Zhitong Finance and Economics learned that the three major U.S. stock indexes were mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones index recording its biggest weekly gain since mid-December last year; The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posted gains for the third consecutive week.
The Dow Jones closed up 125.08 points, or 0.32%, at 39,512.84; The S&P 500 closed up 8.60 points, or 0.16%, at 5,221.30; The Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 5.40 points, or 0.03%, at 16,340.87. ZKR (ZK. US) closed up 34.57% at $28.13 on the first day of listing, with a market capitalization of $6.867 billion. Novavax Pharmaceuticals (NVAX. US) rose 98.6%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 0.58%.
The main indexes of European stocks rose, with the German DAX 30 index up 0.46%, the French CAC 40 index up 0.38%, the Euro Stoxx 50 index up 0.61%, and the British FTSE 100 index up 0.63%.
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.41%, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.76%, Vietnam's VN30 Index fell 0.32%, and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.49%.
Bitcoin fell 3.3% to $60,598; Ethereum fell 4.1% to $2,898.3.
COMEX June gold futures closed up 1.48% at $2,375 an ounce, up nearly 2.9% this week. Spot gold is above $2,360, up nearly 0.8% during the day and up nearly 2.7% this week.
WTI crude oil futures for June delivery closed down $1.00, or 1.26%, at $78.26 a barrel; Brent crude futures for July delivery closed down $1.09, or 1.30%, at $82.79 a barrel.
London Metals were mixed, with London nickel up 0.14%, London aluminum down 1.6%, London copper up 1.37%, and London zinc up 1.22%.
【Macro News】
U.S. consumer confidence has retreated, and inflation expectations have risen slightly. Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan's Consumer Survey, said consumer confidence fell back about 13 percent in May after three months of little change. The decline was statistically significant, bringing the confidence index to its lowest level in about six months. This month's consumer confidence trend was marked by a broad consensus, with declines across all ages, incomes and education classes. The decline in consumers was particularly steep in the western states. While consumers have been holding judgment on the past few months, they are now seeing negative developments on many fronts. They worry that inflation, unemployment and interest rates could all move in an unfavorable direction in the coming year. Inflation expectations for the year ahead rose to 3.5% this month from 3.2% last month, still above the 2.3%-3.0% range in the pre-pandemic two years. Long-term inflation expectations rose slightly, from 3.0% in the previous month to 3.1% this month. While inflation has been in a narrow range of 2.9-3.1% for 30 of the last 34 months, long-term inflation expectations remain elevated relative to the 2.2-2.6% range in the pre-pandemic two years.
Fed's Goolsbee: There is not much evidence that inflation is stagnant at 3% at the moment. Fed's Goolsbee said he doesn't think inflation will stay above target despite recent data showing price pressures have risen at the start of the year. "In my view, there isn't much evidence that inflation is stagnating at 3 per cent," Goolsbee said. He said monetary policy was "relatively restrictive" and avoided giving any hints as to when it would be appropriate to cut interest rates, saying it would depend on upcoming economic data. Goolsbee's comments come after a number of Fed officials said in recent remarks that the Fed would be cautious in weighing when to start cutting rates, with Daly saying it might take "more time" to bring inflation down and Logan saying it was too early to consider cutting rates.
Fed Governor Bowman hawkish: I don't think there's a reason to cut interest rates this year. Fed Governor Bowman said he did not think it would be appropriate for the Fed to cut interest rates in 2024, noting that there were persistent pressures on US inflation in the first few months of the year. Bowman said it would take longer for her to be confident that inflation would return to her 2% target, which is a prerequisite for a rate cut, after months of disappointing inflation data. "So my expectation is that there's a couple of months to go and maybe a couple of meetings before I might be comfortable with a rate cut. Most importantly, we need to be careful to achieve the 2% target in order to maintain credibility in the fight against inflation. Bowman urged Fed policymakers to proceed cautiously and carefully as they move toward their 2% inflation target.
Fed's Logan: It's too early to consider a rate cut. Dallas Fed President Logan said it was too early to consider a rate cut, given the disappointing inflation data in the first few months of the year. Logan also noted that there is uncertainty about how restrictive the policy is now. "I need to see some of the uncertainty on the road resolved, we need to remain very flexible in policy and continue to watch the data that will be released to see how financial conditions evolve," she said. "Fed officials have kept interest rates unchanged in a range of 5.25% to 5.5% since the July meeting last year. Higher-than-expected inflation data earlier this year delayed expectations for the timing of the Fed's first rate cut. Logan had called it "premature" to consider cutting interest rates in early April and expressed concern that progress in the fight against inflation could stall.
