U.S. stocks close: Technology stocks supported the rebound, with Nvidia and AMD hitting record highs
The U.S. stock market, which has been falling for days, ushered in a big rebound. TSMC's fourth-quarter profit and revenue decline was lower than expected, and it expects to return to solid growth in the first quarter of 2024, with full-year revenue growth of more than 20%. As a major supplier to the U.S. chip industry and Apple, TSMC's positive guidance has brought good news about the recovery of smartphone and computing demand.
Technology stocks were the main drivers of the rally in U.S. stocks on Thursday, supporting the rebound of the S&P and Nasdaq. The Dow Jones turned lower intraday, led by United Health, a constituent stock affected by peer Humana's performance warning. At midday, the U.S. Senate passed the federal government's short-term spending bill, which boosted the collective gains of the three major stock indexes and refreshed their daily highs at the end of the session.
Another data showed that the U.S. economy was stronger than expected: Instead of rising month-on-month as analysts expected, initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 187,000, the lowest since September 2022, underscoring a resilient start to the year in the labor market. After the release of the data, the intraday price of U.S. Treasury bonds fell, yields rose in the short term, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury hit a new one-month high, and the yield on the two-year Treasury note that is sensitive to interest rates flattened out for a time and turned higher during the day, but soon returned to the downward trend.
Speeches by Fed officials have once again weighed on expectations of near-term interest rate cuts. Ahead of the unemployment data, Atlanta Fed President Bostic reiterated that he does not expect to cut interest rates until the third quarter of this year, saying that if inflation slows, it is better to keep interest rates high for longer. The bond market reacted relatively calmly.
The market's expectation of a rate cut by the Fed in March has further dropped to less than 55%
In the foreign exchange market, after the release of the U.S. unemployment data, the U.S. dollar index completely erased its intraday losses and turned higher, once approaching a one-month high set on Wednesday. Non-U.S. currencies were under pressure intraday, after the release of U.S. data, the pound, which reversed three consecutive losses after the release of the British CPI on Wednesday, once turned lower, and the yen quickly turned lower, once approaching the nearly seven-week low set on Wednesday. The offshore yuan rose more than 100 points to regain 7.21, off the two-month low set on Wednesday, and it turned lower in the short term after the release of U.S. data.
Among commodities, gold gave up most of its intraday gains after the release of the U.S. unemployment data, but held on to its gains and managed to break out of a five-week low set on Wednesday, commenting that geopolitical tensions attracted some safe-haven gold buyers after the U.S. reclassified Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist organization. International crude oil also retreated with the rebound of the dollar after the release of the US unemployment data, but the rally did not waver.
Following OPEC's monthly report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) also expects strong growth in global oil demand, raising its forecast for 2024 by 180,000 b/d in its monthly report. And. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that U.S. EIA crude oil inventories fell by nearly 2.5 million barrels last week, much lower than analysts expected. After the release of the EIA data, crude oil continued to rise, and the rise in U.S. oil extended to more than 2%, erasing all closing losses since the new year. According to the commentary, the market's fear of a sharp increase in crude oil inventories did not come true, which supported higher oil prices to a certain extent, and the cold weather interfered with U.S. crude oil production, which also provided upward support for oil prices.
The Nasdaq erased New Year's losses, the Nasdaq 100 hit a record high, Apple led the gains in blue-chip technology stocks, chip stocks outperformed the market, and TSMC rose sharply after its earnings report
The three major U.S. stock indexes collectively opened higher for the first time this week, and since then their performance has been mixed, with a new daily high at the end of the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which opened slightly higher by more than 30 points, turned lower at the beginning of the session, once falling more than 140 points, down nearly 0.4%, and completely got rid of the decline at midday, and expanded its gains to more than 200 points at the end of the session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite maintained their gains throughout the day, with the S&P rising about 0.9% at the end of the day, and the Nasdaq extending its gains to more than 1% in early trading, before narrowing its gains and rising more than 1% again at midday.
