China Fund News reporter Ivan
On April 3, Eastern time, a number of Federal Reserve officials reiterated that it might be appropriate to start cutting interest rates "sometime this year", but they were not in a hurry to cut interest rates, and the three major U.S. stock indexes were mixed.
The wafer foundry business suffered serious losses, and the stock price of chip leader Intel "collapsed" again, falling by more than 8%.
Apple is making its foray into personal robotics one of the company's ever-changing "next big things."
"The King of Risk" gold hit a record high in intraday trading!
Powell reiterated the path of rate cuts
The three major U.S. stock indexes were mixed
On April 3, Eastern time, the three major U.S. stock indexes were mixed, and Intel fell more than 8%, dragging the Dow Jones down three times in a row. At the close, the Dow fell 43.10 points, or 0.11%, to 39,127.14, the Nasdaq rose 37.01 points, or 0.23%, to 16,277.46, and the S&P 500 added 5.68 points, or 0.11%, to 5,211.49.
In terms of economic data, the "small non-farm payrolls" in the United States rebounded more than expected in March. ADP employment in the United States recorded an increase of 184,000 in March, higher than the expected 148,000 and higher than the previous reading of 155,000. The US ISM non-manufacturing PMI fell 1.2 to 51.4 in March, mainly reflecting the supplier delivery index falling to a record low. The non-manufacturing price index fell more than 5 points to 53.4, the lowest level since March 2020. This is in stark contrast to the ISM manufacturing data. The services price data could ease market fears that the Fed's progress on inflation could stall.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers would wait for clearer signs of declining inflation before considering a rate cut. Powell said that while the recent inflation data came in higher than expected, it did not "materially change" the overall situation.
Powell reiterated his view that he expects rate cuts to start "sometime this year." "On inflation, we can't yet say for sure whether the recent data is just a temporary fluctuation," Powell said. Until we are more confident that inflation is continuing to move in the direction of a 2% decline, we do not believe that a rate cut is appropriate. ”
Fed Governor Coogler said inflation could slow further this year, but not at a significant loss of employment or economic growth, setting the stage for a "somewhat" rate cut. Weak consumer spending should help slow economic growth to 3.1 percent below last year's level, and demand for workers is slowing, Coogler said. "As demand growth cools, and against the backdrop of solid supply, my base case expectation is that further inflation slowing can be achieved without a significant rise in unemployment. ”
Eric Veiel, chief investment officer and global head of investments at T. Rowe Price Group Inc., said the Fed could risk losing credibility if it cuts rates too soon.
The stock price of chip leader Intel "collapsed" again, falling by more than 8%
On April 3, Eastern time, the share price of chip leader Intel fell more than 8%, closing down 8.22% at $40.33, with the latest total market value of $171.68 billion.
On the news side, Intel disclosed the revenue of its wafer foundry business. The business had revenue of $18.9 billion and an operating loss of $7 billion in 2023. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said on Tuesday's analyst call that 2024 is the trough of fab operating losses. The business is not expected to break even over the next three years.
Market analysts said that the company's wafer foundry business data disappointed investors.
Wells Fargo said that Intel's disclosure of a widening loss in its foundry business compared to the previous year was a "positive step" despite the need for follow-up "proof".
Apple has big news again!
On April 3, Eastern time, Mark Gurman, a well-known Apple whistleblower, posted on social media that Apple is investigating its foray into the field of personal robots, which has the potential to become one of Apple's ever-changing "next big events".
Gurman said Apple engineers have been working on a mobile robot that could follow users around their homes. They said the company has also developed an advanced table-top device that will use robots to move displays. Although the project is still in its infancy, and it's unclear if these products will eventually be released, Apple is under increasing pressure to find new revenue streams.
Apple closed up 0.48% on the day.
"The King of Risk" gold hit a record high in intraday trading!
Eastern time on April 3, New York gold futures continued to maintain a rally throughout the day, during the speech of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, the U.S. stock rose further at noon, approaching $2,320 at noon, up nearly 1.7% in the day, and spot gold rose above $2,301 at the end of the U.S. stock market, up 0.9% in the day, all of which hit a record intraday high for four consecutive trading days.
In the end, both futures and spot gold hit record closing highs for five consecutive trading days, rising for six consecutive trading days.
At the close, COMEX gold futures for June delivery closed up 1.45%, the biggest closing gain since March 4, at $2,315.00 an ounce. It is currently sitting near $2,317 per ounce. Spot gold closed just below $2,300 in U.S. stocks, up more than 0.8% on the day.
Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, said that while Powell reiterated a wait-and-see approach, the Fed's rate cut path remains unchanged. According to Melek, this is very positive for gold, as it indicates that the Fed will cut interest rates aggressively before reaching its inflation target.