Overnight US Stock Market: All three major indexes fall, Dow drops over 600 points; SK hynix (SKHY.US) rises 4.8%

According to Zhihu Finance APP, on Tuesday, the three major indices declined. Oil prices surged as the Saudi Ministry of Energy announced today that several energy facilities and public utilities in the country were attacked by Yemen's Houthi forces, causing fires at multiple locations and temporary suspension of operations at some facilities. Last week, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to its highest level since November 2023; the short-term 2-year US Treasury yield hit a new high since January 2025.

[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones Index fell 626.72 points, down 1.17%, to 52,787.53 points; the S&P 500 Index fell 44.98 points, down 0.58%, to 7,673.62 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 85.58 points, down 0.32%, to 26,421.41 points. Nvidia (NVDA.US) dropped 2%, Qualcomm (QCOM.US) rose 3%, Intel (INTC.US) rose 9%, and SK Hynix (SKHY.US) rose 4.8%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 1.7%, while iQIYI (IQ.US) surged nearly 12%.

[European Stocks] Germany's DAX30 Index rose 26.10 points, up 0.10%, at 26,007.89 points; the UK's FTSE 100 Index fell 5.80 points, down 0.05%, at 10,816.33 points; France's CAC40 Index rose 11.83 points, up 0.14%, at 8,317.98 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose 9.16 points, up 0.14%, at 6,413.15 points; Spain's IBEX35 Index fell 40.26 points, down 0.20%, at 19,981.54 points; Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 43.07 points, down 0.08%, at 52,186.50 points.

[Asian Stock Markets] Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.7%, Korea Composite Index fell 0.58%.

[US Dollar Index] The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, fell 0.13% that day, closing at 98.787 in the foreign exchange market. At the close of the New York forex market, 1 euro was exchanged for 1.1629 US dollars, higher than the previous trading day's 1.1624; 1 British pound was exchanged for 1.3547 US dollars, higher than the previous day's 1.3542. 1 US dollar was exchanged for 153.61 Japanese yen, lower than the previous day's 154.34; 1 US dollar for 0.8090 Swiss francs, lower than the previous day's 0.8095 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar for 1.3781 Canadian dollars, below the previous day's 1.3815; 1 US dollar for 9.5816 Swedish kronor, below the previous day's 9.5935 kronor.

[Cryptocurrencies] Bitcoin fell 0.52%, quoted at 78,514 yuan at the time of release; Ethereum fluctuated little, quoted at 2,482 US dollars.

[Crude Oil] The price of light crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.55, settling at $93.03 per barrel, an increase of 1.69%; Brent crude oil futures for November delivery rose 92 cents, settling at $97.92 per barrel, an increase of 0.95%.

[Precious Metals] Spot gold was quoted at $4,355.59 per ounce; spot silver at $65.763 per ounce.

[Macroeconomic News]

Iran reportedly continues attacks on the US; Washington wary of missile escalation. According to media reports citing US officials, Iran launched another attack on US Navy vessels on Monday, marking the second operation against US maritime assets in three days, though the US military has not officially acknowledged the incident. US officials stated that Iran’s recent actions against US warships suggest the possible use of more advanced missiles. Iran earlier claimed the use of a new type of missile with advanced guidance capabilities to strike US ships, with analysts noting some Iranian missiles are equipped with electro-optical seekers to recognize and track moving targets based on images. Earlier, the US attacked three Iranian oil tankers in response to Iranian attacks on US military vessels. The US hopes to force Iran to make concessions through blockades and sanctions, but US officials stated Iran is currently still increasing threats against US warships.

Wall Street closely watches Yellen’s treasury buyback scale; Analysts say it may reach $10 billion cap. US Treasury Secretary Yellen is about to announce the next round of long-term US Treasury buyback sizes. Wall Street is watching whether this operation will be further expanded and what signals it sends on debt management policy. Wrightson ICAP Senior Economist Crandall believes a single buyback of $5 to $6 billion would be reasonable, but larger-scale operations are also possible. Morgan Stanley analysts say due to financing constraints, the single buyback cap could be about $10 billion; if reached, net quarterly issuance of Treasuries with maturities over 20 years may fall by about 55%. Bloomberg strategist Feigen said that if the buyback scale exceeds expectations, the market may interpret it as a stronger policy signal from the Treasury and push long-term yields lower in the short term, but the buyback size remains limited relative to the overall Treasury market. Barclays strategists Pradhan and Hu expect the Treasury to use an "at least $4 billion each time" open phrasing to retain adjustment flexibility. Moving forward, the market will focus on the size, frequency, and long-term guidance of buybacks, with the 30-year swap spread possibly more directly reflecting market views on supply changes.

