The NASDAQ rose more than 1% to smooth out the decline in the new year, and the NASDAQ 100 closed to a record high. Chip stocks outperformed the market. TSMC closed up nearly 10%, AMD rose more than 5%, and Nvidia closed up nearly 2%; Apple rose more than 3%, leading blue chip technology stocks, Microsoft's record high, while Tesla fell nearly 2%. The China Securities Index rose more than 1% at the beginning of the session and then turned down, losing four times in a row. Xiaopeng Motor fell more than 2%. After the US unemployment data was released, the yield on ten-year US bonds hit another one-month high. The two-year yield turned up and then fell; the US dollar index turned up, approaching a one-month high in the intraday period, and then returned to a one-month high. Bitcoin fell more than $2,000 in the intraday period and fell below $41,000. The offshore renminbi rose more than 100 points in the intraday period to recover 7.21, then turned down in the short term. U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected. Crude oil sales hit a three-week high, equalizing the year-long decline. US oil rose more than 2%. Gold ended two consecutive losses and broke out of a five-week low. Renxi rose seven times in a row, and Luntong broke away from its two-month low.
The US stock market, which has declined over the past few days, ushered in a major rebound. TSMC's profit and revenue decline in the fourth quarter was lower than expected, and it is expected to return to steady growth in the first quarter of 2024, with annual revenue growth of more than 20%. As a major supplier to the US chip industry and Apple, TSMC's guidance has brought good news of a recovery in smartphone and computing demand.
TSMC's earnings report encouraged a strong overall rebound in chip stocks. The chip stock index is approaching an all-time high in the intraday period, AMD surged, and teamed up with AI benchmark Nvidia to reach a record high in stock prices. Apple's stock price also rebounded strongly, reversing the decline since the beginning of the year. At a time of growing questioning on Wall Street, Bank of America raised Apple's rating and expected the stock price to rise by more than 20%. It is optimistic about the long-term performance prospects of the iPhone, and mentioned the promotion of the AI and mixed reality headset Vision Pro on Apple hardware and services.
Technology stocks became the main driver of the rise in US stocks on Thursday, supporting the rebound of the S&P and NASDAQ indices. Meanwhile, the Dow turned down in the intraday period, and its constituent stocks, which were affected by the performance warning of its peers Humana, led the decline. At noon, the US Senate passed the federal government's short-term spending bill, boosting the expansion of the collective gains of the three major stock indexes, and reached new high levels at the end of the session.
Another data showed that the US economy was stronger than expected: the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time last week did not increase month-on-month as analysts expected; instead, it fell by 16,000 to 187,000, a new low since September 2022, highlighting the strength of the labor market at the beginning of the year. After the data was released, the intraday price of US Treasury bonds declined and yields rose in the short term. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond hit another one-month high. The yield on two-year US Treasury bonds, which are sensitive to interest rates, once leveled off the intraday decline and turned up, but soon returned to a downward trend.
The Fed official's speech once again suppressed expectations of recent interest rate cuts. Before the unemployment data was released, Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Bostic reiterated that he did not expect interest rates to be cut until the third quarter of this year, saying that if the decline in inflation slows down, it is best to maintain high interest rates for a longer period of time. The bond market reacted relatively calmly.
On the foreign exchange market side, after the US unemployment data was released, the US dollar index completely erased the intraday decline and turned upward, once approaching the one-month high set on Wednesday. Non-US currencies are under intraday pressure. After the US data was released, the British pound, which reversed three consecutive declines after the announcement of a rise in the UK CPI on Wednesday, fell rapidly, and the yen quickly fell, approaching the seven-week low set on Wednesday. The offshore renminbi once rose more than 100 points to recover 7.21, breaking away from the two-month low set on Wednesday. After the US data was released, it fell in the short term.
Among commodities, after the US unemployment data was released, gold recovered most of its gains during the day, but maintained its gains and successfully broke out of the five-week low set on Wednesday. Commentary said that after the US re-listed the Houthis in Yemen as a terrorist organization, geopolitical tension attracted some gold buyers seeking safe haven. International crude oil also declined somewhat as the US dollar rebounded after the US unemployment data was released, but the rally did not waver.
