Market analysis on May 2

Against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve maintaining high interest rates and announcing an easing of quantitative austerity (QT) in June, the three major US stock indexes experienced sharp fluctuations. Although the S&P and NASDAQ indices eventually recorded two consecutive days of decline, the market once surged by more than 1% after Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's speech. Among them, Amazon closed up more than 2% due to good earnings performance, while Starbucks plummeted 16% due to poor performance.

Chip stocks are generally under pressure. The chip stock index fell by more than 3%. Among them, Nvidia and Ultramix fell nearly 4% and 14%, respectively, and AMD also plummeted 9%. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve's statement had a profound impact on financial markets. Powell stressed that although further interest rate hikes are unlikely in the short term, it will take longer to gain confidence in interest rate cuts, especially when the labor market may unexpectedly weaken.

In terms of economic data, the US ISM manufacturing index unexpectedly fell to 49.2 in April, indicating a contraction in manufacturing activity. Meanwhile, ADP employment data for April was better than expected, but JOLTS job vacancies fell to a three-year low in March, indicating that the labor market is slowing down.

At the same time, Qualcomm announced second-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. Thanks to strong demand for AI chips in smartphones and PC computers, the company's performance and guidance for the next quarter showed a positive growth trend. The market gave a positive assessment of Qualcomm's future prospects, and its stock price rose 5% in after-hours trading.

In international financial markets, the dollar index accelerated its decline after the session, while the yen surged by more than 3% at the end of the session. Crude oil prices also fell sharply, the biggest drop in nearly four months, while gold rebounded after the Federal Reserve's decision.

In the Chinese market, Chinese securities have generally rebounded. In particular, after NIO announced strong delivery volumes, the stock price surged by nearly 12%. Meanwhile, the offshore RMB exchange rate surged more than 200 points against the US dollar in the intraday period, hitting a new high in five weeks.