Overnight US stocks | The U.S. government's debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time in history. The three major indices closed higher, while Bitcoin, Ethereum, and gold also saw gains.

On Wednesday, the three major indexes closed higher. U.S. Treasury yields fell after the Department of the Treasury announced an expansion of its debt buyback operations. Data released by the U.S. Treasury on the 19th showed that the total federal government debt has surpassed $40 trillion. U.S. Stock MarketAt the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.71 points, an increase of 0.22%, ending at 53,463.11 points; the S&P 500 index gained 16.50 points, up 0.21%, closing at 7,708.26 points; the Nasdaq Composite added 41.38 points, increasing 0.16%, closing at 26,331.09 points. Moderna (MRNA.US) surged 176.9%, while Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.US) increased by 12.6%. Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL.US) rose over 9.8%, SK Hynix (SKHY.US) climbed 0.35%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) fell 3.5%, and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) decreased 0.39%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed up 1.5%. Bitcoin-related stocks generally rose, with Strategy (MSTR.US) up 12.68%, Coinbase (COIN.US) up 9.55%, and Circle (CRCL.US) also up 9.56%. European Stock MarketThe German DAX30 index fell 59.64 points, a drop of 0.23%, closing at 26,092.05 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 10.76 points, up 0.10%, ending at 10,738.80 points; the French CAC40 index fell 7.45 points, down 0.09%, closing at 8,501.91 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index dropped 25.72 points, down 0.40%, closing at 6,442.45 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index fell 109.83 points, a decrease of 0.55%, closing at 19,825.07 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 384.84 points, down 0.73%, closing at 52,633.00 points. Asian Stock MarketsThe Nikkei 225 index fell by 3.16%, and the Korean KOSPI index dropped 5.8%. Dollar IndexThe dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.83% that day, finishing at 98.833. In late New York trading, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1674 dollars, up from the previous day's 1.1576 dollars; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3607 dollars, up from the previous day's 1.3534 dollars. 1 dollar exchanged for 158.32 Japanese yen, down from the previous day's 159.60 yen; 1 dollar exchanged for 0.7979 Swiss francs, down from the previous day's 0.8125 Swiss francs; 1 dollar exchanged for 1.3810 Canadian dollars, down from the previous day's 1.3906 Canadian dollars; 1 dollar exchanged for 9.4386 Swedish kronor, down from the previous day's 9.5395 kronor. CryptocurrencyBitcoin touched the $70,000 mark, reporting at $69,358; Ethereum surpassed the $2,000 mark, peaking at $2,333.9. Crude OilLight crude oil futures for September delivery rose by 89 cents, closing at $85.83 per barrel, an increase of 1.05%; October delivery Brent crude oil futures rose by 60 cents, closing at $91.62 per barrel, an increase of 0.66%. Precious MetalsSpot gold surpassed $4,500, closing at $4,523.14; spot silver closed at $66.969. Macroeconomic News Federal Reserve Minutes: Several officials believe an interest rate hike may be necessary. The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting indicated that several officials leaned toward raising rates last month, while many officials noted that if inflation fails to decline, further tightening of monetary policy may be necessary. However, uncertainty still severely impacted the judgments of Federal Reserve officials during the July meeting. The minutes state, On the monetary policy outlook, participants reaffirmed that their interpretation of future data will be a key component of policy discussion. The FOMC decided in July with a vote of 9 to 3 to maintain the benchmark interest rate in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Logue, Hahmark, and Kashkari voted against, advocating for a 25 basis point rate hike. Additionally, two regional Fed presidents who did not have voting rights in July Schmidt and Musallam later indicated that they would have supported a rate hike if they had had voting rights at that meeting. Much of the policy discussion during the July meeting centered around differing assessments of future inflation trends. The minutes noted: Most participants expected that as the impacts of tariffs and prior energy price increases gradually dissipate, inflation would decline gradually throughout the remainder of the year; however, many participants pointed out that the possibility of persistently high inflation still exists. Trump claims to have measures to impose strict sanctions on Iran. On the afternoon of August 19 local time, U.S. President Trump responded to media questions about how he would sanction Iran, stating, We have many areas to sanction, and we have very strict sanctions measures; we will see. Earlier that day, Trump had also told the media that he might restore negotiations with Iran at some point, but Iran must completely abandon its nuclear weapons. Trump also reiterated that the U.S. owns and fully controls the Strait of Hormuz, adding that Irans occasional drone launches indeed cause trouble. Trump stated on social media on August 18 that there are currently no talks or dialogues with Iran. He had previously insisted that the U.S. was negotiating with Iran, but this was repeatedly denied by Iranian officials. Mnuchin becomes the most aggressively intervening U.S. Treasury Secretary in decades. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has become one of the most interventionist Treasury Secretaries in decades through a series of unconventional operations to curb rising U.S. borrowing costs. This week, the Treasury Department announced that it would at least double the planned buyback size of 10 to 30-year Treasury bonds. Previously, the Treasury had signaled a possible reduction in long-term debt issuance. On July 31, Mnuchin led the U.S. governments first purchase of yen in 30 years. Former Treasury official Mark Sobel commented that Mnuchin is definitely an aggressive interventionist, with a style reminiscent of his hedge fund background. He noted that Mnuchin and high-ranking officials in the government are evidently worried about the rise in long-term U.S. Treasury yields. Influenced by inflation, Federal Reserve monetary policy, and budget deficits, the 10-year Treasury yield has continued to rise, in turn raising mortgage rates and dragging down economic growth. Some analysts pointed out that Mnuchin is attempting to stabilize the market through yield curve intervention but also warned that this strategy would be difficult to sustain in the long term without addressing high debt and budget deficits. U.S. debt surpasses $40 trillion, fiscal hawks: Officials need to act quickly. On Tuesday, the U.S. federal debt crossed the key milestone of $40 trillion, and total debt has doubled in less than a decade. U.S. fiscal hawks immediately expressed strong criticism. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, called for lawmakers to take action, noting, No one knows how much of this milestone America can still bear. She stated in a release: Whatever motivation our government officials need to finally take action be it concern from domestic voters, warning signals from financial markets, foreign competition, or the consequences of inaction it should be urgent. She also emphasized that other warning signs are also emerging, such as the rising ratio of debt to the size of the economy. In the first quarter of 2026, the national debt of the U.S. is estimated to be about 122% of its gross domestic product (around $31.87 trillion). Insiders: The Trump administration plans to reduce tariffs on Canadian imported cars from 25% to 15%. According to informed sources, the Trump administration is preparing to lower tariffs on Canadian imported cars from 25% to 15% as part of a broader agreement. Under this agreement, Canada will withdraw its retaliatory trade measures against the U.S. Last year, the White House imposed a 25% tariff on foreign-manufactured cars and trucks. For vehicles produced in Canada and Mexico, the tariff only applies to non-U.S. components in vehicles, aimed at encouraging companies to shift more production segments to the U.S. Informed sources stated that the new 15% tariff rate will also follow this non-U.S. component calculation rule. The specific details of the agreement have not yet been finalized. Furthermore, Trump has previously made temporary amendments to terms or even canceled agreements when trade deals were close to being reached, so the final outcome remains uncertain. Individual Stock News SpaceX (SPCX.US) sought to acquire AI programming startup Cognition. According to informed sources, SpaceX had engaged with the AI programming startup Cognition AI to explore potential acquisition opportunities. If the deal is reached, it would become SpaceX's second major acquisition in recent months aimed at gaining an edge in the AI race. Informed sources noted that the acquisition talks have currently been paused, but both companies are still discussing potential collaborations, including possibly arranging for Cognition to utilize SpaceXs computing capabilities. Cognition was valued at $26 billion in a round of financing in May of this year and is currently in preliminary talks with investors for a new round of financing, with an estimated valuation of at least $40 billion. NVIDIA Corporation plans to invest in AI data labeling company Mercor, with financing valuation potentially reaching $20 billion. According to media reports and an informed source, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) has initiated discussions regarding an investment in the data labeling service provider Mercor. Mercor helps this chip designer develop open-source AI models. This investment will be part of a financing round valued at $20 billion for Mercor. Existing investor General Catalyst has been in talks to lead this financing round. Most of Mercor's past revenue has come from closed-source AI model developers like OpenAI, Alphabet Inc. Class C, and Anthropic. However, as NVIDIA Corporation prioritizes the development of the Nemotron open-source model, Mercors revenue from NVIDIA Corporation is increasing. The Nemotron aims to compete with the worlds most advanced open-source models. According to informed sources, NVIDIA Corporation paid Mercor tens of millions of dollars in the previous quarter. In addition to Mercor, NVIDIA Corporation also sources data from other data providers like Turing and Scale, and it has its internal data team. Major Bank Ratings S&P: Upgrades Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) rating to "BBB+" due to increased confidence in the company's recent demand outlook. The outlook is "positive."