Following the OPEC monthly report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) also expects strong growth in global oil demand, raising the expected increase in oil demand in 2024 by 180,000 b/d in the monthly report. Moreover. The US Department of Energy announced that US EIA crude oil inventories fell by nearly 2.5 million barrels last week, far exceeding analysts' expectations. After the EIA data was released, crude oil continued to rise, and the increase in US oil expanded to more than 2%, equalizing all closing losses since the new year. The review said that the sharp increase in crude oil inventories that the market feared has not come true. It supports the rise in oil prices to a certain extent, and that the cold weather interferes with US crude oil production, and also provides support for rising oil prices.
The NASDAQ leveled off New Year's decline, and the NASDAQ 100 reached a record high, Apple led the rise, blue-chip technology stocks, and chip stocks outperformed the market, and surged after TSMC's earnings report
The three major US stock indexes collectively opened higher for the first time this week. Since then, their performance has varied, and reached new highs at the end of the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which opened slightly higher than 30 points, turned down at the beginning of the session. At one point, it fell more than 140 points and fell nearly 0.4%. At midday trading, it completely escaped its decline, and the increase expanded to more than 200 points at the end of the session. The S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index maintained gains throughout the day. At the end of the session, S&P rose about 0.9% to a new high. The NASDAQ increase extended to more than 1% in early trading, then narrowed, and rose more than 1% again in midday trading.
In the end, the three major indices collectively closed higher for the first time this week, and all recorded the biggest increase since the day Nvidia released a sharp rise in new-rate technology stocks on January 8. Both the S&P and NASDAQ rebounded after two consecutive days of decline, breaking out of their closing lows since January 5, which were refreshed on Wednesday, and the Dow stopped falling for three days. S&P closed up 0.88% to 4780.94 points, approaching the closing high since January 4, 2022, set last Friday. The NASDAQ closed up 1.35% to 15055.65 points, breaking its closing high since December 28. For three consecutive days, the Dow closed at a record low since December 20, up 201.94 points, or 0.54%, to 37468.61 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index closed up 1.47%, rebounding and reaching a new closing high. The Nasdaq Technology Market Capitalization Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology components in the Nasdaq 100 Index, closed up 2.02%, easily smoothing Wednesday's decline and breaking the record closing record for four consecutive trading days up to Tuesday. The small-cap stock index Russell 2000, which is mainly value stocks, turned down in early and mid-day trading, closing up 0.55%, and rebounded after falling for four days and two days to break the closing low since December 12.
Among the constituent stocks of the Dow, Boeing closed up more than 4%, and Apple ranked second in terms of gains, while healthcare giant United Health (UNH) led the decline due to peer Humana's annual EPS guidelines being cut. It fell more than 5% in early trading and closed down 1.6%. Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, IT, where chip stocks are located, closed up 2%, and industrial and communication services rose more than 1%. Of the only four sectors that closed, utilities fell more than 1%, real estate fell 0.6%, and energy and essential consumer goods fell 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Chip stocks generally rebounded strongly, outperforming the market. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and semiconductor industry ETF SOXX closed up about 3.4% and 3.3% respectively, breaking new highs since December 28 and approaching the historic closing high set on December 27. Among individual stocks, TSMC US stocks closed up 9.8%; AMD, which had risen about 5.3% in early trading, closed up nearly 1.6%; Nvidia, which had risen 2.6% in early trading, closed up nearly 1.9%, all of which hit record highs during and close; by the close, Arm had risen more than 6%, Maywell Technology had risen more than 4%, Qualcomm and Applied Materials had risen more than 4%, Broadcom had risen more than 3%, and Intel had risen more than 1%.
Most of the leading technology stocks rose, while expanding production capacity for 4680 batteries. Tesla, which imported Chinese battery cathodes, fell nearly 2% after falling in early trading, closing down 1.7%, falling for two days in a row, breaking the closing low since November 9.