In the end, the three major indexes collectively closed up for the first time this week, all of which recorded the largest gains since Nvidia released a new product rate on January 8, when technology stocks soared. Both the S&P and the Nasdaq rebounded after two consecutive days of decline, coming out of their respective closing lows since January 5 on Wednesday, and the Dow halted a three-day losing streak. The S&P closed up 0.88% at 4,780.94, approaching Friday's highest closing since January 4, 2022. The Nasdaq closed up 1.35% at 15,055.65 points, updating its closing high since December 28. The Dow, which has refreshed its closing low since December 20 for three consecutive days, closed up 201.94 points, or 0.54%, at 37,468.61 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed up 1.47%, rebounding and closing at a new high. The Nasdaq Technology Marketcapitalization-Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology constituents in the Nasdaq 100, closed up 2.02%, easily erasing Wednesday's losses and updating its all-time closing high for four consecutive sessions through Tuesday. The Russell 2000, a small-cap index dominated by value stocks, turned lower in early and midday trading, closing up 0.55%, rebounding after falling for four consecutive days and two days to refresh its closing lows since December 12.
The three major U.S. stock indexes continued to expand their gains after the U.S. Senate passed the federal government's short-term spending bill, and refreshed their daily highs at the end of the session
Among the Dow constituents, Boeing closed up more than 4% to lead the gains, Apple was the second gainer, and healthcare giant United Health (UNH) led the decline, down more than 5% in early trading, closing down 1.6% due to the downward revision of full-year EPS guidance by peer Humana. Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, IT, where chip stocks are located, closed up 2% to lead the gains, industrial and communication services rose more than 1%, and among the only four sectors that closed down, utilities fell more than 1%, real estate fell 0.6%, energy and consumer staples fell 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Chip stocks rebounded strongly overall, outperforming the broader market, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the semiconductor industry ETF SOXX closing up about 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively, updating their highs since December 28 and approaching the all-time closing high set on December 27. Among individual stocks, the U.S. stock market closed up 9.8% in the background of the financial report, AMD, which had risen about 5.3% in early trading, closed up nearly 1.6%, and Nvidia, which had risen 2.6% in early trading, closed up nearly 1.9%, all hitting record highs in intraday and closing; to close, Arm rose more than 6%, Marvell Technology rose more than 4%, Qualcomm and Applied Materials rose more than 4%, Broadcom rose more than 3%, and Intel rose more than 1%.
Most of the leading technology stocks rose, while Tesla, which expanded its 4680 battery production capacity and imported Chinese battery cathodes, fell nearly 2% after turning down in early trading, closing down 1.7%, falling for two consecutive days and refreshing the low closing level since November 9.
Among the six major technology stocks in FAANMG, after Bank of America analysts upgraded the rating from neutral to buy, raised the price target by a large 8.2% to $225, and signaled a 23% rise from Wednesday's close, Apple opened higher and closed up about 3.3%, rebounding to the highest closing level since December 29 after falling for two consecutive days, and Microsoft, which ended a six-day winning streak on Wednesday, closed up 1.1% , rebounded and updated Tuesday's all-time closing high, while Google's parent company Alphabet, which fell for two consecutive days to a week-low closing low on Wednesday, closed up nearly 1.5% after the media said the CEO told employees in a memo that further layoffs were possible. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, closed up 2.1%, rising for two consecutive days and updating the highest closing level since September 2021, Amazon, which fell for three consecutive days to a one-week low, closed up nearly 1.2%, and Netflix, which fell for three consecutive days, closed up 1%, not continuing to fall from the high closing since January 2022 set last Thursday.
