Zhi Tong Cai Jing·2025-12-18 07:44Market Overview - The three major U.S. indices declined, with technology stocks leading the drop. The Dow Jones fell by 228.29 points (0.47%) to 47885.97, the Nasdaq dropped by 418.14 points (1.81%) to 22693.32, and the S&P 500 decreased by 78.83 points (1.16%) to 6721.43. Tesla (TSLA.US) fell over 4.6%, while Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose by 3.8% and Oracle dropped by 5.4% [1] European Market - In Europe, the DAX30 index fell by 120.01 points (0.50%) to 23967.32, while the FTSE 100 index increased by 85.72 points (0.89%) to 9770.51. The CAC40 index decreased by 20.11 points (0.25%) to 8086.05, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index dropped by 32.63 points (0.57%) to 5685.20 [1] Asia-Pacific Market - The Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.26%, and the KOSPI index increased by 1.43%. The Indonesian Composite index fell by 0.1% [2] Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin dropped over 2%, reaching a low of $85,314, while Ethereum fell over 4.6% to $2,825 [3] Precious Metals - Spot gold increased by 0.84% to $4,338.62, supported by expectations of further easing of U.S. monetary policy and strong investor demand. Market anticipation of a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in 2026 is also influencing gold prices [3] Oil Market - Light crude oil futures for January 2026 rose by $0.67 to $55.94 per barrel (1.21% increase), while February Brent crude oil futures increased by $0.76 to $59.68 per barrel (1.29% increase) [3] Macro News - Federal Reserve Governor Waller indicated that there is still room for interest rate cuts, suggesting a gap of 50 to 100 basis points from the neutral rate. He emphasized that there is no rush to cut rates given the current economic outlook [4] Employment Data - The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6% from 4% since President Trump's term began. Historically, rising unemployment rates have correlated with losses in congressional seats for the incumbent party during midterm elections [5] Healthcare Legislation - Four moderate Republican representatives joined Democrats in a petition to push for a vote on extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire and could significantly increase insurance costs for approximately 22 million Americans [6][7] Company News - Micron Technology (MU.US) provided an optimistic revenue forecast for the current quarter, expecting between $18.3 billion and $19.1 billion, significantly above analysts' expectations of $14.4 billion. The stock rose approximately 6% in after-hours trading [9] - Google (GOOG.US) is working on a plan to enhance the compatibility of its AI chips with the popular AI software framework PyTorch, aiming to challenge Nvidia's dominance in the AI computing market [9] - Oracle (ORCL.US) saw its stock price drop nearly 50% from its September peak due to increased capital expenditure guidance and delays in data center deliveries, leading to concerns over debt risks [10] - Nvidia (NVDA.US) reached a settlement with Valeo over a lawsuit involving the alleged theft of autonomous driving technology trade secrets [11][12] Analyst Ratings - Jefferies raised the target price for Apple (AAPL.US) from $246.99 to $283.36 [13]