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【Introduction】The overseas market is not calm!

China Fund News reporter Taylor

Brothers and sisters, let’s take a quick look at the news at home and abroad tonight.

Chinese stocks plummeted

Tonight, the three major U.S. stock indexes fell.

The Chinese concept stocks sector fell nearly 4%! On the news front, Xpeng Motors disclosed its second quarter financial report for 2024. The report showed that Xpeng Motors' total revenue for the quarter was RMB 8.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 60.2%; gross profit margin continued to increase to 14.0%, an increase of 17.9 percentage points year-on-year; net loss was RMB 1.28 billion, a year-on-year decrease of RMB 1.52 billion.

Li Auto and NIO also fell sharply. On the news front, the draft final results of the EU's anti-subsidy investigation on Chinese electric vehicles disclosed that day showed a slight adjustment to the proposed tax rate.

Gold prices dive after hitting new high

Tonight, the price of gold climbed to a new high of $2,531 per ounce, but then plunged and fell!

The rise in gold prices is due on the one hand to strong purchases by central banks of various countries, and on the other hand to the safe-haven demand brought about by the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. The purchase volume of physical gold bars in the over-the-counter market is also considerable.

"We expect gold prices to continue to rise in the first half of 2025 on the back of further Fed rate cuts, U.S. inflation still above target and a weaker dollar," Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank, wrote in a note.

Wayne Gordon of UBS Global Wealth Management is also optimistic about gold's prospects, saying that the price of gold will rise to $2,700 an ounce by around the middle of next year.

Sabrin Chowdhury, head of commodity analysis at BMI, said 2024 is a year that gold prices are expected to hit multiple new highs. Gold thrives in uncertainty, and uncertainty is reaching its peak! "Uncertainty" refers to: the 2024 election year, Ukraine's recent reentry into Russia, and increased tensions in the Middle East.

Another factor driving gold prices higher is the increased likelihood of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September. The July Fed meeting boosted investor confidence that a rate cut next month is "on the table."

Once the Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates, most likely next month, gold could reach $2,700 an ounce, BMI analysts said.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of buying gold, making it more attractive.

Citi analysts said in a report on Monday that gold investor sentiment looks to be rising over the next three to six months.

The bank added that they see a gold price target of $3,000 an ounce by mid-2025, with an average price forecast of $2,550 an ounce in the fourth quarter of this year.

Morgan Stanley International chairman missing

The luxury yacht carrying Mike Lynch, a well-known British software technology entrepreneur, sank in the waters near Sicily, Italy on the 19th. Six people, including Lynch, were missing and another person died.

Also missing are Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, as well as attorney Chris Morvillo, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance.

The Italian Coast Guard said six people were still missing on Tuesday. Authorities confirmed the body of the yacht's cook had been found. One of Lynch's daughters, Bloomer's wife Judy and Movillo's wife Neda were also among the missing.

The British government said on Tuesday it had sent a maritime accident investigation team to the Sicilian capital of Palermo to assist Italian authorities.

The spokesman said diving teams, helicopters and patrol boats had been deployed to assist in the rescue effort.

Lynch is one of the most famous technology entrepreneurs in the UK. He sold his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Lynch was charged with fraud in the United States for this transaction. The charges included tampering with accounts and "inflating" the company's valuation. He was acquitted in June this year.

Many of the ship's guests gathered to celebrate Lynch's freedom after about a year under house arrest in the United States.

Bloomer was previously chairman of Autonomy's audit committee. Movillo is a senior partner at law firm Clifford Chance and a former assistant U.S. attorney in New York who defended Lynch at the British entrepreneur's U.S. trial.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with everyone affected, especially the Bloomer family, as we await further updates on this terrible incident."

Days before the wreck, one of Lynch's co-defendants in the U.S. fraud case, Stephen Chamberlain, was killed when he was hit by a car while jogging near his home in Cambridgeshire, England.

Chamberlain was a senior member of Autonomy's finance department and was indicted along with Lynch in 2018. He was acquitted of all charges earlier this year. After leaving Autonomy in 2012, Chamberlain served as chief operating officer of Darktrace, a cybersecurity company in which Lynch had invested.