U.S. stocks surge higher and lower

Data released on Thursday reflects that the US economic growth is stabilizing or gradually cooling down: industrial output in April showed no growth month-on-month, and the growth rate for March was revised down to 0.1%; the number of initial jobless claims last week decreased by 10,000 to 222,000, still higher than the economists' expectation of 220,000, and the four-week moving average of claims reached a new high since November last year; the number of new housing starts in April increased by 5.7% month-on-month to 1.36 million, still below the expected 1.42 million, and the March figure was revised down to 1.29 million, the leading indicator of housing construction permits decreased by 3% in April to 1.44 million, the lowest since the end of 2022, below the expected 1.48 million, and the March figure was revised up to nearly 1.49 million.

The Federal Reserve's "third in command," John Williams, commented on the April CPI released on Wednesday, stating that the overall trend is positive but not enough to push for a rapid rate cut. Some comments suggest that Thursday's data is consistent with the overall theme of the week, with no drama, showing the economy stabilizing to cooling, and not prompting the Federal Reserve to return to an overly hawkish stance. After the release of unemployment data and the April CPI, the US Treasury bond prices that jumped after the April CPI announcement generally fell back, and the yield accelerated its recovery, with the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield, which had earlier in the day hit a low not seen since early April, turning positive; the US dollar index rebounded, moving away from the low it had hit earlier in the day since the release of the March CPI.

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The day after the CPI announcement, the US stock market's upward momentum faded, with the three major stock indices turning slightly negative during the session, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had broken through the 40,000-point mark for the first time in history, failed to continue setting new closing highs with the S&P and Nasdaq. Some comments suggest that after reaching historical highs this week, the US stock market may need a brief "respite" before further rising.

Among individual stocks, Meta, which was under investigation by the EU under the Digital Services Act, led the decline among tech giants; chip stocks fell back, with Nvidia, after Stanley Druckenmiller's family office disclosed a more than 70% reduction in its holdings in the first quarter, closing lower for the first time this week; GameStop, leading the retail investor stocks, saw a double-digit decline for the second consecutive day, continuing to give back the surge in the first two days of the week. However, Walmart, which reported that high-income customer spending and US e-commerce business boosted its first-quarter revenue growth by 6%, which exceeded expectations, once rose more than 7% during the session, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher.

Chinese concept stocks went against the market trend, with Alibaba, which was看好 by the former "short seller" Citron, rising more than 7% during the session, making up for the drop after the earnings report was released on Tuesday, while Chinese concept stocks that released earnings on Thursday performed differently: JD.com, which disclosed a more than 80% increase in holdings by Michael Burry's fund, the protagonist of the movie "The Big Short," saw a net profit increase of more than 14% year-on-year in the first quarter and once rose nearly 3% in the early session, but then turned negative more than once; Baidu, which saw a net profit increase of more than 22% year-on-year in the first quarter, and iQiyi, which saw revenue higher than expected but a year-on-year decrease of 4.8%, both opened lower and then rose, making up for the initial drop of more than 5% and about 10%, respectively.

In the foreign exchange market, as the US dollar index rebounded, non-US currencies fell back, and the Japanese yen and offshore renminbi, which had been setting new highs for more than a week, both turned negative during the session. Bitcoin, which had broken through the $66,000 mark for the first time in three weeks, also turned negative, falling by more than $2,000 at one point.

Among commodities, under the pressure of the US dollar rebound, gold, which had surged on the day of the CPI announcement, fell back, bidding farewell to its closing high for more than three weeks; most London base metals continued to rise, with copper continuing to set a two-year high, while New York copper failed to withstand the pressure of the US dollar and turned negative, ending the momentum of continuously setting two-year highs this week. On Wednesday, the US CPI reinforced expectations for a rate cut, and the EIA crude oil inventory announced on the same day fell more than expected, releasing supply-side benefits. On Thursday, unemployment data showed a stable labor market, and international crude oil, which had a V-shaped reversal on Wednesday, continued to rebound, moving away from the closing low of the past nine weeks, with US oil closing at a one-week high.

The three major US stock indices all set intraday historical highs before closing lower, with the chip stock index ending its four-day rise, and Walmart surging after earnings, while the Chinese concept stock index hit an eight-month high.

The three major US stock indices started the day with mixed performances, turned positive after early fluctuations for the second consecutive day, and then all turned negative in the afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which opened slightly higher, turned negative at the beginning of the session and then fell by more than 28 points, but turned positive less than half an hour after the opening, rising by more than 140 points, or nearly 0.4%, during the morning session, and then turned negative more than once in the afternoon, ending the day down by more than 30 points. The S&P 500, which opened higher, turned negative in the early morning, then rose by more than 0.3%, and then turned negative again in the afternoon, ending the day down by more than 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite, which opened slightly lower, fell by less than 0.1% at the beginning of the session and then quickly turned positive, also rising by more than 0.3% during the morning session, and ended the day down by about 0.3%.

