Overnight US stocks | The three major indices have mixed ups and downs Circle (CRCL.US) has accumulated 80% increase this week

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Friday, the three major indices had mixed ups and downs. Circle (CRCL.US), the first stablecoin stock, rose more than 20% today, with a cumulative increase of 80% this week. US President Trump announced that he would “postpone a two-week” decision on whether to launch military action against Iran, and international oil prices fell. A Federal Reserve official said he supports cutting interest rates in July.

[US stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 35.16 points, or 0.08%, to 42206.82 points; the NASDAQ fell 98.86 points, or 0.51%, to 19447.41 points; the S&P 500 index fell 13.03 points, or 0.22%, to 5967.84 points. This week, the Dow rose 0.02%, the NASDAQ rose 0.21%, and the S&P 500 index fell 0.15%.

[European stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 300.92 points, or 1.31%, to 23357.63 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 16.83 points, or 0.19%, to 8774.97 points; the French CAC40 index rose 36.21 points, or 0.48%, to 7589.66 points; the European Stoxx 50 index rose 34.92 points, or 0.67%, to 5231.95 points; Spain's IBEX35 index rose 97.40 points, or 0.71%, to report 13848.70 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 305.81 points, or 0.79%, to 39248.00 points.

[Asia Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.22%, South Korea's KOSPI Index rose 1.48%, and the Indonesian Composite Index fell 0.88%.

[Foreign Exchange] The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against the six major currencies, fell 0.16% on the same day and closed at 98.707 at the end of the foreign exchange market. As of the end of the exchange market in New York, 1 euro was worth $1.1529, up from $1.1485 on the previous trading day; 1 pound was worth $1.3465, up from $1.3458 on the previous trading day. 1 US dollar was worth 145.97 yen, up from 145.48 yen on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 0.8172 Swiss franc, lower than 0.8175 Swiss franc on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 1.3729 Canadian dollars, higher than 1.3713 Canadian dollars on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 9.6651 SEK, up from 9.6420 on the previous trading day.

[Crude oil] International oil prices closed down on Friday, with Brent crude oil futures falling more than 1.3%. US President Trump has yet to decide to help Israel destroy the OPEC member Iran's nuclear facilities program, lowering oil prices. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.21, or 0.28%, to close at $74.93 a barrel. The contract increased by 2.67% cumulatively this week. The Brent crude oil contract for August delivery on the European Intercontinental Exchange fell $1.84, or 1.33%, to close at $77.01 a barrel.

[Metals] COMEX gold futures fell 0.70% to $3384.10/oz. COMEX silver futures fell 2.55% to $35.970 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose slightly by 0.43% to $10,5087.6; Ethereum rose 0.74% to $2530.68.

[US Bonds] The yield on the US 10-year benchmark treasury bond fell 1.57 basis points to 4.3751%. The cumulative decline this week was 7.11 basis points and has been declining. Overall trading is in the 4.4443%-4.3377% range. The two-year US Treasury yield fell 3.337 basis points to 3.9077%, falling 5.87 basis points this week. Overall trading was in the 3.9749%-3.8824% range, rising only briefly after the opening of the US stock market on Monday. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that the FOMC stood still four times in a row and “fell sharply” to the lowest level this week when it revealed the Economic Expectations Summary (SEP) (including a bitmap of interest rate expectations).

[Macro News]

Powell acted too late! Trump criticized the Federal Reserve Chairman for his negligence: if interest rates can be cut decisively to 1-2%, the US will save a trillion dollars a year! Trump posted on social media: Powell's action is too late! He's always complaining about costs — most of these costs are caused by the Biden administration. Currently, the way he can make the greatest contribution to America is to cut interest rates decisively. If he can cut interest rates by one to two basis points, this “elm brain” can save the US up to 1 trillion dollars in expenses every year. Although my strong criticism may have made it harder for him to perform his duties (cutting interest rates), I have tried all the gentle methods: I have been kind, neutral, and tough, but unfortunately all of them have failed! Don't use “there may be a risk of future inflation” as an excuse — because there's no inflation right now! Even if the future does appear, it will be too late to raise interest rates at that time. I really don't understand why the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve didn't replace this complete idiot! Maybe I'll have to change my mind on the question of whether to fire Powell or not. But don't worry, his term of office is almost over!

