Market Overview

U. S. stocks closed lower on Friday, with the Dow down about 300 points. Investors are reviewing this week's corporate earnings and economic data. The US consumer confidence index fell unexpectedly in July, with retail sales data exceeding expectations in June.

The earnings season for U. S. stocks kicked off this week, and a series of economic data were released this week. Economic data were mixed, with both the core consumer price index (CPI) and the producer price index (PPI) rising at their fastest pace in decades, highlighting the impact of supply chain tensions and labour shortages.

As of press time, the three major stock index futures fell, Dow futures fell 0.93%, Nasdaq futures fell 0.38%, and S & P 500 index futures fell 0.69%.

China listed stock

• Most of the hot Chinese stocks fell, with New Oriental Education & Technology Group down more than 7%, TAL Education Group and JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd down more than 4%.

Before US stock trading on Monday, New Oriental Education & Technology Group fell more than 5 per cent, TAL Education Group and JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd fell more than 4 per cent, and NIO Inc., JD.com, DiDi Global Inc., Pinduoduo and BABA fell more than 2 per cent.

On the news side, according to media reports, Li Auto Inc. submitted an application for listing in Hong Kong in May this year and will adopt the method of dual listing. If all goes well, Li Auto Inc. will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as August.

BABA announced that the board of directors will hold a board meeting on August 2, 2021, at which the unaudited results and results announcement of the Group for the three months ended June 30, 2021 will be approved. The Group will announce its results on August 3, 2021.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd will issue NT $17.6 billion in corporate bonds with a five-year interest rate of 0.5 per cent.

• PSAC rose more than 7% before trading, and Faraday's first model will be booked in the future.

According to media reports, the official website of Faraday Future (Faraday Future, referred to as FF) and App show that the production version of its first model, the FF91, has been officially scheduled. According to the official website, users need to pay 50, 000 yuan as a deposit for priority booking to experience the futuristic version of FF91 in advance, and the deposit is fully refundable.

It is reported that the FF 91 will be officially unveiled at its headquarters in Los Angeles on Sept. 21 and will be available in the first half of 2022.

As of press time, PSAC rose more than 7% before trading to US $14.3.

Active US stocks before the day

• The largest M & An in the history of Zoom was born! Proposed acquisition of Five9 for US $14.7 billion

On Sunday, videoconferencing software developer Zoom announced that it would buy Five9 for $14.7 billion, the largest acquisition ever made by Zoom. Under the agreement, Zoom will acquire each Five9,Five9 share held by Five9 shareholders in an all-share form and will receive 0.5533 Class A common shares of Zoom. Upon completion of the transaction, Five9 will become an operating subsidiary of Zoom.

Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9, will become president of Zoom and will continue to serve as Five9 CEO, reporting to Eric Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom. The deal is subject to Five9 shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

Five9 provides cloud software for contact centers to implement customer service, sales, and marketing functions related to contact centers. The company's performance has grown rapidly since the beginning of 2020 as demand for contact center technology surged, with revenue up 33% last year to $435 million.

Zoom said late Sunday that the acquisition would help increase its influence among corporate customers and accelerate its long-term growth potential by entering the $24 billion contact center market.

As of press time, Five9 rose more than 10% before trading, while Zoom fell more than 1% before trading.

• Virgin Galactic was down more than 6% before trading, down more than 40% in the previous six trading days.

Virgin Galactic fell before trading and is now down more than 6% at $28.35. The stock has fallen more than 40% in the previous six sessions.

As Richard Branson's Virgin Galaxy paves the way for space tourism, its sister company, Virgin orbit (Virgin Orbit), is trying to dominate the satellite sector by offering the most efficient price possible at the lowest cost. Taylor Grinnell, Virgin Orbital's new vice president for flight and launch activities, said the satellite launch market was growing at an "unprecedented rate".

Virgin Orbital uses a technology called aerial launch, and its 70-foot-tall, 57000-pound launcher one rocket is launched at an altitude of 35000 feet under the wings of a 747400 jet called the Cosmic Girl, rather than from a traditional ground launch pad.

On June 30, Virgin Orbital made its second successful launch, putting seven satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbital plans to launch another satellite in the fourth quarter of this year.