In the end, the three major stock indices, which had all risen for three consecutive days, all closed lower. The S&P 500 fell by 0.21%, closing at 5,297.1 points. The Nasdaq fell by 0.26%, closing at 16,698.31 points. The Dow Jones fell by 38.62 points, or about 0.1%, closing at 39,869.38 points.Technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index turned negative in the afternoon, closing down 0.21%, falling from the closing historical high set on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Technology Market Value Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology sector components in the Nasdaq 100 Index, also turned negative in the afternoon, closing down 0.21%, retreating after two consecutive days of setting new closing highs, and both the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 halted their four-day winning streak. The Russell 2000, which is dominated by value stocks, closed down 0.63%, underperforming the broader market, and retreated after three consecutive days of gains to the highest level since March 28.

Among Dow Jones components, Walmart, which reported earnings, rose more than 7.3% in the morning and closed up 7%. At the close, Boeing and 3M rose more than 3%, while Cisco, which reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the third fiscal quarter, still led the decline with a 2.7% drop, and Caterpillar fell 2.6%. Among the S&P 500 sectors, by the close, only the consumer staples sector, where Walmart is located, rose nearly 1.5% to close higher, while the non-essential consumer goods sector, where Amazon is located, fell nearly 0.8% to lead the decline, materials fell more than 0.7%, and the communication services sector, where Google is located, fell slightly.

Including Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google's parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook's parent company Meta, and Tesla, the tech giants, known as the "Seven Sisters," saw mixed performances, with only Alphabet never falling throughout the day, and Meta leading the decline. Tesla, which closed down 2% on Wednesday, fell nearly 1.5% at the start of trading, turned positive in the morning, and closed up 0.5%, not continuing to fall away from the closing high set on Tuesday since May 6.

Among the FAANMG group of six major tech stocks, Alphabet once rose 1.4% in the morning and closed up 0.9%, marking four consecutive days of gains and two days of setting new closing record highs; Apple once rose more than 0.7% in the morning, turned negative in the short term at the end of the day, closed up less than 0.1%, marking four consecutive days of gains and two days of setting new closing highs since January 29; Microsoft, which had risen for two days to a high not seen since April 11, turned positive at the start of trading and then negative in the afternoon, closing down 0.5%; Amazon also turned negative in the afternoon, closing down 1.3%, marking two consecutive days of decline to the lowest closing level since May 1; Meta, which had risen for two days to a closing high not seen since April 24, closed down 1.7%; Netflix turned negative at the end of the morning and closed down 0.5%, continuing to move away from the high set by the rebound on Monday since April 16.

Chip stocks turned negative in the afternoon or gave back some gains. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the semiconductor industry ETF SOXX closed down nearly 0.6% and about 0.5%, respectively, moving away from the closing highs set after four consecutive days of gains since March 7. Among chip stocks, Nvidia once rose nearly 1.3% at the start of trading, closed down 0.3%, ending a four-day winning streak, and failed to continue setting new closing highs since March 25; at the close, TSMC's U.S.-listed shares and Western Digital fell more than 2%, Broadcom fell nearly 1.7%, Applied Materials fell 1.5%, while Intel rose nearly 2.5%, and AMD rose nearly 1.9%.

Retail investor favorites, which had surged on Monday and Tuesday, fell sharply for two consecutive days. GameStop (GME), which closed down nearly 20% on Wednesday, closed down 30%; AMC Entertainment (AMC), which closed down 20.2% on Wednesday, closed down 15.3%; Koss (KOSS), which closed down 19.2% on Wednesday, once fell 13.1% in the morning and closed down 4.6%; BlackBerry (BB), which closed down 6.4% on Wednesday, closed down 6.2%; Reddit (RDDT), the forum where retail investor favorites are discussed, closed down more than 4% on Wednesday and then closed down nearly 5.5%; SunPower (SPWR), which closed down 29.2% on Wednesday, fell 9% in the morning and then turned positive, closing up 5%.

Most AI concept stocks fell, with BigBear.ai (BBAI) down 7.1%, Astera Labs (ALAB), known as "little Nvidia" and selling data center interconnect chips, down 5.7%, Super Micro Computer (SMCI), which rose 15.8% on Wednesday, down 5%, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) down nearly 4%, Dell (DELL), which rose 11.2% on Wednesday, down nearly 2%, C3.ai (AI) down 1.5%, Adobe (ADBE) down 0.5%, Palantir (PLTR) down less than 0.1%, while Oracle (ORCL) rose 0.4%.

