BroadChain learned that as of 16:06 on April 24, all three major Wall Street indices closed lower, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq falling 0.36%, 0.41%, and 0.89% respectively, as market concerns grow that US stocks may be approaching a "bubble peak." Trump announced a three-week extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire agreement and stated that negotiations with Iran are "not rushed," while Iran denied internal divisions. The US Department of Defense plans to hold a press conference on Operation "Epic Fury."
The AI sector triggered a "Black Thursday" for software stocks, with ServiceNow and IBM plunging 18% and 9% respectively due to Middle East contract delays and revenue slowdowns, while Palantir, Salesforce, and others fell 6%-9%. After Anthropic launched its competitor Claude Design, Figma dropped nearly 10% in a single day, bringing its year-to-date decline to 54%. Next week, tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta will release earnings reports intensively, with the market watching whether they can reverse pessimistic expectations.
The semiconductor sector bucked the trend and strengthened, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rising for 17 consecutive days to break through 10,000 points. Texas Instruments surged 19.43% in a single day, and Intel's Q1 revenue exceeded expectations, driving its after-hours gains of over 20%. The Silicon Valley layoff wave continues, with Meta announcing a 10% workforce reduction in May and Microsoft launching its first large-scale voluntary retirement plan in 51 years.
Bitcoin encountered resistance at the psychological level of $80,000 after breaking through $79,000, and is now consolidating around $78,000. Institutional buying remains strong, with Morgan Stanley's newly launched MSBT ETF attracting over $153 million in two weeks. Binance's BTC reserves have dropped to 618,300 coins, with long-term holders increasing their holdings by approximately 130,000 coins in 30 days. Open interest across all exchanges stands at 775,000 coins, with an unusually negative funding rate, suggesting potential for a short squeeze. Deribit data shows approximately $8.47 billion in BTC options expiring today, with the maximum pain point at $72,000. Analysts point out that if Bitcoin can hold the key support level of $72,000-$75,000, it may break through $80,000; however, the recent one-sided rally without a deep correction could trigger a larger adjustment.