Among FAANMG's six major technology stocks, the rating was raised from neutral to buy by Bank of America analysts, and the target price was raised sharply by 8.2% to $225, indicating a 23% increase from Wednesday's closing, Apple opened high, closing up about 3.3%, and rebounded to the closing high level since December 29 after two consecutive days of decline; Microsoft, which stopped rising for six consecutive days on Wednesday, closed 1.1%, rebounded and refreshed the high closing history created on Tuesday; the media said the CEO told employees in the memorandum that further layoffs might be made on Wednesday Google's parent company Alphabet, which fell to a low level in two to a week Closing up nearly 1.5%; Facebook's parent company Meta closed up 2.1%, rising for two days, breaking its closing high since September 2021; Amazon, which had been down for three days to a week, closed up nearly 1.2%; Netflix closed 1% higher for three days, and did not continue to fall below the closing high since January 2022 set last Thursday.
AI concept stocks failed to collectively rebound successfully, and most lost the market for three days. By the close, C3.ai (AI), which had turned down in early trading, fell more than 1%, BigBear.ai (BBAI) fell more than 6%, Adobe (ADBE) fell 0.4%, while Soundhound.ai (SOUN), which had turned down in midday trading, rose more than 1%, and Palantir (PLTR), which had fallen more than 1% in the intraday session, rose less than 0.1%.
Most popular Chinese securities turned down during the intraday period. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) rose more than 1% at the beginning of the session, turned down in early trading, and closed down about 0.2%. It fell for four consecutive trading days and three days to break its closing low since November 2022. KWEB closed down 0.4%, while CQQQ closed up nearly 0.6%. The three new car builders turned down in the middle of the day. At the close, Xiaopeng Motors fell more than 2%, Ideal Auto fell 0.8%, and NIO Auto fell 0.3%. Among other individual stocks, iQiyi fell more than 6% by the close, Alibaba, JD, New Oriental, and B stations fell less than 0.1%, while Tucson Future (TSP), which fell 46% after announcing voluntary delisting from the NASDAQ on Wednesday, closed 29%, Daxin Energy rose more than 2%, Baidu, NetEase, and Jinko Energy rose more than 1%, and Tencent Pink rose 0.7%.
Bank stock indices showed mixed results. The overall banking index, the KBW Bank Index (BKX), fell more than 1% in early trading, falling by 0.5%, falling seven consecutive trading days until closing low since December 12; the regional banking index KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed 1%, and the regional bank stock ETF SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) rose about 0.9%, all rebounding after falling for four days and three days.
Among the major banks that announced earnings on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley fell more than 1% in early trading, closing down 0.6%, while Goldman Sachs closed less than 0.1%. Among the other major banks, which announced 20,000 layoffs and three senior executives are reported to be leaving office, Citibank fell more than 1% in early trading, closing down 0.5%, Wells Fargo closing 0.5%, Bank of America closing down 0.2%, while J.P. Morgan rose 0.2%.
Among the volatile individual stocks, the plan to acquire JetBlue was blocked due to US judges' antitrust concerns, and the low-cost airline Spirit Airlines (SAVE), fell sharply for the third day in a row by Citi on Thursday, falling more than 20% in the intraday period, closing down 7.2%, and falling more than 60% on the 3rd; after disclosing that medical expenses for the fourth quarter were higher than expected and may affect the 2024 guidance, the health insurance company Humana (HUM) fell more than 10% intraday, closing 8%; financial services companies whose EPS profit fell below expectations in the fourth quarter Discover Financial Services (DFS) closed down 10.8%; warns that full-year profits will fall by more than 9% to 7.7% in the intraday market due to the German footwear brand BIRK (BIRK), which was affected by its global expansion; after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating to oversized and believed that its plan to sell 20,000 electric vehicles was beneficial to the stock price, car rental giant Hertz Rental (HTZ) closed 7.5%; Japanese construction company Sekisui Housing Co., Ltd. reached a US$4.95 billion takeover agreement with it, which would be nearly 19% over Wednesday's closing price. Residential construction company MDC Holdings (MDC) closed 18.4% higher.
