• News
• 2024-09-21

NASDAQ Reaches All-Time High Last Night!

On October 30th local time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed with mixed results, with the Nasdaq reaching a historical high.

Some significant tech companies, such as Alphabet and AMD, announced their financial reports after the U.S. stock market closed. The market is also paying attention to a series of important economic data that will determine the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision.

Spot gold rose to $2,775.64 per ounce, continuing to set a historical high.

U.S. job vacancies dropped to the lowest level since early 2021, in line with the trend of a slowing labor market.

On October 30th local time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 154.06 points, a decrease of 0.36%, to 42,233.51 points; the Nasdaq Composite rose by 145.56 points, an increase of 0.78%, to 18,712.75 points; the S&P 500 index rose by 9.50 points, an increase of 0.16%, to 5,833.02 points.

During Tuesday's trading, the Nasdaq reached a high of 18,753.19 points and closed at 18,712.75, setting a historical high.

At the same time, a few days before Federal Reserve policymakers gather to reflect on the pace of rate cuts, data shows that the U.S. economic fundamentals remain strong, and employment growth has shown temporary fluctuations.

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On Tuesday's economic data front, data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that the goods trade deficit in September widened from $94.2 billion in the previous month to $108.2 billion.

Imports in September increased by 3.8%, rising from $272.02 billion in August to $282.414 billion. Exports fell by 2%, dropping from $177.802 billion in August to $174.187 billion. Wholesaler trade inventories decreased by 0.1%, falling to $905 billion. Retail trade inventories increased by 0.8%, rising to $824.3 billion.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for October recorded 108.7, the highest since January 2024. The October Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index was 108.7, expected to be 99.5, and the previous value was revised from 98.7 to 99.2.The U.S. Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported a decline in job openings from 7.86 million in the previous month to 7.44 million, marking the lowest level in three and a half years. This data indicates a waning demand for labor as businesses await an economic acceleration. It represents the fewest job openings since January 2021.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. companies once added millions of jobs but have now begun to reduce hiring. The Federal Reserve's high-interest-rate policy to curb high inflation has slowed growth in key economic sectors and dampened labor demand.

The rise in U.S. housing prices slowed in August due to the burden of high borrowing costs on potential buyers.

According to data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller, the U.S. national home price index rose by 4.2% year-over-year, down from the 4.8% year-over-year increase in July.

The August index tracked a three-month period starting in June, during which the 30-year mortgage rate averaged above 6.8%. Borrowing costs then declined but have recently begun to rise again. High mortgage rates have put pressure on the real estate market. Data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that U.S. existing home sales fell to a 10-month low in August and further declined in September.

Boeing will raise additional funds of about $21 billion through a stock offering.

In terms of sectors, nine out of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors declined, while two rose. The utilities and energy sectors led the decline with drops of 2.13% and 1.44%, respectively, while the communication services and technology sectors rose by 1.56% and 1.12%, respectively.

Most large-cap technology stocks rose. Broadcom rose over 4%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose over 3%, and Advanced Micro Devices, Meta, and Qualcomm rose over 2%. Alphabet (Google), Boeing, ASML, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, and TSMC rose over 1%. Oracle, Nvidia, and Apple saw minor increases, while Intel fell slightly, and Tesla fell over 1%.

The U.S. earnings season enters its busiest week, with five out of the seven major U.S. technology stocks scheduled to report earnings this week, making their financial reports the focus of Wall Street. After the U.S. stock market closed on Tuesday, companies such as Alphabet, AMD, Snap, and Reddit announced their results. Technology giants Meta Platforms and Microsoft are set to report their earnings on Wednesday, with Apple and Amazon scheduled for Thursday.

AMD rose by 3.96%, with a transaction volume of $9.902 billion. The company announced after the market closed on Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue was $6.8 billion, versus analyst expectations of $6.71 billion; its third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $0.92, matching analyst expectations of $0.92; its third-quarter adjusted operating income was $1.72 billion, versus analyst expectations of $1.71 billion; its third-quarter adjusted operating margin was 25%, versus analyst expectations of 25.4%; its third-quarter R&D expenditure was $1.64 billion, versus analyst expectations of $1.61 billion; and it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $7.2 billion and $7.8 billion, versus analyst expectations of $7.55 billion.Broadcom Inc. rose by 4.20%, with a transaction volume of $3.973 billion. According to media reports on Tuesday, OpenAI is collaborating with Broadcom and TSMC to create its first self-designed chip to support its artificial intelligence systems.