Seven major technology stocks, including Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, hit record highs on Thursday
AI概念股未能集体成功反弹，多数三日跑输大盘。 到收盘，早盘转跌的C3.ai（AI）跌超1%，盘初转跌的BigBear.ai（BBAI）跌超6%，Adobe（ADBE）跌0.4%，而午盘曾转跌的SoundHound.ai（SOUN）涨超1%，盘中曾跌超1%的Palantir（PLTR）涨不足0.1%。
Most of the popular Chinese concept stocks turned lower intraday. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) rose more than 1% at the beginning of the session, but turned lower in early trading, closing down about 0.2%, falling for four consecutive trading days and refreshing the closing low since November 2022 for three days. Chinese ETF KWEB closed down 0.4%, and CQQQ closed up nearly 0.6%. At the close, Xpeng Motors fell more than 2%, Li Auto fell 0.8%, and NIO fell 0.3%. Among other stocks, by the close, iQiyi fell more than 6%, Alibaba, JD.com, New Oriental, and Station B fell more than 1%, Pinduoduo fell less than 0.1%, and TuSimple Future (TSP), which fell 46% after announcing its voluntary delisting from the Nasdaq on Wednesday, closed up 29%, Daqo New Energy rose more than 2%, Baidu, NetEase, JinkoSolar rose more than 1%, and Tencent Fan Single rose 0.7%.
Indices of bank stocks were mixed. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX), a regional banking index, closed up more than 1% in early trading, closing down 0.5%, falling for seven consecutive trading days to the lowest closing level since December 12, while the regional banking index KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed up 1%, and the regional bank stock ETF SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) closed up about 0.9%, both rebounding after falling for four consecutive days and three days to refresh the closing low since December 12.
Among the big banks that reported earnings on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley fell more than 1% in early trading, closing down 0.6%, and Goldman Sachs closed down less than 0.1%. Among other major banks, Citigroup, which announced the layoff of 20,000 employees and three senior executives, turned lower at the beginning of the session, falling more than 1% in early trading and closing down 0.5%, Wells Fargo closed down 0.5%, Bank of America closed down 0.2%, and JPMorgan Chase rose 0.2%.
Among the volatile stocks, Spirit Airlines (SAVE), a low-cost airline that was downgraded to sell by Citi on Thursday, fell for the third consecutive day, falling more than 20% intraday, closing down 7.2%, and more than 60% on three days after its plan to acquire JetBlue was blocked by antitrust concerns from U.S. judges, and health insurer Humana (HUM) fell more than 10% intraday and closed down 8% after disclosing that medical expenses in the fourth quarter were higher than expected and could affect 2024 guidance. Financial services firm Discover Financial Services (DFS), which had lower-than-expected fourth-quarter EPS earnings, closed down 10.8%, warning full-year earnings would be affected by its global expansion, German footwear brand Birkenstock (BIRK), which fell more than 9% intraday to close down 7.7%, while car rental giant Hertz Rental Car (HTZ) closed up 7.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating to overweight, believing that its plan to sell 20,000 electric vehicles is positive for its stock price. Japanese construction company Sekisui Housing Co. Ltd. closed up 18.4% after it reached a $4.95 billion acquisition agreement that would represent a nearly 19% premium to Wednesday's close.
In terms of European stocks, the performance of some companies has improved, supporting the rebound of pan-European stock indexes that have fallen for three consecutive days. The Euro Stoxx 600 index is off its low closing level since December 5 on Wednesday, but it has failed to erase the biggest daily decline in nearly three months set by Wednesday's 1.13% decline, and it will still fall this week. Stock indexes of major European countries rose on Thursday, with German, French, British and Spanish stocks halting a three-day losing streak, and Italian stock indexes, which retreated on Wednesday, rebounded.
Among the sectors, travel and leisure surged 5.2% as online gambling giant Flutter closed up 15.3%, analysts believe that Flutter's fourth-quarter market share growth and stronger-than-expected profit margins in the United States bode well for 2024, while the personal and household goods sector closed up nearly 1.2%, mainly due to the announcement of revenue growth in the Chinese market, which drove higher-than-expected sales in the third quarter Richemont closed up about 10.4% Paris-listed LVMH and Kering rose 2.5% and 2.2% respectively, supporting the French stock index to rise more than 1%, leading the country.