On the European stock side, the positive performance of some companies supported the rebound of the Pan-European stock index, which had been falling for three days. The European Stoxx 600 Index broke away from its closing low since December 5, which was refreshed on Wednesday, but failed to smooth out the biggest daily decline in nearly three months caused by a 1.13% drop on Wednesday, and will continue to fall this week. Major European stock indexes rose sharply on Thursday. German, French, English, and Spanish stocks stopped falling for three consecutive years, and the Italian stock index, which fell back on Wednesday, rebounded.
Among the various sectors, travel and leisure surged 5.2%, due to online gaming giant Flutter closing up 15.3%. Analysts believe that Flutter's growth in the US market share and profit margin in the fourth quarter indicates a good outlook for 2024; the personal and household goods sector closed up nearly 1.2%, mainly due to the announcement of revenue growth in the Chinese market driving higher sales in the third quarter, up about 10.4%. Other luxury giants followed suit. LVMH and Kering, which are listed in Paris, rose 2.5% and 2.2% respectively, supporting the French stock index Super 1%, leading the way among countries.
After the unemployment data, the 10-year US Treasury yield hit a one-month high, and the two-year yield rose, then declined
Eurozone treasury bond prices have generally declined, and yields have continued to rise. The ECB meeting minutes show that central bank officials are concerned that market risks will disrupt the declining inflation process. After the US unemployment data was released, European bond yields followed the rise in US bonds. However, the yield on British bonds, which soared after the UK CPI was announced on Wednesday, declined somewhat.
By the end of the bond market, the yield on the British 10-year benchmark treasury bond rose by about 19 basis points on Wednesday, down about 5 basis points; the 2-year British bond yield rose by about 22 basis points to 4.28% on Wednesday, down about 8 basis points during the day; the yield on the benchmark 10-year German treasury bond closed at 2.35%, up about 3 basis points during the day. The US stock market had risen 2.35% in the intraday market, breaking a six-week high for 2 consecutive days; 2-year German bond yields closed 2.68%, down about 1 basis point during the day, and the European market broke 2. 66% hit a new daily low. After the US unemployment data was released, it rose to 2.70%, stabilizing the five-week high since December 13, which was refreshed on Wednesday, then fell back.
The yield on the US 10-year benchmark treasury bond broke down 4.07% in the European stock market, falling about 3 basis points during the day. The increase rapidly expanded and rose 4.10% after the data was released. The increase rose further after the opening of the market. It rose above 4.15% in midday trading, breaking the high level since the first day of the Federal Reserve interest rate meeting on December 13 for 3 consecutive days. It rose about 5 basis points during the day. It rose about 4 basis points during the day.
The 2-year US bond yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate prospects, fell 4.31% to a new low in the European stock market. After the unemployment data was released, the decline quickly leveled off and turned upward. At one point, it was close to 4.38%, rising to a new one-week high, rising by nearly 2 basis points during the day, then quickly falling back. US stocks had already fallen 4.36% at the beginning of the session, and fell below 4.34% during the midday session.
After US unemployment data, the US dollar index rose and then regained gains, Bitcoin fell more than $2,000 in the intraday period
The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the exchange rate of a basket of six major currencies including the US dollar against the euro, fell below a new daily low of 103.20 in the Asian market, fell nearly 0.3% during the day, then fluctuated and rebounded. After the US unemployment data was released, US stocks rose above 103.60 in early trading, approaching the intraday high level since December 13, which was refreshed for two consecutive days on Wednesday. It rose nearly 0.2% during the end of the session.
By the end of Thursday's session, the US dollar index hovered around the 103.40 line, falling slightly by less than 0.1%; the Bloomberg US Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the exchange rate of the US dollar against ten other currencies, had largely closed, and the US dollar index had failed to rise for five consecutive trading days.
Among non-US currencies, the yen turned down several times in the intraday period, falling almost four days in a row. The US dollar fell below a new daily low of 147.70 against the European stock market. After the US unemployment data was released, it quickly rose and rose to 148.30, close to the seven-week high refreshed by 148.50 on Wednesday. After the US stock market turned down before the market, US stocks rose more than once. US stocks remained flat at the previous level for about a day; the pound rose above 1.2700 against the European stock market, and the US unemployment rose 0.3% during the day. After the data was released, it quickly turned down and hit a new low of 1.2650. US stocks got out of early trading The decline continued to break away from the low level since December 13, which fell below 1.2600 before turning higher on Wednesday; after the US unemployment data was released, the euro accelerated decline against the US dollar. US stocks fell below 1.0870 in the intraday period, approaching the low since December 13, which was refreshed on Wednesday, and fell about 0.3% during the day.
