Cailian Press, July 17th (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng)
Last night and this morning, amidst the tumultuous “fire-breathing” drama of sacking Powell, the U.S. stock market experienced a brief fluctuation before recovering its upward trend, with the three major indices ultimately closing slightly higher.
By the close of trading, the S&P 500 index rose by 0.32%, to 6263.7 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 0.25%, to 20730.49 points; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.53%, to 44254.78 points.
(Chart of the S&P 500 Index, source: TradingView)
According to comprehensive media reports and Trump’s verbal statements, the incident began on Tuesday evening local time. To push for the cryptocurrency bill to pass, Trump hosted a group of Republican conservative lawmakers at the White House, where they somehow touched upon the topic of “firing Powell.” Some of the attendees posted on social media that night, stating, “We got the news, Powell is about to be fired.”
By Wednesday morning, as more media confirmed the news, the financial markets started to plummet. Subsequently, Trump explained that he had no intention of firing Powell, but was merely discussing the matter conceptually with the lawmakers.
He also hinted that although it was “extremely unlikely” that Powell would be fired voluntarily, there could not be ruled out the possibility that the Federal Reserve Chairman might be held accountable due to overspending on renovations.
At the White House, Trump stated, “We have no plans to take any action… I do not rule out any possibilities, but I believe this is extremely unlikely unless he (Powell) must resign due to fraud.”
Faced with such an unexplained market turmoil, Wall Street quickly stepped up support for Powell.
Following the “Wall Street King” and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s emphasis on Tuesday that “Playing with the Fed could have adverse consequences,”
Bank of America CEO Moynihan, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser also collectively spoke on Wednesday, asserting the need to avoid interference from the White House with the Fed.
It should be noted that the market’s minor fluctuations on Wednesday itself reflected the market’s doubts about Trump’s decision to fire Powell. If this were to happen, market volatility would not be limited to just these slight movements.
George Saravelos, head of foreign exchange research at Deutsche Bank, recently predicted that if Trump forcefully removes Powell, there could be at least a 3%-4% drop in trade-weighted dollars within 24 hours, and the U.S. Treasury market might see a massive sell-off of 30-40 basis points.
Tech giants across the United States performed modestly on Wednesday. Apple rose by 0.5%, Microsoft fell by 0.04%, Amazon dropped by 1.4%,
Nvidia surged by 0.39% to hit a new closing high,
Google-A soared by 0.53%,
Tesla’s “Model Y” version led to a 3.5% increase,
Meta fell by 1.05%, and Micron Semiconductor rose by 2.87%.
The Chinese concept stocks that had surged yesterday saw adjustments, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling by 1.41% on Wednesday.
By the close, Alibaba fell by 1.06%, JD.com by 1.25%, Baidu by 7.48%, Pinduoduo by 0.07%, Bilibili by 1.25%, NIO by 3.29%, NetEase by 0.39%, Futian Holdings by 1.6%, TSMC by 0.26%, Li Auto by 1.69%, and EHang Energy by 1.32%.
Circle, a stablecoin concept stock, surged by 19.39% due to a procedural vote in the cryptocurrency bill being passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
1. The latest reports also show that lawmakers still hope to bundle three different cryptocurrencies legislation, which has led to a deadlock in the legislative process. Meanwhile, several U.S.-listed companies holding Ethereum saw their stocks surge on Wednesday, with Sharplink Gaming up by 29.03% and Bitmine Immersion Technologies up by 12.11%.
2. [U.S. rare earth star stock MP Materials]
Due to a rapid announcement of new shares after a significant rise, it plummeted more than 5% after the market closed on Wednesday.
[Google will hold a product launch event on August 20]
Google issued an invitation on Wednesday to confirm that a new Pixel brand hardware will be launched this year on August 20. Market expectations are for four new smartphones—Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold—as well as smartwatches and headphones, with AI functionality set to be the focus of the showcase.
[Bank of America prepares to issue stablecoins]
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, stated on Wednesday that the bank is actively preparing to launch its own stablecoin, and investors can expect related actions, though he did not reveal a specific timeline.
[Goldman Sachs’ stock trading business dominates Wall Street, record revenue in a single quarter]
Thanks to market volatility triggered by Trump’s tariffs, Goldman Sachs’ stock trading business has broken records for the second consecutive quarter. The financial report released on Wednesday showed Goldman Sachs’ stock trading business recorded $4.301 billion in revenue for the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 36%, about $600 million higher than analysts’ expectations, driving Goldman Sachs’ overall profits above market expectations.
[ASMQ2 Revenue Exceeds Expectations, Stock Plunges]
After announcing its Q2 financial report that exceeded expectations, ASM, the world’s largest supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, expressed in its statement that under the current array of uncertainties, it is unlikely to achieve growth by 2026. As a result, ASM’s stock price fell by 8.33% on Wednesday in the US market.