* U.S. stock market sees mixed performance, with S&P 500 closing up 0.45%

* Apple and Google fined simultaneously in Europe

* International crude oil prices plummet, with Brent hitting a new low since December 2021

On September 10th (Tuesday), local time, the three major U.S. stock indices showed mixed results, with the S&P 500 Index closing higher for the second consecutive day. The market remained cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August.

As of the close on that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 92.63 points, closing at 40,736.96, a decrease of 0.23%; the S&P 500 Index rose by 24.47 points, closing at 5,495.52, an increase of 0.45%; the NASDAQ Composite Index gained 141.28 points, closing at 17,025.88, an increase of 0.84%.

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In the commodity market, international crude oil futures prices fell sharply on Tuesday. As of the close on that day, the price of light crude oil for delivery in October at the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $2.96 to $65.75 per barrel, a decrease of 4.31%.

The price of Brent crude oil for delivery in November at the European Intercontinental Exchange fell by $2.65, a decrease of 3.7%, closing at $69.19 per barrel, reaching a new low since December 2021. The price index has fallen by 10.2% year-to-date.

Market Overview

The energy sector became the main factor dragging down the market, with the energy sector in the S&P 500 falling by 1.92%. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lowered its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 on Tuesday. OPEC's monthly report indicated that global oil demand is expected to increase by 2.03 million barrels per day in 2024, lower than the previously forecasted 2.11 million barrels per day.

Bank stocks generally fell, with JPMorgan Chase falling by 5.19%, marking the largest single-day decline in four years. Daniel Pinto, President and Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase, stated that external analysts' forecasts for the bank's 2024 expenditures and net interest income (NII) were overly optimistic, which intensified the market's pessimistic sentiment towards large U.S. banks.Pinto stated at an industry conference on Monday that the market anticipates JPMorgan Chase's net interest income to reach $89.5 billion, but considering interest rate expectations, this figure is "not reasonable," and the actual income will be lower than this level.

Due to the continuous growth in demand for artificial intelligence, Oracle's performance in the first fiscal quarter exceeded expectations. The company also announced a partnership with Amazon AWS to provide database services, driving its stock price to close up 11.4%.

Apple Inc.'s stock price fell by 0.36%, to $220.11 per share. The European Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the EU, made a final ruling in the case of Apple's massive tax evasion, determining that the Irish government helped Apple evade taxes through improper tax benefits, and Apple must pay €13 billion (approximately $14.4 billion) in back taxes to the Irish government. Apple anticipates facing up to $10 billion in income tax expenses in the fourth quarter.

The European Court also rejected Google's appeal on the same day, upholding the European Commission's 2017 ruling that it abused its market dominance by favoring its Google Shopping service, with a fine of €2.4 billion.

U.S. Small Business Confidence Index Decreases in August

As the last significant economic data before next week's Federal Reserve meeting, the U.S. CPI growth rate in August is expected to drop from 2.9% to 2.6% year-on-year, while the core CPI is expected to remain at 3.2%. This data could become the next catalyst for the U.S. stock market. The August non-farm employment report released last Friday showed that the U.S. added 142,000 jobs in August, lower than the expected 164,000, and the June employment data was significantly revised down from 179,000 to 118,000, while the July figure was revised down from 114,000 to 89,000, leading to a sell-off in U.S. stocks.

Analyst Shaw from Investec said, "Inflation data has been crucial in the past few months, but this time it may have a smaller impact. The market already believes that price pressures are easing. More importantly, the expected trend of the U.S. economy and whether economic activity can continue or will slow down is of greater concern."

On Tuesday, a report released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) showed that the profitability of U.S. small businesses has deteriorated, and their views on sales and economic prospects have become more pessimistic. The NFIB report indicated that the small business confidence index fell by 2.5 points in August, to 91.2 points, marking the largest decline since June 2022. Eight out of the 10 sub-indices of the index fell, with the sales expectations index leading the decline, down by 9 points.

Due to high prices, interest rates, and labor costs, about 37% of companies reported worsening profits, reaching the highest level since 2010. Among the businesses reporting a decline in profits, 31% attributed it to weak sales, 17% to rising material prices, and another 13% mentioned rising labor costs.

After experiencing the worst week in two years, the three major U.S. stock indexes started the week with a rebound. However, against the backdrop of a lack of new positive news and investors' continued caution about the impact of seasonal factors on the stock market, the outlook for U.S. stocks is still considered uncertain.Goldman Sachs strategist Christian Mueller-Glissmann stated that although the U.S. stock market may experience a pullback before the end of the year due to rising valuations, uncertainty in economic growth prospects, and policy ambiguity, the likelihood of entering a bear market is quite low, as the economy is to some extent supported by a "healthy private sector."