After the unemployment data, the 10-year Treasury yield hit a new one-month high, and the two-year yield turned higher and has since retreated
Eurozone government bond prices fell broadly and yields continued to climb, with European Central Bank (ECB) minutes showing that central bankers feared market risks to undermine the decline in inflation, and European Treasury yields followed US Treasuries after the release of US unemployment data. Yields on UK bonds, which soared after the release of the UK CPI on Wednesday, retreated.
By the end of the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year British government bond, which rose about 19 basis points on Wednesday, closed at 3.93%, down about 5 basis points during the day, the yield on the 2-year British bond, which rose about 22 basis points on Wednesday, closed at 4.28%, down about 8 basis points on the day, the yield on the benchmark 10-year German bund closed at 2.35%, up about 3 basis points on the day, the US stock market rose above 2.35% intraday, refreshing a six-week high for two consecutive days, and the 2-year German bond yield closed at 2.68% , down about 1 basis point in the day, European stocks fell below 2.66% to refresh the daily low, and the U.S. unemployment data rose to 2.70% after the release, stabilizing the five-week high since December 13 refreshed on Wednesday, and then retreated.
The U.S. 10-year benchmark Treasury bond yield broke through 4.07% in the European stock market intraday to refresh the daily low, down about 3 basis points in the day, the U.S. unemployment data has been wiped out before the decline turned up, after the data was released, the rise expanded rapidly, re-4.10%, the U.S. stock market opened further up, rose above 4.15% at noon, three consecutive days to refresh the December 13 Federal Reserve interest rate meeting since the first day of the high, up about 5 basis points in the day, to the end of the bond market about 4.14%, up about 4 basis points in the day, up three days in a row.
The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to the outlook for interest rates, broke through 4.31% in the European stock market and refreshed the daily low, falling about 5 basis points in the day, and the unemployment data was released after the rapid erasing of the decline and turned up, once close to 4.38%, refreshing a one-week high, rising nearly 2 basis points in the day, and then falling back quickly, the U.S. stock market has fallen below 4.36% at the beginning of the session, and has fallen below 4.34% at noon, and about 4.35% at the end of the bond market, down about 1 basis point in the day, and fell back after rising for two consecutive days.
U.S. Treasury yields rose intraday, while short-term yields have since pared gains
After the U.S. unemployment data, the dollar index turned higher and then gave up its gains, and Bitcoin fell more than $2,000 intraday
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks a basket of six major currencies against the euro, fell below 103.20 in the Asian market to refresh the daily low, down nearly 0.3% during the day, and then rebounded in shock, and the U.S. unemployment data turned up after the release, and the U.S. stock market rose above 103.60 in early trading, approaching the intraday high since December 13, which was refreshed for two consecutive days on Wednesday, rising nearly 0.2% during the day, and giving up all gains at the end of the day.
By the end of Thursday, the dollar index hovered at 103.40, down less than 0.1%, and the Bloomberg dollar spot index, which tracks the greenback against 10 other currencies, closed broadly flat, and the dollar index failed to rise for five consecutive sessions.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index turned higher after the release of the US unemployment data and ended up broadly flat
Among the non-U.S. currencies, the yen turned down many times during the session, almost falling for four consecutive days, the dollar against the yen fell below 147.70 before the European stock market to refresh the daily low, the U.S. unemployment data was released quickly turned up and rose to 148.30, close to Wednesday's rise above 148.50 refreshed nearly seven week highs, after the U.S. stock market turned down before the market, the U.S. stock market turned up more than once, the U.S. stock market closed roughly the same as a day ago, the pound against the dollar in the European stock market had risen above 1.2700 to refresh the daily high, up nearly 0.3% in the day After the release of the U.S. unemployment data, the euro accelerated its decline against the dollar, and the U.S. stock market fell below 1.0870 intraday, approaching the low since December 13, which was refreshed on Wednesday, and fell about 0.3% during the day.