Meta Platforms Inc. increased by 2.62%, with a transaction volume of $7.31 billion. Silicon Valley tech media reported on Monday that Meta Platforms is developing a brand-new AI search engine. This search engine can gather information online and display it to users through Meta's artificial intelligence chatbots. There is a view that Meta's move is intended to reduce reliance on search engines owned by Google and Microsoft. An anonymous source close to Meta's search engine team revealed that for a long time, Google and Bing have been responsible for providing news, sports, and stock-related information to users of MetaAI. Eight months ago, Meta formed a dedicated team to build its own AI search engine.

Tesla Inc. closed down by 1.14%, with a transaction volume of $20.724 billion. Tesla recently announced that it is extending its 0% loan incentive in the Chinese market until the end of November to help the company achieve its delivery target for the fourth quarter of 2024. The company plans to deliver over 515,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 30,000 vehicles compared to the same period last year, which is also Tesla's highest quarterly delivery record to date.

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) increased by 1.78%, with a transaction volume of $6.063 billion. After the U.S. stock market closed on Tuesday, Google's parent company Alphabet reported third-quarter revenue of $88.27 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.45 billion; third-quarter earnings per share of $2.12, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84; third-quarter Google Cloud revenue of $11.35 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.79 billion; fourth-quarter Google advertising revenue of $65.85 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.5 billion; third-quarter YouTube advertising revenue of $8.92 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.89 billion; third-quarter other business revenue of $388 million, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.9 million; third-quarter operating profit of $28.52 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.67 billion; third-quarter revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs of $74.55 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.88 billion.

The Boeing Company increased by 1.52%, with a transaction volume of $9.957 billion. On the 28th, Boeing raised approximately $21 billion through a secondary stock offering. It is said to be one of the largest stock offerings among listed companies. Boeing stated in a declaration that the company issued 112.5 million common shares at a price of $143 per share. This price is about a 7.7% discount compared to the closing price on the 25th. In addition, Boeing sold $5 billion in depositary shares. On the 23rd, Boeing was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a total of $25 billion in stocks and bonds. Media reports stated that, in addition to financing through the issuance of stocks and bonds, Boeing is also considering selling part of its space business, and the relevant discussions are in the "initial stage." The report said that it is not clear how much of its space business will be sold. Boeing has cooperated with NASA for decades, including the International Space Station project. Boeing also co-founded the United Launch Alliance with U.S. military industry giant Lockheed Martin, holding a 50% stake. According to informed sources, Boeing provided more than 50% of this round of additional stock to 10 investors.

Most financial stocks fell. Travelers Insurance, Capital One Financial, Allstate Insurance, JPMorgan Chase, Hartford Financial, American International Group, and Barclays fell by more than 1%. Visa, Regional Finance, U.S. Bancorp, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, MetLife, Charles Schwab, and Bank of America fell slightly. Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup rose slightly. UBS Group rose by more than 1%, and Mizuho Financial Group rose by more than 2%.

Visa Inc. closed down by 0.81%, after informed sources said that the payment giant plans to lay off about 1,400 full-time and contract employees by the end of the year. About 1,000 of them will come from technology positions, and most of the others will affect merchant sales and global digital partnerships. The layoffs are part of streamlining Visa's international business, and the proportion of affected full-time employees and contract employees is not yet clear.

Energy stocks generally fell. BP plc (US) fell by more than 5%, US Energy fell by more than 4%, Schlumberger and Duke Energy fell by more than 2%, Apache Corporation, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Petrobras, Royal Dutch Shell, and Occidental Petroleum fell by more than 1%, and ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, and Imperial Oil fell slightly.

Popular Chinese concept stocks fluctuated. The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) closed down by 1.44%. Ji Qi fell by more than 8%, Xiaopeng Motors and Tiger Brokers fell by more than 4%, NIO fell by more than 3%, New Oriental, iQIYI, Li Auto, Tencent Music, and Huya fell by more than 2%, Bilibili and JD.com fell by more than 1%, VIPShop, Pinduoduo, Ctrip, and Alibaba fell slightly, Baidu rose slightly, Futu Holdings and NetEase rose by more than 1%, Kingsoft Cloud and Miniso rose by more than 3%.

Cryptocurrency companies rose, and Bitcoin broke through $71,000 for the first time since June.In other market news, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed down by $0.17, a decrease of 0.25%, settling at $67.21 per barrel.