Overnight stock market
Most major global stock indexes closed down on Thursday. The three major U.S. stock indexes closed down collectively. The Dow and S&P 500 both fell by more than 1%. Technology stocks outperformed the market, but the Nasdaq still recorded a decline for 5 consecutive trading days. The U.S. stock market has had its worst month this year.
The S&P fell 4.8% in September and the Nasdaq fell 5.3%. Both set their worst monthly performance since March 2020. The Dow fell 4.3% in September, the worst monthly performance this year.
Commodity market
As of the close of the day, the price of light crude oil futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by US$0.20 to close at US$75.03 per barrel, an increase of 0.27%; the price of London Brent crude oil futures for November delivery fell by US$0.12. It closed at $78.52 per barrel, a decrease of 0.15%.
The most active December gold futures price on the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures market rose by 34.1 US dollars over the previous trading day on the 30th, and closed at 1757 US dollars per ounce, an increase of 1.98%; December silver futures prices rose 56.2 cents , Closed at 22.047 US dollars per ounce, an increase of 2.62%.
Market news
[The US House of Representatives passes a short-term spending bill to resolve the government shutdown crisis]
According to media reports, the US Senate voted to pass a short-term spending bill on September 30 local time to avoid a government shutdown. This short-term spending bill will support the operations of the US government until early December. Later that day, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the short-term spending bill passed in the Senate with 254 votes in favor and 175 votes against it, avoiding the situation where the U.S. government faces a shutdown at midnight on the 30th due to lack of funds. The next step of the bill will be submitted to US President Biden for signature.
[U.S. Secretary of the Treasury calls for the removal of the federal debt ceiling]
On September 30, local time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen stated at the House Financial Services Committee hearing that she supports the removal of the federal debt ceiling and said it poses a “very damaging” threat to American confidence and American credit. Yellen said that setting an arbitrary upper limit on the size of bonds issued by the Treasury Department would limit the department’s ability to undertake bills approved by Congress and the President. It is meaningless. Yellen emphasized that to fund spending and tax bills, additional bonds must be issued. If the Treasury Department fails to pay these debts, it will have devastating consequences.
[Powell: High inflation is expected to ease next year and will not prevent the Fed from achieving its full employment goal]
On Thursday, local time, Fed Chairman Powell said in a speech to the House Financial Services Committee that the current high inflation may ease next year and will not prevent the Fed from moving towards the goal of full employment.
[Russia’s epidemic rebounded, localities tightened epidemic prevention measures]
On September 30, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Golikova said that Russia is currently experiencing a rising period of rebound of the epidemic. She warned the people to abide by the epidemic prevention regulations and protect themselves and their families. As of September 29, many states have announced tightening of epidemic prevention measures. Perm Krai, Udmurt Republic, Ulyanovsk Oblast and other places require the use of QR codes (a type of QR code) in public places from the beginning of October. Samara, Saratov, Kursk and other states announced the suspension of large-scale cultural, sports and entertainment activities in the near future. Moscow requires that all patients with symptoms of acute viral respiratory infections must undergo rapid detection of new coronavirus antigens from October 1.
[Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Will not accept commitments beyond the Iran nuclear agreement]
According to news published on the website of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 30th, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Khatibzad said in an interview with French Le Monde that Iran will not accept commitments beyond the Iran nuclear agreement, nor will it request the lifting of the nuclear agreement. Concessions on the issue of Iran sanctions. Khatibzad said that the new Iranian government is considering how to restart the Iran nuclear talks, but it needs to re-examine the previous negotiations in Vienna, the Austrian capital. Khatibzad said that the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, harmed the Iranian people, caused billions of dollars in damage to the Iranian economy, and even “punished” countries that wish to conduct business with Iran. The current US government must decide whether to keep the “legacy” of the previous administration.
[Netflix’s stock price hits a record high]
Streaming media giant Netflix closed up 1.88% on Thursday, hitting a record high for its share price during intraday trading. So far this week, Netflix has gained 3%, which has outperformed other large technology stocks. The Nasdaq has fallen by more than 4% this week, and rising U.S. bond yields have prompted investors to sell growth stocks.
[Virgin Galactic share price soared by more than 12%]
Virgin Galactic closed up 12.15% on Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Wednesday that it had concluded its investigation into the July launch of Virgin Galactic and cancelled the grounding order previously imposed.
[BMW raises annual profit margin expectations]
On Thursday, local time, BMW issued a statement saying that as the impact of new and used car prices exceeded the supply chain crisis, the company raised its annual profit margin forecast from 7%-9% to 9.5%-10.5%. The company also raised its expected return on equity for its financial services sector from 17%-20% to 20%-23%, and expects the auto sector’s free cash flow to reach approximately 6.5 billion euros.
[GM and Ford announce new discontinuation plans]
On Thursday, local time, General Motors and Ford Motors both said that they will implement new production reduction plans due to continued chip shortages. General Motors announced that it will extend the production stoppage of the Chevrolet Blazer at its Ramos plant in Mexico by two weeks and resume production at other North American plants. Ford said that it will stop producing Mustangs at the Kansas City assembly plant next week, but will continue to produce F-150 trucks.
[Blake Jorgensen, Chief Financial Officer of Electronic Arts, resigns]
Well-known gaming company Electronic Arts (EA) said on Thursday that its chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen is expected to resign in the summer of 2022, and the company will soon start looking for a new chief financial officer. Jorgensen has served as the chief financial officer of Electronic Arts for more than ten years and also the company’s chief operating officer.