Stock reports of the best companies in the world, demand for gold and cryptocurrency, rate hike by the Bank of Japan

Market Reviews

• The Bank of Japan raised its target overnight call rate to 0.25% from 0-0.1% by a vote of 7 to 2 and unveiled a detailed quantitative tightening plan that would reduce monthly bond purchases in stages to about 3 trillion yen as of January. March 2026. The yen and Nikkei were initially volatile, with bank stocks in Tokyo jumping higher. The yen last traded at 152.73 per dollar. Having started July at a 38-year low of 161.96 per dollar, the yen is now chasing a three-month high. More than 5% growth in a month is the first month of growth for the currency this year. A variety of factors, including likely official intervention, a sell-off in stocks and a repricing of popular carry trades, helped the yen recover, although the currency is still down 7.6% against the dollar for the year.

 • Expected by the Fed. Investors will be waiting for the Federal Reserve to signal that a U.S. rate cut is in the offing, even if the central bank doesn't change its decision on Wednesday. Of course, the risk is that the Fed will be reluctant to commit to cutting interest rates, since markets have already priced in 68 basis points of easing this year.

• The main economic story of the day will be the euro zone inflation report, which comes after data on Tuesday showed the region's economy grew slightly more than expected in the three months to June.

• Quarterly results from major tech companies highlight the rift in the AI ​​space, with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices reporting strong profits and Samsung Electronics predicting robust chip demand in the second half of this year. In contrast, Microsoft has disappointed investors with its slow growth in cloud technology, suggesting that the return on billions of investments in AI may take longer than investors had hoped.

• There was a sell-off in semiconductor and AI stocks in the market yesterday. It looks like the speculators are capitulating. But this morning, after the AMD report, the market is returning most of yesterday's decline. Bitcoin fell from $70 thousand to $66 thousand. Shares in China are growing by 1%. And in Japan they are decreasing slightly.

• In the second quarter, global demand for gold reached a record level. The growth was supported by active over-the-counter (OTC) trading, which increased 53% to 329 tonnes.

• In June, Chinese brands captured 11% of the European electric vehicle market. They recorded a record number of registrations.

• More than 50% of leading US hedge funds invest in cryptocurrency - The Street. In a sign of greater institutional acceptance of cryptocurrency, hedge funds are expanding their exposure to the world's leading cryptocurrencies.

• Meta will pay $1.4 billion to settle Texas lawsuit over facial recognition data. The terms of the settlement unveiled Tuesday are the largest deal ever reached by a single state, according to Texas attorneys.

• Reuters on tariffs on Chinese goods. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Tuesday that some of the sharp tariff hikes on a range of Chinese products, including electric vehicles and batteries, computer chips and medical products, will be delayed by at least two weeks.

• U.S. oil and gas mergers continued to occur at a breakneck pace in the second quarter, Enverus reports
Deals in the U.S. oil and gas sector continued to rise in the second quarter, topping $30 billion, with large dollar pegs pushing deal values ​​higher, according to data released Tuesday by research firm Enverus .

• Spain fined BookingCom a record 413 million euros for market monopoly for abusing its dominant position over the past five years. BookingCom's market share in Spain has ranged from 70% to 90% over the past five years. BookingCom is the dominant player in Europe with a market share of over 60%.
Japan's new currency chief says a weak yen has done more harm than good for the economy - Bloomberg.

• Tesla recalled 1.8 million cars in the US because the hood could fall off, - Reuters. We are talking about Model 3, Model S, Model X from 2021 to 2024, as well as Model Y from 2020 to 2024. TSLA shares fell 4% yesterday.

• Blackstone is in early stages of negotiations to acquire Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (ROIC). Owner of shopping centers in the United States with a market value of about $1.7 billion.

• Gates-backed fusion startup Type One has raised $53.5 million to fund the development of commercial power plants using the same process that lights stars.

• Authorities say the Tesla that killed a motorcyclist in a Seattle-area crash in April was driving in "full self-driving" mode. Neither system can drive the car on its own yet, Tesla says, and human drivers must be ready to take over at a moment's notice.

- TSLA shares are up 1% in premarket trading.
- CRWD shares fell 10% yesterday.
- Delta Airlines is preparing to file a lawsuit against the company.
- NVDA shares fell 7% yesterday
- The morning after the AMD report, NVDA shares are up 5%.

