of its latest Gemini model was originally planned to be released in June, it has raised concerns among investors and the industry that Google is lagging behind its rivals Anthropic and OpenAI. Both companies have each robbed Google's AI star employee this summer. Hassabis will assume the position of Chief Scientist newly established by Alphabet and be transferred from CEO of Google DeepMind as Chairman of the Board. Corey Cavuku Oglu, the business unit's chief technology officer, will take over the day-to-day management. He will serve as senior vice president of the business unit while continuing to serve as Alphabet's Chief Artificial Intelligence Architect.

[Major Bank Ratings]

Deutsche Bank: Lowers SpaceX (SPCX.US) price target from $255 to $235