Global Tech Selloff Intensifies as the U.S. Prepares to Ratchet Up China Trade Restrictions

Alexander Garcia
17 Jul, 2024
Miami

Market indexes dropped sharply, led by a tech selloff, on the news that the U.S. government is considering the most stringent restrictions if U.S. companies continue to pass on advanced semiconductor technology to China. 

In a broad selloff, stocks on Wall Street faced selling pressure as investors adjusted portfolios for the probable rate cut, rising trade tensions with China, and escalating political rhetoric ahead of the U.S. presidential election. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite decreased more than 1% and 2.6%, respectively, as selling accelerated on Wall Street. 

Semiconductor stocks led the decliners, with AMD, ASML, Broadcom, Nvidia, TSMC, and Qualcomm dropping between 3% and 8%, but Intel advanced more than 3%. 

Donald Trump, the Republican Party candidate for the U.S. president and a convicted felon, ramped up political rhetoric to impose additional tariffs on imports from Chinese companies. 

Moreover, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is also looking to place additional penalties on companies sharing advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology with China. 

Bloomberg News first reported the President Biden administration's efforts to ramp up trade restrictions. 

On the economic front, housing starts and completions were ahead of the market's expectations, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. 

Housing starts in June increased 3% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 1.353 million, building permits rose 3.4% to 1.446 million, and completions soared 10.1% to 1.71 million. 

Building permits declined 3.1% from the corresponding month a year ago, and housing starts fell 4.4% over the same period. 

Housing starts growth was driven by a 22% surge from the previous month in five units or more to 360,000, overcoming the 2.2% decline in single-family starts in June to an annual rate of 980,000. 

Privately-owned housing completions reached an annual rate of 1.71 million, an increase of 10.1% from the revised May estimate of 1.553 million, 15.5% higher than the 1.48 million rate in the corresponding month a year ago. 

Industrial production, which includes mining, utilities, and manufacturing, increased 0.6% from the previous month in June, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. 

Mining production advanced 0.3%, utilities output rose 2.8%, and manufacturing output moved up 0.4%. 

On an annual basis, overall industrial production increased 1.6%  in June from 0.3% in May, and the largest increase since November 2022. 

For the second quarter, industrial output increased at an annual rate of 4.3%, and manufacturing production advanced 3.4%. 

Capacity utilization moved up to 78.8% in June, a rate that is 0.9 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2023) average.

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 1.4% to 5,651.06, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.7% to 18,007.51.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.48%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.19%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged higher to 4.39%.

WTI crude oil increased $1.99 to $82.75 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 2 cent2 to $2.05 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $11.41 to $2,456.92 an ounce, and silver was down $1.09 to $30.17. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 103.72.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Semiconductor shares plunged after a Bloomberg report suggested that President Joe Biden's administration is looking to impose a tougher penalty on companies sharing advanced technologies with China. 

Nvidia declined 5.4% to $119.53, AMD dropped 7.1% to $165.03, ASML Holding plunged 10.9% to $953.52, and BE Semiconductor fell 5.7% to $174.45. 

Taiwan Semiconductor decreased 7.2% to $172.66 after Republican Party U.S. President candidate and convicted felon said that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defending the nation. 

Five Below plunged 17.5% to $84.33 after the deep discount retailer lowered its second quarter outlook and announced the departure of chief executive Joel Anderson. 

Net sales in the fiscal first quarter ending on May 4 increased 11.8% to $811.9 million from $726.2 million, net income decreased to $31.5 million from $37.5 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to 57 cents from 67 cents a year ago. 

Comparable same-store sales decreased by 2.3% compared to the quarter in 2023. 

The company estimated fiscal second quarter sales between $830 million and $850 million, net income between $32 million and $38 million, and diluted earnings per share between 57 cents and 69 cents. 

U.S. Bancorp rose 4.3% to $45.15 after the bank reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Total revenue in the second quarter declined 4.3% to $6.9 billion from $7.2 billion, net income increased $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion, and diluted earnings per share increased to 97 cents from 84 cents. 

 

European Markets Extended 3-day Decline Ahead of ECB Rate Decisions 

European stock indexes declined for the third day in a row as investors reviewed the latest updates on inflation. 

Benchmark indexes in Paris, London, and Frankfurt decreased as investors awaited the monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank later in the week. 

Consumer price inflation in the eurozone eased to 2.5% in June from 2.6% in May, according to the final estimate released by Eurostat on Wednesday. 

Inflation has cooled over the last year from 5.5%, largely because of the decline in energy prices. 

The UK's consumer price inflation held steady at 2.0% in June, matching the rate in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics reported on Wednesday. 

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index decreased by 0.3% to 18,466.30; the CAC-40 index fell by 0.1% to 7,570.81; and the FTSE 100 index rose by 0.3% to 8,187.46. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged lower to 2.42%. French bonds inched lower to 3.09%; the UK gilts inched lower to 4.07%; and Italian bonds decreased to 3.70%.

