Overnight US stocks | US Treasury yields rebounded, the three major indices fell, Moderna (MRNA.US) fell 23.5%
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Thursday, the three major indices fell. The 10-year US Treasury yield rebounded more than 5 basis points to 4.704%, which is higher than the level before the Treasury announced additional repurchases; the 30-year yield also rose by more than 5 basis points to 5.248%. Earlier this week, the 30-year yield hit its highest level in nearly 20 years.
Treasury Secretary Bessent said in an interview on Thursday that the repurchase scale “may exceed” the announced 4 billion US dollars, adding that the current yield does not reflect fundamentals, that the liquidity of 30-year futures is weak, and that the Ministry of Finance will “make the market.” The yield declined briefly after its statement and then rose again.
[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 703.84 points, or 1.32%, to close at 52759.21 points. Walmart's decline of about 9% was the main drag. The S&P 500 fell 0.87% to 7641.16 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1% to 26067.17 points. This is another fall of the three major indices after falling for three consecutive days at the end of the previous trading day. Moderna (MRNA.US) fell 23.5% and Walmart (WMT.US) fell 9%. Maywell Technology Group (MRVL.US) rose 5.8%, Micron Technology (MU.US) rose about 4%, and SanDisk (SNDK.US) rose about 2%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed down more than 1%, and Alibaba (BABA.US) rose 1.3%.
[European stocks] The German DAX30 index fell 151.32 points, or 0.58%, to 25978.46 points; the British FTSE 100 index fell 3.20 points, or 0.03%, to 10740.15 points; the French CAC40 index fell 48.82 points, or 0.57%, to 8453.09 points; the European Stoxx 50 index fell 22.81 points, or 0.35%, to 6421.65 points; Spain's IBEX35 index fell 43.91 points, or 0.22%, to report 1980 3.59 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 26.80 points, or 0.05%, to 52645.00 points.
[Asian stock market] The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.36%, and Korea's KOSPI index rose 5.89%.
[US Dollar Index] The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against the six major currencies, rose 0.06% on the same day and closed at 98.894 at the end of the foreign exchange market. As of the end of the exchange market in New York, 1 euro was worth $1.1676, up from $1.1674 on the previous trading day; 1 pound was worth $1.3628, up from $1.3607 on the previous trading day. 1 US dollar was worth 159.14 yen, up from 158.32 yen on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 0.8007 Swiss franc, higher than 0.7979 Swiss franc on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 1.3790 Canadian dollars, lower than 1.3810 Canadian dollars on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 9.4908 SEK, up from 9.4386 on the previous trading day.
[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose more than 4.8% to $72,620 as of press release; Ethereum rose more than 2.84%, hitting a high of $2359.54.
[Crude oil] Light crude oil futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.00, or 2.33%, to close at $87.83 a barrel; London Brent crude oil futures for October delivery rose $2.16, or 2.36%, to close at $93.78 a barrel.
[Precious Metals] Spot gold closed at $4519.06; spot silver traded at $68.155.
[Macro News]
The Federal Reserve's foreign reverse repurchase balance rose to its highest level since October 2022. The scale of use of reverse repurchase instruments (RRP) opened by the Federal Reserve to foreign central banks and other monetary authorities has continued to rise. The balance has been growing for two consecutive weeks, reflecting that overseas official institutions are continuing to increase their US dollar cash reserves. As of August 19, the size of the reverse repurchase fund pool held by foreign entities in the Federal Reserve rose to US$373 billion, up from US$357 billion a week ago. Since August 5, usage of the tool has increased by a cumulative total of about $56 billion, the biggest two-week increase since October 2022. The market is closely monitoring changes in foreign reverse repurchase balances to find signs that Japan is re-accumulating dollar liquidity after interfering with the foreign exchange market to support the yen last month.
The US approved early sales of winter gasoline to ease pressure on fuel prices. The Trump administration authorized the early sale of winter gasoline, the latest move to ease rising fuel costs and supply concerns caused by the war in Iran. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Thursday that it will relax summer gasoline standards to allow the market to use winter gasoline formulations with high polluting emissions ahead of time. According to convention, recipe switching usually doesn't take place until mid-September. The exemption policy allows the sale of gasoline containing 10% ethanol from September 1. The US government said that this move will actually end summer gasoline formulation requirements early, can increase domestic gasoline supply by hundreds of thousands of barrels per day, and is expected to further ease the price pressure faced by American consumers at gas stations.