New York Fed’s one-year inflation expectations edge down; unemployment expectations rise. The Microeconomic Data Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its August 2026 Consumer Expectations Survey today. Results show that household medium-term inflation expectations fell slightly, while short- and long-term expectations remained unchanged. Gasoline price growth expectations rose again in August. Labor market expectations were mixed: expectations for unemployment and job-finding worsened, but expectations for being laid off or quitting improved. Unemployment rate rise expectations reached the highest since April 2020. The survey was conducted between August 3 and 31. On inflation, one-year expectations fell from 3.63% to 3.58%; median house price growth expectations fell 0.2 percentage points to 3.0%, driven by residents in the Northeast. For commodities, one-year gasoline price expectations rose 1.7 percentage points to 4.6%, food up 0.3 points to 5.3%, medical expenses up 0.2 points to 9.1%; university education costs up 0.3 points to 6.1%, and rents up 0.7 points to 6.6%. On the labor market side, one-year expected income growth edged up 0.1 percentage points to 2.9%. Average expectations of a rise in the unemployment rate rose 1.6 percentage points to 44.4%, the highest since April 2020, with increases across all age, education, and income groups.

Trump plans to disqualify Canada from over $50 billion in GSA procurement programs. US President Trump stated on social media that Canada has long restricted US agricultural goods and companies’ access to the Canadian market, while enjoying opportunities to participate in the US government procurement market, calling this practice "not trade reciprocal." Trump announced he had instructed the General Services Administration (GSA) and the US Trade Representative's Office (USTR) to take measures to remove Canadian-origin products from many GSA government procurement programs if Canada does not restore "comprehensive and fair reciprocal treatment" for US farmers and businesses. He noted these procurement programs exceed $50 billion. Trump stated that the Canadian federal and provincial governments restrict US small businesses from taking part in their procurement markets, while Canadian firms can enter the huge US government procurement market, so the US will implement a "no reciprocity, no access" policy.

[Company News]

Google and Blackstone’s $5 billion data center project reportedly faces delay. According to sources, Alphabet (GOOG.US), Google’s parent company, and Blackstone (BX.US)'s joint AI cloud project "Project Braid" is facing delays in data center construction. The project, with $5 billion invested by Blackstone, is scheduled to rent out Google AI chip computing resources to clients by 2027. Sources said Google originally planned for AI data center developer Crusoe to build the Cheyenne, Wyoming data center in the US, but later canceled this arrangement, took over the project, and reapplied for related permits. Insiders said Google lost confidence in Crusoe’s ability to deliver as planned. Crusoe had previously gained attention for its involvement in OpenAI and Oracle’s flagship "Stargate" data center project in Texas. Additionally, another site was affected due to the lack of required transformers. Currently, the construction of AI data centers faces bottlenecks such as a shortage of power equipment and approval delays. A Project Braid leader said the project is still progressing and plans to offer 500 megawatts of computing capacity next year.

Meta launches personal AI assistant Muse, monthly fee up to $100. Meta Platforms (META.US) has launched Muse, a personal AI assistant app that allows users to hand over digital tasks—such as booking, filling forms, and monitoring home cameras—to the AI assistant. Meta AI chief Alexander Wang said Muse is powered by Meta’s Muse Spark base models and provides both a free version and $20 and $100 per month subscription options. He stated that Muse runs in a separate, isolated environment within Meta’s computing infrastructure, does not access users’ actual passwords or payment information, and will seek confirmation before executing sensitive actions. Users can choose whether to allow Meta to use their interactions with Muse to train AI models; if they choose to do so, Meta will delete key personally identifiable information before using it for model improvement. The product launch comes as Meta faces AI safety, privacy issues, and returns on AI investment pressures. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously stated that personal AI assistants will be the future focus of the company’s products and revenue growth. Meta also noted that it is exploring business models related to AI assistant-driven shopping transactions in the future.