Cailian Press, July 2nd (Editor: Xia Junxiong)
On Tuesday Eastern Time, the three major stock indexes showed divergent trends. Investors pulled out of technology stocks, leading to a more than 0.8% drop in the Nasdaq and a slight decline in the S&P 500, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.91%.
(Minute chart of the three major indexes, source: TradingView)
By the close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen by 0.91%, reaching 44,494.94 points; the S&P 500 fell by 0.11%, at 6,198.01 points; the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.82%, at 20,202.89 points.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended the first half of the year with new historical closing highs. On the first trading day of the second half, traders sold off large tech stocks such as Nvidia and Microsoft, shifting their focus to the healthcare sector. Amgen and UnitedHealth Group surged over 4%, Merck rose more than 3%, and Johnson & Johnson increased by about 2%, driving the overall Dow higher.
“Over the past two months, the market has been in a typical ‘risk appetite up’ pattern, favoring stocks driven by strong structural growth, such as artificial intelligence and technology,” said Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist at Ameriprise. “But I believe this type of trade has exhausted its momentum.”
Tesla’s stock price fell by more than 5%, following a dispute between CEO Elon Musk and President Trump over the tax expenditure bill.
On Tuesday, Trump stated that the “Government Efficiency Department” (DOGE) should review government contracts and subsidies for companies under Musk’s management. He even mentioned considering expelling Musk from the country.
As the tariff policy deferral period set to expire on July 9th approaches, major trading partners like Japan and the EU are negotiating with the US.
Trump stated that he had not considered extending the July 9 deadline for negotiations on trade agreements with various countries, and expressed doubts about whether Japan could reach an agreement.
Major tech stocks mostly closed lower, with Apple up 1.29%, Microsoft down 1.08%, Nvidia down 2.97%, Google down 0.22%, Amazon up 0.49%, Meta down 2.56%, Tesla down 5.34%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks mostly rose, with the Nasdaq China Gold Dragon Index up 0.20%, Alibaba up 0.49%, JD.com up 0.18%, Pinduoduo up 0.79%, NIO up 2.33%, XPeng Motors up 2.13%, Li Auto down 1.03%, Bilibili down 0.51%, Baidu up 0.33%, NetEase up 0.15%, Tencent Music down 1.28%.
【Several Wall Street banks to raise dividends】
After passing the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test, several Wall Street banks will raise their dividends. JPMorgan Chase plans to increase its quarterly dividend from $1.40 per share to $1.50 per share. JPMorgan Chase has approved a new $50 billion share repurchase program. Morgan Stanley plans to increase its quarterly dividend from $92.5 cents per share to $1 per share. Wells Fargo plans to increase its dividend by 12.5% to $45 per share.
【Ford Motor Company’s U.S. market sales in the second quarter were 612,095 units, up 14.2% year-on-year】
Ford Motor Company announced data showing that its sales in the United States in the second quarter amounted to 612,095 units, up 14.2% year-on-year, with a market share estimated at 14.3%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the first quarter.
【AstraZeneca may exit London stock market】
Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, was recently exposed to discussions privately about withdrawing the company from the UK.
Soriot expressed in a private meeting the desire to relocate Astrazeneca’s listing to the United States, and mentioned the possibility of relocating the company’s registered office from the UK.
Following the announcement, Astrazeneca’s US stock ADRs rose by more than 2%, indicating support for this proposal among investors.
【Boeing Appoints Steve Parker as CEO of Defense, Space & Security Business】
On July 1st, Boeing announced the appointment of Steve Parker as President and CEO of its Defense, Space & Security business, effective immediately. Since September 2024, Parker has been acting as the temporary leader of Boeing’s defense and space & security business division.