Overnight US stocks | In July, non-farm payrolls unexpectedly declined, and the S&P 500 index reached a record closing high. SpaceX (SPCX.US) surged nearly 16%.

On Friday, all three major indices closed higher, with the S&P 500 index hitting a record closing high. In July, the seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased by 23,000, marking the first decline since February; the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.1%, the lowest level since June 2025. Traders expect this data will prompt the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged. This week, U.S. stock indices experienced significant gains, with the Dow rising a cumulative 2.96%, the Nasdaq increasing by 5.19%, and the S&P 500 up by 3.58%. As of the market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 151.83 points, an increase of 0.28%, closing at 54,036.93 points; the Nasdaq climbed 342.26 points, up 1.30%, finishing at 26,690.62 points; the S&P 500 gained 47.68 points, up 0.62%, ending at 7,757.64 points. SpaceX (SPCX.US) surged 15.8%, Qualcomm (QCOM.US) rose 4.6%, and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) increased by 2.2%. Most memory stocks saw declines, with SK Hynix (SKHY.US) falling nearly 4% and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) down 0.4%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed up 0.7%. The optical communication sector had a strong performance, with Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI.US) rising 9%, Lumentum (LITE.US) increasing 6.2%, Corning Inc (GLW.US) up 5.4%, and Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL.US) gaining 3.8%. In European markets, the German DAX 30 index rose 163.94 points, up 0.63%, closing at 26,329.17 points; the UK FTSE 100 index increased by 35.52 points, a gain of 0.33%, to 10,903.41 points; the French CAC 40 index rose 15.22 points, up 0.17%, to 8,714.93 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index gained 22.09 points, up 0.34%, to 6,524.65 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index dropped 16.42 points, down 0.08%, to 20,163.98 points; and the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 59.28 points, or 0.11%, to 53,742.00 points. In Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 0.12%, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped by 0.6%. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.39% that day, closing at 99.539. As of the New York close, 1 euro was exchanged for 1.1564 dollars, up from 1.1524 dollars the previous trading day; 1 pound was exchanged for 1.3499 dollars, up from 1.3457 dollars; 1 dollar bought 157.55 yen, down from 158.33 yen the previous day; 1 dollar bought 0.8076 Swiss francs, down from 0.8122 Swiss francs; 1 dollar bought 1.3937 Canadian dollars, down from 1.4014 Canadian dollars; and 1 dollar exchanged for 9.4701 Swedish kronor, down from 9.5068 Swedish kronor. In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin briefly surpassed $65,000, and at the time of this report, it was at $64,888; Ethereum rose by 0.5%, listed at $1,914. In crude oil, the price of light crude oil futures for September delivery rose by $0.89, closing at $78.18 per barrel, a gain of 1.15%; London Brent crude oil futures for October delivery increased by $1.06, finishing at $83.55 per barrel, an increase of 1.29%. In precious metals, spot gold rose by 2.39% to $4,341.45; spot silver increased by over 3.2%, listed at $63.489. In macro news, Iranian officials stated that they have clarified the overall framework for navigation issues in the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. On July 7, it was reported that spokesperson Hassan Kashkavi of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Committee stated that Iran and Oman have outlined the overall framework for a memorandum of understanding concerning shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with the final text and specific details to be announced soon. On August 6, Iran publicly proposed initial details of a strategic management plan for the Strait of Hormuz, which includes prohibiting hostile parties from passing through the strait, with violators facing fines of up to 20% of the value of the goods. Iran has recently emphasized that arrangements related to the Strait of Hormuz should only be negotiated between Iran and Oman, rejecting the involvement of any external powers. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump stated on the 6th that the U.S. is involved in negotiations concerning the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Secretary Basant: The non-farm report underestimates the potential strength of the U.S. economy. Basant stated on social media, The employment report released today underestimates the potential strength of the real economy: American domestic businesses are being built, factories are producing, and worker productivity is increasing. July marked the fifth consecutive month of job growth in the goods-producing sector. So far this year, the goods-producing sector has created 105,000 jobs, achieving the strongest start for seven months since 2023. Additionally, the productivity growth rate in the second quarter exceeded expected levels by more than double, creating favorable conditions for sustained growth in the U.S. economy and real wage growth for U.S. workers. Strong growth expectations for the third quarter further indicate that the U.S. economy is likely to accelerate. As the U.S. produces more products and worker productivity continues to improve, the domestic economy will benefit: wage levels will be higher, businesses will be stronger, consumers will have more choices, and the economic expansion will be based on supply-side strengths that can reduce inflation, rather than relying on temporary stimulus effects. Media: Trump advances the impeachment of Federal Reserve Governor Cook, launching the process based on serious misconduct. According to reports, sources say Trump is moving forward with actions to impeach Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Insiders familiar with the related correspondence disclosed that the White House sent a letter to Cook this week stating that Trump is considering removing her from her position on the Federal Reserve Board and has requested a response to the allegations within three weeks. This action follows the Supreme Court's ruling in June, which upheld restrictions on the president's attempts to remove Federal Reserve members. After the ruling, Trump stated he would take appropriate action to remove Cook immediately. Trump appears to have fulfilled that promise this week, formally initiating the impeachment process based on unproven allegations of mortgage fraud, citing serious misconduct. The letter was signed by Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, who believes that even if these allegations do not constitute a crime, Cook's actions still amount to misconduct. Cook's attorney Lowell issued a statement saying, These allegations are baseless, and we will challenge this latest pretext. OpenAI halts development of the new model Astra, concerned about its capacity for critical cyber attacks. Reports indicate that OpenAI stated it cannot rule out that its upcoming model Astra possesses critical network capabilities, leading the company to expand the scope of security testing and pause internal activities that do not meet stricter security requirements. This is the latest sign of the rapid advancement of AI model network capabilities. OpenAI mentioned that after an internal assessment of Astra, we cannot rule out its possessing critical cyber capabilities. Before releasing Astra, OpenAI will broaden testing and safety measures for the model and slow the development process in accordance with the companys readiness framework first issued in 2023 until appropriate safety protections are established. OpenAI also stated that Astra was not involved in the Hugging Face vulnerability attack. This may mark the first instance of an AI frontier laboratory committing to slow its AI model development process due to cybersecurity concerns. New York Fed Survey: American consumers have become more optimistic about employment and inflation prospects. A survey released by the New York Fed on Friday showed that Americans' overall expectations for the job market improved in July, while their expectations for future inflation declined. The survey indicated that respondents believed the probability of finding a new job if they became unemployed rose to 46.2%, the highest level so far this year. This improvement was most notable among individuals with a high school education or less, as well as among those with annual family incomes below $50,000. Meanwhile, consumers expected the inflation rate over the next year to slightly decrease from 3.7% to 3.6%. Expectations for inflation over the next three and five years remained unchanged at 3.3% and 3%, respectively. However, consumers still expressed concerns about the overall labor market situation. The average probability of expecting the unemployment rate to rise over the next year has increased. This upward trend was observed across all age groups and income brackets. Respondents also felt that the likelihood of losing their jobs in the coming year has slightly increased, but it remains below the 12-month average. Major Bank Ratings Wedbush: Upgrades Airbnb, Inc. Class A (ABNB.US) from Neutral to Outperform, raising the target price from $152 to $200. Stifel: Raises the target price for Cloudflare (NET.US) from $260 to $370. Morgan Stanley: Resumes coverage on Baker Hughes (BKR.US) with an Overweight rating and a target price of $70.