Stocks yesterday after reports
- PYPL +9%
- AMT +4%
- PFE +2%
- SPGI 0%
- BP 0%
- PG -5%
- MRK -10%

Stocks in the premarket after reports after reports
- AMD +8% (the company raised its forecast for sales of AI chips)
- SBUX +4%
- ANET +3%
- FSLR +2%
- MDLZ 0%
- MSFT -3% ​​(the market reacted to the slowdown cloud growth)
- SYK -5%
- PINS -11%
- Rio Tinto's first-half profit rose 14%, thanks in part to rising copper prices. RIO shares are up 3% in Australia.

Today reports

- Aflac, Albemarle, Allstate, Altria Group, American International Group, American Water Works, Ansys, APA, Arm Holdings, Automatic Data Processing, AvalonBay Communities, Boeing, BorgWarner, Bunge Global, CH Robinson Worldwide, CDW, Cencora, Cognizant Technology Solutions , Corteva, DuPont, eBay, Etsy, Everest Group, Fair Isaac, FMC, GE HealthCare Technologies, Generac Holdings, Hess, Humana, Ingersoll Rand, Johnson Controls International, KKR, Kraft Heinz, Lam Research, Marriott International, Mastercard, Meta Platforms , MetLife , MGM Resorts International , Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings , Qualcomm , T-Mobile US , Trane Technologies , Verisk Analytics , VICI Properties , Waters Corp. , WEC Energy Group and Western Digital.

- The Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on monetary policy. Wall Street almost unanimously expects the FOMC to keep the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%. Traders will be analyzing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's post-meeting conference remarks to see if a quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut in mid-September is possible since the market has fully priced it in.

- ADP releases its National Employment Report for July. Economists forecast private sector employment to rise by 154,000, up slightly from June.

- The Institute for Supply Management releases its Chicago Business Barometer for July. The consensus estimate is 44.5, down about three points from June.

Fundamental Reviews

• The eurozone economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter. That beat economists' median forecast of 0.2%
- Notably, France's GDP expanded 0.3% in the three months to June, while Spain's economy grew 0.8%.
- Stable development in key countries allowed the region to compensate for the unexpected downturn in the German economy.

• The number of JOLTS vacancies in June decreased slightly amid signs of “turbulence” in the labor market
US JOLTs Job Openings: ▫ 8.184 million (expected 8.020m), prev. value: 8.230m (previously considered 8.14m)

• The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell less than expected. From 100.4 to 100.3 (99.7 was expected).

• Industrial production and retail sales in Japan show signs of improvement ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting. In June, production fell 3.6% from the previous month, compared with growth of 3.6%. A decline of 5% was expected.
Companies are optimistic about production prospects, expecting output to grow 6.5% in July and 0.7% in August.

• Retail sales rose 3.7% y/y in June.

• The Chinese economy is expectedly falling
- China Manufacturing PMI expectedly fell from 49.5 to 49.4.
- China Non-Manufacturing PMI fell as expected from 50.5 to 50.2.

• Israel attacked the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Iran said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran.
Analysts on Iranian state television immediately began blaming Israel for the attack.

• “The Third World War is already underway”: Zilber explained the connection between the wars in Ukraine and Israel. Israeli journalist Zvi Zilber believes that it remains to determine which event is considered the beginning of this war - the Russian attack on Georgia in 2008 or the Russian invasion of Donbass in 2014. 

• Mass protests in Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro won the presidential election. According to media reports, protesters seized the international airport in Maiquetia and also demolished monuments to former President Hugo Chavez. The Internet has been turned off in some cities in Venezuela. In some places, security forces used tear gas. Preliminarily, there are casualties.
Venezuela, after Maduro’s victory, recalls diplomats from seven Latin American states: what is happening
We are talking about countries that refused to recognize Maduro’s “victory” in the presidential elections.
The presidents of the United States and Brazil said Venezuela should release detailed voting data
Venezuela has the world's largest proven crude oil reserves and once boasted the most developed economy in Latin America. But after Maduro came to power in 2013, the country began to decline rapidly. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages, and hyperinflation exceeding 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in recent Latin American history.

• In the first half of the year, foreign direct investment in China fell by almost 30%. The investment amount fell to 499 billion yuan.

• After meeting with Putin, Orban began to allow Russians into the EU without checks: spies and saboteurs also received new opportunities. As the RND publication writes, Russians were included in the program of the so-called “national card” - it is issued to those wishing to work in Hungary for two years with the possibility of extension. There is no special verification of “national card” holders at the European level. For several days now, Russians have been able to enter the EU through Hungary without any security checks and move freely to other EU countries.

• Iran is trying to undermine Trump's election campaign through "secret social media accounts and related activities" - The Economist. This is according to US intelligence agencies. A similar Iranian campaign against Trump was observed in the 2020 elections.