The three major U.S. stock indexes fell on the last trading day of October. The Dow was down 0.39 percent, the S&P 500 down 0.75 percent and the Nasdaq down 1.03 percent. The Dow rose 13.95% for the month, its best October ever and its biggest monthly gain since 1976.
Big tech stocks fell on Monday, with Facebook parent Meta falling more than 6% to its lowest level since January 2016 and once again eclipsed by Tencent Holdings in total market value. Popular Chinese stocks were mixed, with Pinduoduo up more than 3%. Global oil prices weakened, and US President Joe Biden said he was considering punitive taxes on energy companies.
On the same day, the European Union's statistics office released a preliminary estimate that the eurozone inflation rate reached 10.7% in October, another record high, raising market concerns that the global inflation level will not fall. The Federal Reserve will hold a new interest rate meeting this week, and investors are expected to continue to raise interest rates by 75 basis points, and Fed Chairman Powell's comments after the meeting will also become the focus of market attention.
On October 31, local time, the three major indexes of the US stock market collectively opened lower, and the intra-day shock adjustment was maintained. Among them, the Dow fell 128.85 points, or 0.39%, to 32,732.95, ending a "six-game winning streak." The S&P 500 fell 0.75 per cent, falling below the 3,900 mark to close at 3,871.98. The Nasdaq fell 1.03 per cent to 10,988.15.
In October, the three major indexes of the US stock market rebounded, ending the "two consecutive declines" on the monthly line. The Dow rose 13.95% for the month, its biggest October gain in history and its best month since 1976. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up about 8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.
On paper, large tech stocks were mostly down on Monday. Facebook parent Meta fell 6.09%, Nvidia fell 2.44%, Google, Apple, Microsoft fell more than 1.5%, Amazon fell nearly 1%, and Tesla fell 0.43%. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he will become CEO of Twitter, the social media company he just acquired.
So far this year, Meta has fallen 72.30%, falling 31.34% in October, and the latest share price hit a new low since January 2016, with a total market value of $247 billion. At present, Meta's market value has fallen out of the top 30 in the world, less than Tencent Holdings, and it has advanced to the top five in the US stock market value list at its highest.
International oil prices fell, the energy sector was mixed. Occidental Petroleum rose more than 1 percent, while Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil edged higher and Conocophillips fell 1.08 percent. Light crude for December delivery fell $1.37, or 1.56%, to settle at $86.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. London Brent crude for December delivery settled down 0.98 per cent at $94.83 a barrel.
U.S. President Joe Biden raised the possibility of additional taxes on energy companies in a speech at the White House on the high profits made by oil companies. He said that in the context of the global energy crisis, it is unacceptable that US oil companies, instead of cooperating with price cuts to ease the pressure on people's consumption, took the opportunity to make record profits.
Biden also called on oil and gas companies to invest their record profits in lowering costs for American families and increasing energy production, and said he would call on Congress to consider imposing punitive taxes on energy companies and enacting other restrictions if they don't.
This week, the Federal Reserve will hold its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, and the market expects another 75 basis point rate hike. However, investors are more focused on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks at the post-meeting press conference, which may give further hints on future policy.
Eurozone inflation hit a record high of 10.7 per cent in October from 9.9 per cent in September, according to preliminary estimates released on Monday by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office. Among them, energy prices in the euro area rose 41.9% year-on-year in October, which was the main reason for pushing up inflation in the month, food and tobacco and alcohol prices rose 13.1%, non-energy industrial product prices rose 6.0%, and service prices rose 4.4%. In addition, on a seasonally adjusted basis, eurozone GDP (gross domestic product) increased by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, compared with 0.8% in the previous (Q2). Year-on-year growth was 2.1%, compared with 4.3% previously.
Last week, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by 75 basis points, the second big 75 basis point increase in a row. The European Central Bank said it had decided to raise its three key interest rates by 75 basis points, a significant exit from easy monetary policy with the third successive increase. The bank said it would continue to raise interest rates in the future to ensure inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target.
Gold prices also fell as the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields continued to rise. Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract on the Comex gold futures market, fell $4.10, or 0.25 per cent, to settle at $1,640.7 an ounce. Gold prices fell 1.9% in October, according to Dow Jones data, and have fallen for seven straight months, the longest monthly decline since 1982.
Source: Securities Times