The offshore yuan (CNH) refreshed its daily low against the US dollar at 7.2249 at the beginning of the Asian session, and then rebounded quickly, and European stocks regained 7.21 and rose to 7.2079 before the market, up 139 points in the day, from the low since November 17 set by Wednesday's fall below 7.23, and then continued to give up gains, and the U.S. unemployment data was released after a short-term turn down.
Bitcoin (BTC) had approached $43,000 before the European stock market to refresh the daily high, the U.S. stock market accelerated downward in early trading, fell below $41,000 at noon, and was tested at $40,700 at the end of the session, down more than $2,000 and more than 5% from the daily high, refreshing the intraday low since January 3, further away from the high since December 2021 set by the $49,000 on the first day of the Bitcoin spot ETF listing last Thursday, and the U.S. stock closed slightly below $41,000, down more than 4% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin extended intraday losses on Thursday, falling more than $2,000 from its daily high, away from a two-year high set after the listing of spot ETFs a week ago
Crude oil hit a three-week high, erasing the decline in the beginning of the year, and U.S. oil rose more than 2%
International crude oil futures in the European stock market had a short-term turn down, after the release of the U.S. unemployment data, the gains have narrowed, but the U.S. stocks continued to expand after the open. When U.S. stocks refreshed their daily highs at midday, U.S. WTI crude oil was near $74.40, up about 2.5% on the day, and Brent crude rose to $79.30, up more than 1.8% on the day.
In the end, crude oil closed up collectively for the first time in the last three trading days. WTI February crude oil futures closed up 2.09% at $74.08 a barrel on Wednesday, up for two straight days, while Brent crude futures for March delivery, which retreated on Wednesday, closed up 1.57% at $79.10 a barrel, and U.S. oil both closed at their highest levels since Dec. 27.
U.S. WTI crude oil continued to rebound on Thursday, standing above $74, breaking through the range of volatility since the beginning of the year
U.S. gasoline and natural gas futures continued to be mixed. NYMEX February gasoline futures closed up 2.25% at $2.1835 per gallon, renewing their highest level since January 3 for four consecutive trading days, rising for five consecutive days, and NYMEX February natural gas futures closed down 6.03% at $2.6970/MMBtu, the lowest since January 3, falling for three consecutive days, as it fell 12.47% on Tuesday and could fall nearly 20% this week.
Lunxi rose for seven consecutive days, London copper broke out of a two-month low, gold ended a two-week losing streak and walked out of a five-week low
London base metals futures on Thursday. Lunxi rose for seven straight sessions, hitting its highest since late December and since the beginning of the year after closing above $25,000 on Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 3. London copper and London lead, which fell for two consecutive days, rebounded, out of the lows in two months and a week respectively. London nickel, which has been falling for five consecutive days, also rebounded and did not approach the low since April 2021 set on January 4. London zinc, which fell more than 3% on Wednesday, continued to fall, falling for three consecutive days, refreshing the low since mid-December for two days, and London aluminum fell for two consecutive days, continuing to refresh the five-week low.
Gold futures in New York maintained their rally throughout the day on Thursday, after the release of the U.S. unemployment data, it gave up most of its gains, fell to the $2010 line, and rose less than 0.2% during the day, but since then the gains have continued to expand, and the U.S. stock rose to a new daily high of $2024 at midday, up nearly 0.9% on the day.
Finally, COMEX February gold futures, which fell for two consecutive days, closed up 0.75% at $2,021.6 an ounce, out of the low level since December 13, which was refreshed on Wednesday. As Tuesday and Wednesday fell more than 1% for consecutive days, the largest decline since January 3, the gold will still fall in this cycle.
Spot gold fell below $2,009 after the release of U.S. unemployment data, narrowing its intraday gains to 0.1%, and U.S. stocks rose above $2021 at midday to refresh their daily highs, up more than 0.7% during the day, out of the intraday low since December 13, when it fell below $2,002 on Wednesday.
Spot gold tested $2,000 on Thursday before rebounding above $2,020