July 24 Market Analysis

Poor earnings reports from tech giants triggered a market panic sell-off, leading to a significant decline in US stocks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both recorded their biggest one-day declines in a year and a half, falling 2.3% and 3.6%, respectively. This decline caused the S&P 500 to fall below the 50-day EMA for the first time since May, ending the longest record of a single-day decline of more than 2% since 2007. The Dow also fell 500 points, and the small-cap stock index fell 2.1%. The sharp decline in Tesla, Google, and chip stocks further increased downward pressure on the market.

Furthermore, former Federal Reserve officials called for immediate interest rate cuts to cope with the economic slowdown. At the same time, the Bank of Canada announced a 25 basis point cut in interest rates and hinted that interest rates may be cut further in the future. This policy shift reflects increased pressure to ease monetary policies around the world.

Among other market trends, the US Markit manufacturing PMI hit a seven-month low, while the service sector PMI reached a 28-month high, indicating increased differentiation between manufacturing and service industries. Eurozone economic data also showed that manufacturing was weak. In particular, Germany's composite PMI unexpectedly contracted, increasing the risk of a recession.

In the Asian market, despite the general decline in global stock markets, the Shanghai Index returned above 2,900 points. Electricity stocks rose against the market, and Changjiang Electric Power's stock price reached a new high. This shows that against the backdrop of increased global market volatility, some Asian markets have shown some resilience.