High mortgage interest rates are putting pressure on America's housing affordability index to deteriorate for the first time in nearly three years. As borrowing costs rise, new homebuyers need to generate more income to pay for home loans, a key measure of the affordability of American housing deteriorated for the first time in nearly three years. According to data released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Bank on Thursday, in the second quarter of this year, the monthly loan expenses for a house with a median price of 410.7 million US dollars were equivalent to 34% of the income of a typical household. This ratio is higher than 32% in the first quarter, and it also reverses some of the results of the most recent round of improvements in housing affordability since the beginning of 2025. During the second quarter, the US-Iran war boosted borrowing costs for the entire economy, and interest rates on 30-year mortgages rose sharply. Currently, it is about 6.8%, which is close to a one-year high. The National Association of Home Builders said that the median price of new homes also rose 2% during the quarter, further increasing the pressure to buy homes.
[Individual Stock News]
Anthropic expects the IPO to match or surpass the SpaceX (SPCX.US) record. According to people familiar with the matter, the artificial intelligence company Anthropic expects the scale of its IPO to match or surpass the record set by SpaceX. As the AI company speeds up preparations for listing, a large-scale IPO is in the works. People familiar with the matter said that Anthropic is making relevant calculations and is preparing to publicly submit a potential large-scale IPO application as early as the end of this month. They revealed that a recent investor communication meeting hosted by Chief Financial Officer Crao avoided valuation issues. According to the data, the rocket and satellite company SpaceX raised 75 billion US dollars at the time of the IPO, making it the largest initial stock offering in history. That figure eventually rose to $86.2 billion due to the exercise of the so-called over-allotment option. This mechanism is usually activated when stocks rise in the early stages of listing. Anthropic's goals reflect that AI industry leaders are reshaping the technology investment landscape in a very short period of time. Earlier, it was reported that Anthropic's initial revenue for the second quarter exceeded US$11.5 billion, compared to only US$787 million for the same period in 2025. By the end of July, the company's annualized revenue operating rate had reached 65 billion US dollars.
Source: Citibank (C.US) may become one of Anthropic's core underwriting banks for the IPO. People familiar with the matter revealed that artificial intelligence company Anthropic is planning to introduce Citigroup to join the main underwriting group for its initial public offering. If successful, Citi will co-assume core underwriting roles with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan Chase. Anthropic is likely to submit a listing application to regulators as early as the end of this month. The core underwriting qualifications for large-scale IPOs not only mean considerable underwriting commission income, but also help improve investment banks' business rankings in the equity financing market. Citi is currently at the top of the US IPO underwriting rankings due to its participation in SpaceX's record $86.2 billion IPO project this year. People familiar with the matter said that preparations for Anthropic's listing are still in progress, and the final list of underwriting team members may be adjusted, and the possibility of adding other investment banks is not ruled out.
According to reports, Broadcom is negotiating over 60 billion US dollars in AI chip financing. According to people familiar with the matter, Broadcom (AVGO.US) is in talks with a number of lenders to raise more than 60 billion US dollars in debt capital for an AI chip financing transaction, which will benefit companies such as Anthropic. People familiar with the matter said that the financing plan is still in the process of being finalized and may also include a sub-debt portion of about 30 billion US dollars. According to several people familiar with the matter, according to the proposed plan, Broadcom will guarantee part of the priority guarantee debt, and the financing scale for this part may be between 60 billion and 70 billion US dollars. If calculated on the scale currently being discussed, the total amount of the entire financing plan could reach up to 100 billion US dollars. The agreement will further boost the financing boom around artificial intelligence infrastructure construction. AI companies, including Anthropic, are becoming more and more involved in infrastructure construction, hoping to ensure that they have sufficient computing power. At the same time, Broadcom is also seeking to expand sales of chips and other data center equipment, challenging Nvidia in this lucrative market.
Retail company performance shows that American consumers are still spending money but value cost performance more at high prices. American consumers haven't stopped spending, but they are feeling increasing pressure. The sales growth rate announced by Walmart Department Store (WMT.US) on Thursday was the lowest in more than six years, mainly hampered by the pharmacy business. However, the company said that although consumers are prioritizing cost-effective products through trade-offs, overall consumer spending remains at a relatively stable level. Target and Home Depot also reported sales growth this week, and described consumers as still resilient and willing to open their wallets as long as they find the right product and the right price. Walmart CFO Rainey said, “We do see consumers making trade-offs.” He added that the number of items people are buying each time they shop is decreasing. “As fuel prices rise, the pressure on consumers has increased compared to the beginning of the year.