What happened?, The Foreign Exchange Bureau speaks out late at night! The European and American stock markets fell across the board. Morgan Stanley | Index | State Administration of Foreign Exchange

On August 15th local time, European stock markets generally fell, with the FTSE 100 index in the UK falling more than 1% and the CAC40 index in France falling nearly 1%. The three major US stock indexes collectively opened lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Index, and S&P 500 Index all falling, US banking stocks falling across the board, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group, and others all falling more than 1%, and the SEA plummeting more than 21%.

On the same day, the yield of US two-year treasury bond bonds rose to 5%, approaching the peak of the year; The yield of 10-year and 30-year treasury bond bonds of the United States hit the highest level since October last year. Retail sales in the United States increased by 0.7% month on month in July, exceeding market expectations and marking the largest increase since January 2023.

On the evening of August 15th, Wang Chunying, Deputy Director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, stated in an answer to reporters about the situation of foreign exchange receipts and payments in July 2023 that China's foreign exchange market maintained a rational and orderly operation in July, and the domestic foreign exchange supply and demand remained basically balanced.

Overall net purchase of domestic stocks and bonds by foreign investors in July

On the evening of August 15th, Wang Chunying, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesperson, stated in an answer to reporters about the situation of foreign exchange receipts and payments in July 2023 that China's foreign exchange market maintained a rational and orderly operation in July. In July, domestic fundamental expectations improved, and the RMB/USD exchange rate stabilized and rebounded. In this situation, there has been an increase in "buying foreign exchange on dips" by market entities, which is a normal and rational transaction. In addition, the seasonal peak of external dividend payouts has led to a slight deficit in bank foreign exchange settlement and sales for the month. Taking into account other supply and demand factors, the domestic foreign exchange supply and demand remain basically balanced.

"The overall flow of cross-border funds through the main channels is stable." Wang Chunying analyzed that firstly, trade in goods remains the fundamental source of cross-border capital inflows. In July, the net inflow of cross-border funds under goods trade remained at a relatively high level, higher than the monthly average in the first half of the year. The second is that the inflow of overseas capital is gradually improving. The net inflow of cross-border funds for foreign direct investment in China has rebounded, and the net inflow scale in July was the second highest in nearly a year; Cross border funds investing in securities in China have maintained a net inflow, while foreign investment has overall net purchases of domestic stocks and bonds. The third is for domestic entities to carry out outbound investment in an orderly manner.

European and American stock markets fell across the board

On August 15th local time, European stock markets fell across the board. As of 22:25 Beijing time, the FTSE 100 index in the UK, the CAC40 index in France, and the DAX index in Germany all fell by more than 1%.

Before the opening of the US stock market, the US Census Bureau released retail sales data for July. Retail sales in the US increased by 0.7% month on month, the largest increase since January this year, with an expected increase of 0.4%. The previous value was revised from an increase of 0.2% to an increase of 0.3%; Core retail sales increased by 1% month on month, with an expected increase of 0.4%. The previous value increased by 0.2%.

On the 15th, all three major US stock indexes opened lower. As of 22:25 Beijing time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Index, and S&P 500 Index have fallen 0.9%, 0.99%, and 0.96% respectively.

In terms of popular stocks, Alibaba, Apple, Microsoft, and Chaowei Semiconductor all saw a slight decline, while Tesla saw a slight increase. On the news page, Tesla's official website shows that Tesla has launched the lower priced new Model X Standard Range Edition and the new Model S Standard Range Edition in the United States.

Nvidia rose 1.66%, and Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore rated Nvidia as "overweight" with a target price of $500.

SEA's revenue in the second quarter did not meet expectations, falling more than 21%.

US banking stocks fell across the board, with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo all falling more than 1%. Chris Wolfe, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, warns that the US banking industry is gradually approaching the beginning of another turbulence, with dozens of US banks facing the risk of comprehensive downgrades in their ratings.

Gates Foundation increases its holdings in Berkshire

The 13F report released on August 14th local time showed that the total holdings of Gates Foundation Trust in the US stock market reached $42.06 billion in the second quarter, compared to $36.46 billion at the end of the first quarter.

The report shows that the Gates Foundation's holdings are relatively concentrated, with the top ten holdings accounting for 96.14% of its total investment portfolio.

In the second quarter, the Gates Foundation increased its holdings of Berkshire Hathaway B-shares to 25.1 million shares, with a market value of $8.57 billion; Heavy holdings in Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway B-shares, Canadian National Railways, Waste Management Corporation, and Caterpillar.

Offshore RMB fell by over 400 points

On August 15th, the offshore RMB against the US dollar exchange rate fell below the 7.28, 7.29, 7.30, 7.31, and 7.32 levels during trading. According to Wind data, as of 21:23, the offshore RMB against the US dollar fell by over 400 points, a decrease of 0.59%.

As of 21:20, the onshore RMB/USD exchange rate has fallen by 285 points.

On August 15th, the People's Bank of China launched a convenient operation for a one-year medium-term loan of 401 billion yuan and a 7-day reverse repurchase operation of 204 billion yuan. The winning interest rates were 2.5% and 1.80%, respectively, compared to 2.65% and 1.90% in the previous round. This is the second time the central bank has lowered interest rates since the beginning of this year. In June this year, the central bank lowered the one-year MLF operating rate and the 7-day reverse repurchase operating rate by 10 basis points each.

The US dollar index briefly rose sharply after the release of retail sales data in July, but then fell back. According to Wind data, as of 21:23, the US dollar index fell 0.25% to 102.91.

The Russian central bank raised key interest rates to 12%

On August 15th local time, the Central Bank of Russia held a non routine meeting and decided to raise the key interest rate by 350 basis points from the previous 8.5% to 12%.

The Bank of Russia announced that the next meeting of its board of directors will be held on September 15, 2023, during which it will continue to review key interest rate levels.

The Russian central bank has stated that it will make further decisions on key interest rate levels based on actual and expected inflation dynamics, economic restructuring processes, internal and external risk assessments, and financial market reactions.

Wenzhou increases the amount of provident fund loans

The Wenzhou Housing Provident Fund Management Center in Zhejiang Province issued a notice today on further improving the policies and regulations for housing provident fund business in our city. The document proposes to clarify the down payment ratio for personal housing loans. For families of employees who purchase, construct, renovate, or renovate their first home and apply for personal housing provident fund loans, the minimum down payment ratio for the loan is 20%; For purchasing, constructing, renovating, or renovating a second home for a family, and applying for a personal housing provident fund loan, the minimum down payment ratio for the loan is 40%.