Federal Reserve officials have “bipolar” differences over the impact of tariffs and the urgency of cutting interest rates. The new economic forecast released by the Federal Reserve this week predicts that economic growth will slow down and inflation will rise. However, policymakers still expect interest rate cuts later this year — a sign that they do think tariffs will drive up prices, but they won't last. However, opinions are very divided: out of 19 officials, seven policymakers think there is no need to cut interest rates this year, and eight think they will cut interest rates twice. This is consistent with investors' views on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at the September and December meetings. Another 2 expect to cut interest rates once, and 2 expect to cut interest rates three times. Federal Reserve Governor Waller and Federal Reserve Barkin expressed their views on interest rates after the resolution. The former thought they would cut interest rates in July as soon as possible, while the latter thought they were in no hurry to cut interest rates. Although neither Waller nor Barkin have specified their specific views on interest rates, they occupy two extremes in terms of the extent to which Trump's tariffs will affect prices, employment, and economic growth over the next few months.

Trump: It's very difficult to stop Israel; maybe the US doesn't need to attack Iran. US President Trump arrived in New Jersey on Friday afternoon local time. In an interview with reporters, he said that he is not inclined to urge Israel to stop air strikes, so negotiations with Iran can continue. Trump said he might support a cease-fire, but he added that getting others to stop is a bit difficult. “Sometimes you need to be tough to achieve peace and give Iran some time, up to two weeks. The last thing I want to do is send ground forces. Israel's ability to destroy Iranian facilities is limited, so maybe there is no need for the US to attack Iran.” Furthermore, Trump also said that Europe cannot provide much help in the war between Iran and Israel.

Negotiations failed to break the impasse, and Iran insisted that Israel's cessation of attacks was a prerequisite for talks with the US. As the Trump administration weighs whether to join Israel's attack on Iran, negotiations between Iran and European leaders have failed to bring Iran closer to making concessions to stop the fight over its nuclear program. European countries have joined the Trump administration to demand that Iran stop its nuclear fuel enrichment activities, increasing pressure on Tehran to agree to terms rejected in this year's nuclear negotiations. Arab and European officials with knowledge of the talks said that Iran's foreign minister continued to insist on Iran's right to uranium enrichment on Friday. He also insisted that Iran will not resume nuclear negotiations with the US until Israel stops its attacks. After the talks, he said, “Once the aggression stops, the invaders are responsible for the crimes committed, Iran is ready to consider diplomatic means again.” On the other hand, Israel showed no sign of preparing to stop the crackdown that began a week ago. Israel's chief of general staff said on Friday that Israel must prepare for a protracted war with Iran.

LME imposes new restrictions on holders of huge positions. The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Friday that it has imposed new restrictions on holders holding huge positions in recent monthly contracts in the face of low inventory levels. Prior to the London Metal Exchange's action, the copper contract's rise level in recent months jumped to its highest level since October 2022. LME said it had been monitoring huge positions in recent months and had to act in some cases. In view of the current environment of very low stocks, the Special Committee now deems it appropriate to adopt a transparent and universally applicable set of provisions. The new rules expand LME's existing restrictions on so-called “tom/next (tomorrow/tomorrow)” positions, which require those holding long positions above the total inventory level to lend to the market at zero premium.

[Individual Stock News]

Apple (AAPL.US) discusses buying Perplexity. Apple executives are discussing the acquisition of Perplexity AI internally. If an agreement is reached, it will help Apple develop an AI-based search engine. Apple also has a backup plan, and if it can't be purchased, it will “form a group” — making Perplexity also a search engine option for Apple Safari. Previously, Zuckerberg's Meta abandoned negotiations to advance the acquisition of Perplexity and instead invested in Scale AI.