The euro edged lower to $1.09; the British pound inched higher to $1.30; and the U.S. dollar weakened to 89.78 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $1.35 to $85.05 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas rose by €1.19 to €31.60 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers

Antofagasta plc decreased 4% to 2,043.0 pence after the Chilean copper miner said annual production is to be near the bottom of the end of the company's guidance. 

Reckitt Benckiser Group increased by 0.2% 4,279.0 pence, and the company said its U.S. sales would be negatively impacted after a tornado struck a warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana. 

Demant AS dropped 112.5% to DKK 260.40 after the Danish hearing aid company issued a profit warning. 

Smiths Group decreased 0.8% to 1,739.0 pence, and the engineering company plans to sell 1.2 million shares in ICU Medical. 

ASML Holding decreased 7.7% to €901.60, and BE Semiconductor declined 2.9% to €162.65 on the worry of additional curbs on exports to China. 

Allianz SE rose 0.4% to €262.50, and the German insurance company said it acquired a majority stake in Singapore-based Income Insurance for $1.6 billion. 

Adidas AG rose 3.6% to €236.20, and the sportswear maker raised its annual outlook. 

The company said revenue in the second quarter increased 11% from a year ago. 

 

Japan Indexes Lacked Direction; Toho, Komatsu and Toray Advanced 

Amid positive market sentiment, stock indexes in Tokyo advanced in Wednesday's trading, supported by gains in overnight trading in New York. 

The Nikkei 225 stock average and the Topix index diverged at close but advanced in early trading. 

Market sentiment was positive on the growing conviction that the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to start its rate cuts as early as September. 

In addition, the S&P 500 index advanced to a new high as the market rally broadened beyond mega-cap tech stocks. 

The small-cap-focused Russell 200 index gained nearly 2% and increased for the fifth session in a row. 

Closer to home, on the economic front, the Tankan survey showed business sentiment among large manufacturers increased to a seven-month high in July, despite the weakening of confidence among nonmanufacturing companies. 

Investors are looking forward to the Bank of Japan's policy meeting at the end of this month, and the policy committee is expected to announce its bond tapering plan from the current purchase of 6 trillion yen a month. 

 

Japan Stock Movers 

The Nikkei 225 stock average decreased 0.3% to 41,147.42, and the Topix index advanced 0.4% to 2,917.04. 

Tech stocks traded down following the weakness in overnight trading in New York. 

Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Screen Holdings, and SoftBank declined between 0.3% and 1.5%. 

Industrial and consumer exporters gained from thin trading. 

Mitsubishi Electric, Canon, Sony, and Panasonic gained between 0.2% and 2%. 

Toho Co. soared 11.2% to ¥5,064.0 after the entertainment distribution company reported a sharp increase in earnings in its movie business. 

Net profit in the quarter ending in May increased 31% to 16.5 billion yen, or $102. million, driven by a 16% increase in revenue to 86 billion yen. 

Operating profit from its movie unit increased 53% to 20.10 billion yen, and the company retained its annual earnings outlook for the fiscal year ending in February 2025. 

The company forecasts annual revenue to fall 1.2% to 280 billion yen and net income to drop 14% to 39 billion yen. 

Hitachi Construction Machinery, Toray Industry, Komatsu, and Sumitomo Heavy Industries advanced between 3% and 4%. 

 

China's Third Plenum Focuses On President Xi Jinping's Vision not Market Measures

Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong lacked direction as investors awaited the announcements from policymakers at the conclusion of the third plenum on Thursday. 

The Hang Seng Index and the CSI 300 index hugged the flatline amid downbeat expectations of new economic reforms and market-supportive measures from policymakers. 

The much-delayed third plenum is likely to focus on how to implement President Xi Jinping's vision of modernization, industrial diversification, and reducing reliance on the U.S. and Europe for advanced technology. 

Investor sentiment has turned negative as Chinese policymakers are likely to focus on supporting new technological innovation and expanding manufacturing capabilities. 

These government initiatives are likely to provide much-needed impetus to expanding China's technological capabilities, but they will also come at the expense of weakening the domestic economy. 

The International Monetary Fund revised its annual economic growth outlook to 5% from 4.6%, citing strong exports and a stronger-than-expected rebound in private consumption. 

 

China Stock Movers 

The Hang Seng index declined 0.1% to 17,720.0, and the CSI 300 index fell 0.1% to 3,495.64. 

JD.com added 2.2% to HK $106.80, Baidu advanced 0.5% to HK $91.60, and Alibaba Group increased 0.8% to HK $76.10. 

BYD decreased 1% to HK $238.20, Li Auto jumped 2.3% to HK $80.35, and Xpeng advanced 2.5% to HK $34.40. 

ICBC was unchanged at HK $4.38, the Bank of China declined 1.4% to HK $3.43, and China Minsheng was unchanged at HK $2.82.