The offshore renminbi (CNH) was as low as 7.2249 against the US dollar at the beginning of the Asian session, then quickly rebounded. European stocks recovered 7.21 and rose to 7.2079 before the market, rising 139 points during the day, breaking away from the low level since November 17, which fell below 7.23 on Wednesday, then continued to return gains. The US unemployment data turned down for a short time after the release of US unemployment data.
Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new daily high of 43,000 US dollars before the European stock market. The decline of US stocks accelerated in early trading and fell below 41,000 US dollars at the end of the session, falling more than $40,700, falling more than 5% from the daily high, breaking the intraday low since January 3, further away from the high level since December 2021 created by the first day of Bitcoin's spot ETF listing last Thursday. US stocks closed below slightly $41,000 and fell more than 4% in the last 24 hours.
Crude oil closed at a three-week high, leveling off the year-over-year decline, and U.S. oil rose more than 2%
International crude oil futures declined in the short term in the European stock market. After the US unemployment data was released, the increase narrowed, but the increase continued to expand after the opening of the US stock market. When US stocks hit a new high in midday trading, US WTI crude oil was close to 74.40 US dollars, up about 2.5% during the day. Brent crude oil rose to 79.30 US dollars, up more than 1.8% during the day.
In the end, crude oil collectively closed higher for the first time in the last three trading days. WTI crude oil futures for February, which turned higher in the Wednesday session, closed up 2.09% to 74.08 US dollars/barrel, for two consecutive days; Brent crude oil futures for March, which declined on Wednesday, closed up 1.57% to 79.10 US dollars/barrel, and US Oil both closed at record highs since December 27.
US gasoline and natural gas futures continued to rise and fall with mixed ups and downs. NYMEX February gasoline futures closed up 2.25% to 2.1,835 US dollars/gallon, breaking the high level since January 3 for 4 consecutive trading days, and rising for 5 consecutive days; NYMEX February natural gas futures closed down 6.03% to 2.6970 US dollars/million British thermal units, breaking the low since January 3, falling for three consecutive days. Due to a 12.47% drop on Tuesday, this week they may fall nearly 20%.
Renxi rose seven times in a row, Luntong broke away from a two-month low, and gold ended two consecutive declines to break out of a five-week low
London basic metals futures on Thursday. Renxi rose for seven consecutive trading days. After closing at $25,000 for the first time since January 3 on Tuesday, it hit a new high since the end of December, that is, since the beginning of the year. Luntong and Lun, which have been falling for two days in a row, have rebounded, breaking away from their low levels in two months and a week, respectively. Lunnickel, which has been falling for five days, has also rebounded and is no longer approaching the low since April 2021, which was set on January 4. Meanwhile, Lunzinc, which fell more than 3% on Wednesday, continued its decline. It fell for three days, breaking its low level since mid-December on the 2nd; Lunan Aluminum fell for 2 days in a row, continuing to hit a new five-week low.
New York gold futures continued to rise throughout the day on Thursday. After the US unemployment data was released, they took back most of the gains and fell below the 2010 dollar line. The intraday increase was less than 0.2%, but since then, the increase continued to expand. US stocks rose to a new high of 2024 US dollars at noon, rising nearly 0.9% during the day.
In the end, COMEX February gold futures, which fell for two days in a row, closed up 0.75% to 2021.6 US dollars/ounce, breaking out of the closing low since December 13, which was refreshed on Wednesday. Gold will continue to decline during the current cycle as it fell more than 1% on Tuesday and Wednesday, the biggest drop since January 3.
Spot gold fell below $2009 after the US unemployment data was released. The intraday increase narrowed to 0.1%, and US stocks rose above $2021 in midday trading to a new daily high. They rose more than 0.7% during the day, breaking out of the intraday low since December 13, when falling below $2002 on Wednesday.