Fed's Kashkari: The threshold for another rate hike is high, but the possibility cannot be ruled out. Fed's Kashkari said he was cautious about the restrictiveness of monetary policy; a wait-and-see attitude towards future monetary policy; Wait and see if inflation is stagnant; The bar for another rate hike is high, but this possibility cannot be ruled out; If inflation data is supportive, the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged.
Goldman Sachs continues to sing high copper prices. Goldman Sachs continues to target copper prices of US$12,000 a tonne by the end of the year, meaning copper prices will rise by 20% from current levels. Continue to see a supportive environment for the future direction of aluminum prices, with a 12-month target price of US$2,700 per tonne and an average price of US$2,850 per tonne in 2025. Iron ore prices are expected to remain range-bound in the near term, with a slight decline later this year.
The Federal Reserve warns of rising delinquencies on commercial real estate loans. The Fed said banks are preparing for further losses as loan delinquencies related to office space continue to rise. The Federal Reserve said Friday that overdue repayment rates on some commercial real estate loans had soared above pre-pandemic levels, and central bank officials focused on "increasing the speed, intensity and flexibility of regulation as appropriate." U.S. banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve, have been sounding the alarm on the commercial real estate market. Earlier this year, the problems at the New York Community Bank highlighted the potential risks, raising concerns about the company's portfolio, which includes multibillion-dollar condo loans for rent-regulated apartment buildings in New York. But despite these concerns, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other officials have said the U.S. banking system is strong enough to deal with the risks of commercial real estate.
【Stock News】
ZKR (ZK. US) rang the bell on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States, soaring 35% on the first day of listing. Shares of Geely Holding Group's premium electric vehicle brand Zeekr rose 35% after it expanded its initial public offering (IPO), the largest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since 2021. In the end, ZEEKR closed up 35% at $28.26, with a market capitalization of about $6.9 billion. The cumulative issuance of 21 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) (10 ordinary shares per ADS) at a price of US$21 per share raised approximately US$441 million, which will be further expanded to 24.15 million ADSs to raise approximately US$507 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment rights.
OpenAI's CEO-backed nuclear power stock Oklo (OKLO. US) plunged 54% on its first day of trading. Shares of Oklo, an advanced nuclear systems developer backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, plunged 54% to $8.45 a share on Friday after it merged with dishonored check firm AltC Acquisition Corp. According to a statement, the transaction resulted in more than $306 million in benefits for the combined company. The first day of trading was poor, with more than 25 million shares changing hands, more than 13 times the volume traded in the past month, and trading was halted at least three times in the first hour due to volatility. The merger with the SPAC was announced in July and valus the company at about $850 million. Retail investors then bought the stock, pushing the stock up about 75% before its IPO on Friday, beating the SPAC's offering price of $10. The stock's decline lowered the company's valuation to about $718 million and knocked it out of the list of the best-performing public companies of the year, including Donald Trump's social media startup. The surge in artificial intelligence and other computing has fueled a boom in power-hungry data centers, which has helped boost power demand for the first time in decades. OpenAI's Altman and Oklo executives say a small nuclear power plant and data center are an ideal combination.
Novavax Pharmaceuticals (NVAX. US) and Sanofi (SNY. US) reached a multi-billion dollar partnership, and the stock price soared 99% to trigger a short squeeze. Nohuax's record one-day gains forced some short sellers of the stock to exit their positions at a loss. Shares of the vaccine maker surged 99% on Friday after the company signed a $1.2 billion licensing agreement with Sanofi that includes commercializing a combined coronavirus and flu vaccine. The move boosted the company's shares, which were down about 99% from their 2021 peak before trading due to declining demand for its Covid vaccine. However, according to S3 Partners LLC, last Friday's surge cost short sellers about $255 million in paper losses. Data from S3 shows that the biotech stock is a crowded position for short sellers, with less than 1 million shares available to borrow to support a new sell-off.
Climate controversy escalates: Calpers pension fund intends to oppose ExxonMobil (XOM. US) CEO was re-elected to the Board of Directors. Calpers, the largest public pension fund in the United States, is considering voting against the re-election of CEO Darren Woods to the board at ExxonMobil's shareholder meeting. The decision stemmed from frustration with ExxonMobil's lawsuit against two investors concerned about climate change issues. Earlier this year, investor groups such as Arjuna Capital and Follow This urged ExxonMobil and other oil majors to adopt stricter climate targets and develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from users of their products. However, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit in Texas court in January to prevent the investors' climate proposals from being voted on at the company's shareholder meeting in May. Despite Arjuna Capital and Follow This's subsequent withdrawal of the climate proposal, ExxonMobil said it would continue to file a lawsuit against the two investors. Michael Cohen, Calpers' chief investment officer, expressed "deep concern" and suggested that ExxonMobil's actions may be aimed at suppressing the opinions of key shareholders.