Overnight US stocks | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US) raised its full-year capital spending, causing market concerns. The three major indexes fell, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down more than 4%.

On Thursday, the three major indexes closed lower. Chip stocks plummeted, and the impact of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US) raising its full-year capital expenditure forecast overshadowed its better-than-expected second-quarter earnings performance. The company expects full-year capital expenditures to be between $60 billion and $64 billion, higher than the previous guidance range of $52 billion to $56 billion. The stock closed down 2.3%. The U.S. Central Command announced that on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 pm Eastern Time (2:00 am Beijing Time on Friday), the U.S. military began a new round of strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive night to further weaken Iran's military capabilities. [US Stock] At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105.67 points, or 0.20%, to 52,552.97 points; the Nasdaq fell 387.28 points, or 1.47%, to 25,881.95 points; the S&P 500 fell 38.64 points, or 0.51%, to 7,533.76 points. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by over 4%, SK Hynix ADR (SKHY.US) closed down 13.6%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) fell 12.6%, Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) fell 5.6%, Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US) fell by over 4%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) fell by over 2%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed up 1.8%, Tencent Music Entertainment Group Sponsored ADR Class A (TME.US) rose 4%. [European Stocks] The German DAX30 index fell 109.82 points, or 0.44%, to 24,908.99 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 54.63 points, or 0.52%, to 10,570.55 points; the French CAC40 index fell 4.57 points, or 0.05%, to 8,377.86 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 15.98 points, or 0.26%, to 6,281.56 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose 15.07 points, or 0.08%, to 19,290.57 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 71.75 points, or 0.14%, to 52,339.50 points. [Asian Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 index fell by 2.79%, and the South Korean Composite Stock Price Index fell by 6.37%. [US Dollar Index] The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, rose 0.27% on the day and closed at 100.76 in the forex market. At the close of the New York forex market, 1 Euro exchanged for 1.14 US dollars, below the previous trading day's 1.15 US dollars; 1 British Pound exchanged for 1.35 US dollars, below the previous trading day's 1.35 US dollars. 1 US dollar exchanged for 162.39 Japanese Yen, higher than the previous trading day's 162.05 Japanese Yen; 1 US dollar exchanged for 0.8089 Swiss Francs, higher than the previous trading day's 0.8047 Swiss Francs; 1 US dollar exchanged for 1.4 Canadian Dollars, higher than the previous trading day's 1.4 Canadian Dollars; 1 US dollar exchanged for 9.65 Swedish Kronor, higher than the previous trading day's 9.59 Swedish Kronor. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin hovered around $64,000, falling over 1% to $64,162.01 at the time of writing; Ethereum fell by over 2% to $1,879.43. [Crude Oil] New York Mercantile Exchange's light crude oil futures for August delivery fell by 65 cents to close at $78.95 per barrel, down 0.82%; London Brent crude oil futures for September delivery fell by 72 cents to close at $84.23 per barrel, down 0.85%. [Precious Metals] Spot gold fell below $4,000, trading at $3,976.63; spot silver traded at $55.55. [Macro News] Fed's Loretta Mester: Raise rates to combat inflation. Federal Reserve's Loretta Mester said the Fed should raise rates to address high inflation suggesting she may be prepared to oppose a decision to keep rates unchanged later this month. Mester said Tuesday's June CPI data indicates that inflation is slowing but not enough to convince her that inflation has returned to the Fed's 2% target path. "June CPI data did suggest that inflation could be on a path back to target, so the outlook is optimistic," Mester said. But the path remains very fragile. I believe that a moderate increase in rates will help better balance the outlook and risks. US mortgage rates rise to 6.55%, highest since August 2025. U.S. mortgage rates have risen to their highest level in nearly a year, as tensions in the Middle East reignited worries about inflation. Freddie Mac said in a statement on Thursday that the average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.55%, up from 6.49% a week ago. The latest rate is the highest since late August. Mortgage rates have risen for the second consecutive week, following the increase in U.S. bond yields; the collapse of the temporary peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran previously pushed U.S. bond yields higher. [Stock News] Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) Gemini 3.5 Pro delivery behind schedule by months due to underperformance in technical capabilities. Alphabet Inc. Class C has fallen behind schedule by months in delivering its most powerful flagship AI model Gemini 3.5 Pro, as the company is trying to use this opportunity to enhance its capabilities, especially in code writing. This delay has caused frustration among engineers, AI researchers, and management at Alphabet Inc. Class C, who are concerned that the company faces the risk of losing market advantage to competitors such as Anthropic and OpenAI. These sources said Alphabet Inc. Class C is involving multiple layers of stakeholders in preparing to release the model, and is working to integrate artificial intelligence technology into a wide range of products including search, maps, and YouTube, which may lead to project delays. Wall Street Investment Banks Sees Largest Layoffs in Six Years in Second Quarter. According to employee data disclosed in quarterly reports by various U.S. banks, Bank of America Corp (BAC.US), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC.US), Citigroup Inc. (C.US), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS.US), and Morgan Stanley (MS.US) reduced their staff by more than 10,000 in the second quarter, the largest quarterly decline since the beginning of 2020. Among the major banks, only JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s headcount slightly increased after the end of the first quarter. This year, companies on Wall Street are rapidly reducing their staff, with the largest lending institutions experiencing layoffs for three consecutive quarters. Many enterprises are working to control costs. For example, Citigroup has been streamlining its workforce in recent months, and CEO Jane Fraser is focused on improving the bank's return on investment. "Over the past six quarters, our employee headcount management has performed exceptionally well," Bank of America Corp CFO Alastair Borthwick said earlier this week during the earnings call. The bank's staff has decreased by nearly 1% compared to the same period last year.