① Popular Chinese concept stocks generally declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closing down 0.55%.
② The memory chip sector fell sharply, with Micron Technology plunging 13% and SanDisk dropping 13%.
③ Meta launched a new series of smart glasses priced at $299.
Two weeks ago, the market expected only one 25-basis-point rate hike. Now investors are pricing in the impact of potentially more hawkish monetary policy under incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), due Thursday, will be the market focus, as it is the inflation gauge the Federal Reserve monitors most closely. In addition, investors are continuously monitoring the latest developments in the Middle East. After the first round of peace negotiations with Iran, the United States announced a 60-day sanctions waiver for Iran, a move seen as an important signal for easing regional tensions. Market Dynamics At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.87 points, or 0.09%, to 51,666.84. The Nasdaq Composite fell 579.56 points, or 2.21%, to 25,587.03. The S&P 500 fell 107.33 points, or 1.44%, to 7,365.46. Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, information technology closed down 3.66%, industrials fell 2.03%, while real estate, health care, and consumer staples rose by up to 1.78%. Most U.S. equity industry ETFs closed higher. The regional banking ETF rose 2.55%, while the health care ETF, banking ETF, and energy ETF gained up to 2.31%. The internet stock index ETF fell 0.49%, the consumer discretionary ETF dropped 2.71%, the technology industry ETF declined 3.67%, the global technology stock index ETF fell 5.33%, and the semiconductor ETF plunged 7.01%. Hot Stock Performance Most large technology stocks declined. Tesla fell 5.79%, Nvidia dropped 4.15%, Apple declined 0.91%, Meta fell 0.29%, and Netflix slipped 0.08%. Microsoft rose 1.80%, and Amazon gained 0.57%. Alphabet Class A fell another 1%, following a 5% plunge on Monday, amid market concerns that the departures of several prominent AI talents could weaken the company’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence. The memory chip sector fell sharply. Micron Technology plunged 13%, SanDisk dropped 13%, and Seagate Technology declined more than 5%. Intel fell 6.1%, while AMD and Qualcomm dropped nearly 6% and 8%, respectively. IBM surged 5% after U.S. President Trump publicly praised the company and JPMorgan upgraded its rating to Overweight. Cameco rose 1.7% after the U.S. Department of Energy announced $17.5 billion in loans to support the construction of 10 large nuclear reactors, which will use Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 reactor design. Westinghouse is owned by Cameco.Chinese concept stocks listed in the US generally declined. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 0.55%. Bilibili dropped 4.77%, XPeng fell 4.42%, JD.com declined 3.33%, Tencent ADR fell 3.06%, Alibaba dropped 2.22%, Tiger Brokers fell 2.11%, Futu declined 2.07%, Pinduoduo fell 1.98%, NetEase dropped 1.91%, Li Auto fell 1.48%, Baidu declined 1.43%, while NIO rose 0.49%.
Company News [Meta Reportedly Developing Standalone Prediction Market App ‘Arena’] As a rising growth star in the US internet sector since last year, prediction market platforms that allow users to bet on outcomes ranging from NBA championships to when the US will go to war have become a massive business attracting hundreds of billions of dollars. According to recent reports, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also wants a share of the prediction market pie. Sources familiar with the matter said Zuckerberg recently dispatched a small team to develop a smartphone app similar to Polymarket and Kalshi. The app, internally called ‘Arena,’ will operate independently from Meta’s social platform network, though the world’s largest traffic gateway will funnel users to the app. [Blackstone Plans $30 Billion Investment in Japan AI Data Centers] According to media reports on Tuesday, Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray said in a recent interview that the company plans to invest $30 billion in Japanese AI data centers over the next three to five years. The world’s largest alternative asset manager is in talks to develop more than 1 gigawatt of facilities in Japan. [Meta Launches New $299 Smart Glasses Line] On Tuesday, Meta announced on its official website that it has partnered with EssilorLuxottica to launch a new ‘Meta Glasses’ series. The lineup features a design with three frame styles, starting at just $299 (approximately 2,029 yuan), at least $80 cheaper than the company’s second-generation entry-level Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Like previously launched glasses, the new series is co-developed by Meta and Ray-Ban parent company EssilorLuxottica, but the products themselves do not use the Ray-Ban or Oakley brand logos. [Microsoft Wisconsin Data Center Begins Operations; Expected to Invest $4.7 Billion in Wisconsin Between 2024 and 2028]Microsoft announced on June 23 that its first data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, has been fully operational. The facility had completed equipment installation and startup in April this year. The statement said the data center currently employs nearly 550 full-time workers. Microsoft and its contractors are actively hiring, and the workforce is expected to continue growing. Microsoft anticipates investing $4.7 billion in its hyperscale construction projects in Wisconsin between 2024 and 2028.
