November 15 proved to be a challenging day for stock markets in both Europe and the United StatesAcross the board, major indices closed in the red, with the Nasdaq Composite taking the hardest hit, plummeting by 2.24%, which translates to a loss of over 400 pointsSuch a significant decline underscores the ongoing volatility in tech stocks; many of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks saw downturns, contributing to a broader sense of unease among investorsThe sell-off was further exacerbated by disappointing earnings from key players such as Applied Materials, a semiconductor equipment giant, which dropped over 9% after releasing quarterly results that fell short of expectations.
The declines in the U.S. market reflect a larger trend this weekThe Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.7% at closing, while the S&P 500 dipped by 1.32%. Over the week, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq registered respective losses of 1.24%, 2.08%, and 3.15%, with both S&P 500 and Nasdaq marking their steepest weekly declines since early SeptemberAmong the tech giants, apart from the aforementioned Applied Materials, Amazon lost over 4%, Facebook's parent company Meta also dropped by 4%, and Nvidia's shares decreased by over 3%. Conversely, Tesla's stock broke from the trend by gaining more than 3% during the same period.
The downturn in tech isn't an isolated incident; the semiconductor sector was notably weak, reflecting broader market concernsStocks of major chip manufacturers took significant hits, with names like ASML and Microchip Technology both falling over 4%, while Broadcom slipped over 3%. Intel and Qualcomm also faced losses, indicative of waning demand and heightened market skepticism towards the sector's outlook.
Interestingly, not all market sectors faced declines
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Chinese concept stocks listed on U.S. exchanges showed resilience, evidenced by a 0.82% increase in the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon IndexNotable performers included Kingsoft Cloud, which surged over 8%, alongside JD.com and TAL Education Group, each gaining over 4%.
Meanwhile, across the pond, Europe’s main stock indices were equally beleaguered on the same dayThe DAX index in Germany fell by 0.27%, while France's CAC40 dropped by 0.58%, and the UK's FTSE 100 dipped slightly by 0.09%. This synchronized downturn highlights a pervasive sense of uncertainty affecting global markets, ultimately tracing back to investor sentiment and macroeconomic indicators.
In commodity markets, gold has also faced pressure, marking its sixth consecutive day of decline, with prices inching down to $2562.72 per ounce—a drop of 0.06% on the dayThis downturn has been steeper over the week, where prices dropped more than 4%, representing the largest single-week fall since June 2021. Analysts attribute this weakness to a strengthening U.S. dollar, which, buoyed by reassessed expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve's interest rate strategy, poses significant pressure on gold prices.
Notably, the recent shifts come amid comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who indicated during an event in Dallas that the central bank is not “in a hurry” to reduce interest ratesThis remark shifted market expectations downward for any potential interest rate cuts, sending ripples through both stock and commodity marketsSubsequently, critical consumer data released late on Friday, often dubbed "the horror data," indicated that U.S. retail sales rose by 0.4% in October—exceeding the expected 0.3% rise.
The implications of this data are multifaceted
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