Closing Report 30.07.2021

Amazon plunges after earnings disappointed

AMERICAN MARKETS MID DAY

At European closing time, US stock markets are evolving below the flat line with the Nasdaq 100 losing 0,76% and the Dow Jones 0,34%, while the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal consumption grew 1% in June. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Caterpillar, P&G, and Colgate all reported increases in revenue while Amazon.com posted an underwhelming earnings report making the share price dropped by 7,27%.

EUROPEAN MARKETS CLOSING

For the last day of the week, European markets closed lower with the CAC 40 droping by 0,32%, the DAX by 0,61% led by Fresenius Medical Care plunging by 4,30% and the FTSE 100 losing 0,65% driven by IAG Group sinking by 7,40%. On the data front, the Eurozone  confirmed GDP growth at 2% in the second quarter of 2021, with the unemployment rate going down to 7,7% in June from a revised figure of 8,0% in May and inflation rising to 2,2% in July.

ASIAN PACIFIC MARKETS CLOSING

Asia-Pacific region traded lower today with Chinese back in the red after yesterday’s bounce with the Hang Seng retreating by 1,35% and mainland indexes by 0,42% and 0,81%, while China Evergrande Group plummeted by 11% after a court froze the assets of the highly-indebted real estate developer’s listed onshore subsidiary. Meanwhile, Japan is planning to expand the state of emergency to other regions, the Nikkei 225 is down by 1,80%.

COMMODITIES & FOREX MARKETS

Crude oil prices edged higher today, set for a second straight weekly gain but below recent highs following disappointing U.S. growth data and Covid worries.

Neuralink raised $205 million 

Elon Musk’s brain-machine interface company, Neuralink, has raised $205 million from investors including Google Ventures, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. It comes two years after Neuralink raised $51 million, making a total investment in the company is now standing at $363 million, according to startup tracking firm Crunchbase. Founded in 2016, Neuralink is trying to develop high-bandwidth brain implants that can communicate with phones and computers.

The company says its first product, called the N1 Link, will be « completely invisible » once implanted and transmits data over a wireless connection. Musk, the CEO of Neuralink as well as Tesla and SpaceX, has previously described the Neuralink as a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires going into your brain. Neuralink said Thursday that their mission is to «develop brain-machine interfaces for the treatment of various brain-related diseases, with the ultimate goal of creating a whole-brain interface capable of closer connection between biological and artificial intelligence». “With the direct neural interface, we can improve the bandwidth between your cerebral cortex and your digital university layer in many different ways,” said Musk.

In the long-term, Musk claims that Neuralink could allow humans to telepathically send concepts to each other and remain in a state of « saved » after they die and could then be inserted into a robot or another human being.