S&P, Nasdaq Hit New Highs; Apple Aims for Top US Market Value
* U.S. stocks mixed, Dow Jones down over 0.1%;
* Federal Reserve holds steady, expects one rate cut this year;
* Long-term U.S. Treasury bonds retreat, 2-year Treasury yields fall below 4.80%;
On Wednesday, the S&P and Nasdaq set new historical highs for the third consecutive day, following the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which was lower than expected. However, stocks pulled back from their intraday highs at the end of the day as the Federal Reserve projected only one rate cut for the year. At the close, the Dow Jones fell 35.21 points, or 0.09%, to 36,712.21, the Nasdaq rose 1.53% to 17,608.44, and the S&P 500 index gained 0.85% to 5,421.03.
Market Overview
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May unexpectedly remained unchanged, with the annual inflation rate rising to 3.3%, lower than market expectations. The core inflation rate increased by 3.4% year-over-year, remaining at a nearly three-year low.
The Federal Reserve held its interest rate meeting and kept interest rates unchanged. The closely watched dot plot indicated that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expects the space for rate cuts this year to decrease from three times in March to one time. Powell stated at the press conference that future rate cuts would still require more confidence in inflation.
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James, Managing Director of Equity Trading at WedBush, said: "The CPI data was definitely lower than expected and boosted the optimism of the day, but the market is expected to soften after the latest news from the Federal Reserve, as the comments were hawkish and the rate cut (expectation) was downgraded."
Long-term U.S. Treasury yields retreated, with the 2-year Treasury, closely linked to interest rate expectations, falling 8.4 basis points to 4.75%, marking one of the largest single-day declines in nearly a month, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.29%. According to the FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in September approached 70% after the inflation data was released, and is currently maintained at around 60%.
Jay Hatfield, founder of research firm InfraCap, is relatively optimistic, stating: "The overall CPI still suppresses the hawkish Federal Reserve. Most market participants believe the economy is slowing down, and they will have to cut rates. Therefore, we believe the market is dismissive of the hawkish (economic forecast summary) of only one rate cut."On individual stocks, Apple rose by 2.9%, setting a new historical high, and its market value once surpassed Microsoft during the trading session. The company released updates for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, and other systems this week, and announced its entry into the field of artificial intelligence with the launch of Apple Intelligence.
Benefiting from the retreat of US Treasury yields, star technology stocks generally performed well, with Nvidia up 3.6%, Microsoft up 1.9%, Google up 0.8%, Meta up 0.3%, and Amazon down 0.2%.
Oracle surged by 13%, as the company expects its revenue to reach double digits in the fiscal year 2025 and announced partnerships with Microsoft and Alphabet's Google.
Valero Energy fell by 3.4%, as Goldman Sachs adjusted its stock target price from $168 to $162.
GameStop opened high and then declined, falling by 16.5%, as the company raised funds of $2.14 billion through a share issue.
International oil prices edged higher, with investors focusing on the prospects for summer energy demand. The WTI crude oil front-month contract rose by 0.77%,报价 at $78.50 per barrel, while the Brent crude oil front-month contract increased by 0.83%,报价 at $82.60 per barrel.
International gold prices rose and then retreated, with the COMEX gold futures contract for delivery in June on the New York Commodity Exchange up by 1.24%,报价 at $2,336.00 per ounce. After the market closed, the gains narrowed due to the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell.
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