Popular Chinese concept stocks continued to rise overall, outperforming the broader market. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC), which closed slightly higher on Wednesday, turned negative in the morning and then maintained its upward momentum, closing up about 2.5%, marking the second time this week, after a 3.7% rebound on Monday, that it set a new high since September 2023. The Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ closed up nearly 2.7% and 1.3%, respectively. After reporting earnings, JD.com initially rose nearly 2.7%, then quickly turned negative and fell nearly 4.6%, but ultimately closed up 1.9%, Baidu initially fell 5.5%, iQIYI initially fell 10%, turned positive in the afternoon, and closed up about 1.7% and 12.2%, respectively. Among the new forces in car manufacturing, Li Auto, which faced consumer allegations of exaggerating MEGA market demand and saw its stock price plummet, fell more than 3.7% at the start of trading and closed down 2.7%, NIO Inc. turned negative after the start and closed down 1.1%, Zeekr, which fell more than 4% at the start, closed down 0.5%, while XPeng Inc., which turned positive in the morning, closed up 3.5%, and Xiaomi, which fell nearly 2% at the start, closed up nearly 0.8%. Among other stocks, Alibaba, which once rose 7.5% in the afternoon, closed with a gain of just over 7%, NetEase rose 5.5%, Bilibili rose nearly 2.8%, Pinduoduo rose nearly 1.5%, and Tencent, which fell more than 1% at the start, closed up 0.1%.

The bank stock index, which had risen for two consecutive days, fell back. The KBW Bank Index (BKX), which had been刷新ing highs since March 2023, closed down more than 0.6%; the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed down nearly 0.6%, and the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) closed down more than 0.4%, all retreating after consecutive days of刷新ing highs since January 30.

Among the more volatile stocks, Chubb (CB), a property and casualty insurance company, rose 6.8% at the start of trading and closed up over 4.7% after Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, disclosed its mysterious holdings, which had been kept secret for three quarters, and revealed that it had bought nearly 26 million shares in the first quarter, making it the ninth-largest holding for the quarter; AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), a satellite communications service provider, rose 68.6% after reporting lower-than-expected losses for the first quarter and announcing an agreement with AT&T to access its space-based cellular broadband network on mobile phones; Hawkins (HWKN), a chemical products manufacturer, rose 9.3% after reporting lower-than-expected profits for the fourth fiscal quarter but higher-than-expected revenue; Faraday Future (FFIE) rose 134%, marking a cumulative increase of 3463.7% over four days this week.European stock market, the pan-European index that had risen for nine consecutive trading days fell back. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped from the closing historical high it had set for seven consecutive days. Most of the major European country indices fell, with German, French, and British stocks falling from the closing historical highs they had set on Wednesday, and the Spanish stock, which had risen for four consecutive days, also fell back, while Italian stocks continued to rise for six consecutive days.

Among the various sectors, the automotive sector fell by more than 1.2%, due to ex-dividend trading, with BMW and Daimler Truck each falling by 6.3% and 5.1% respectively; the industrial sector fell by nearly 1.1%, weighed down by the German-listed Siemens, which fell by nearly 6.8% after announcing a 2% decrease in second-quarter industrial profits that missed expectations and downgrading guidance for its main business, Digital Industries, marking the largest daily drop in over two years, and together with automotive stocks, dragged down the German index to lead the decline among the countries; the oil and gas sector fell by about 1%, among the constituents, BP, the British oil giant in ex-dividend trading, fell by 1.5%, and Eni, listed in Milan, fell by 2.2% after being sold 2.8% of its shares by the Italian Ministry of Finance; while the insurance sector rose by more than 1.6%, among the constituents, Swiss Reinsurance rose by 3.8% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results and news of plans to exit the digital white-label business. Among other individual stocks, Ubisoft, the French-listed gaming giant with disappointing net bookings guidance for the first fiscal quarter, fell by 13.5%, leading the decline in the Stoxx 600 constituents.

After economic data, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which had hit a nearly six-week low during the session, turned higher.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury benchmark yield had briefly fallen below 4.31% in the Asian session, setting a new low since April 10 on Wednesday, and刷新ed a nearly six-week low since April 5, before quickly rising above 4.35% after the release of U.S. economic data such as unemployment before the U.S. stock market opened, and rose above 4.38% at the end of the U.S. stock market to hit a daily high, ending the session at about 4.37%, rising by about 3 basis points during the day, and along with other maturities of U.S. Treasury yields, rebounded after three consecutive days of decline.

The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate prospects, had briefly approached 4.70% in the early Asian session, setting a new low since April 5 for two consecutive days, turned higher before the opening of the European stock market, and accelerated upward after the release of U.S. economic data before the U.S. stock market opened, testing 4.80% at the end of the U.S. stock market to hit a daily high, recovering nearly 10 basis points from the daily low, ending the session at about 4.80%, rising by nearly 8 basis points during the day.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the basket of exchange rates of the U.S. dollar against the euro and six other major currencies, fell below 104.10 in the early Asian session, setting a new low since April 10 when the U.S. March CPI was released, falling by nearly 0.3% during the day, turned positive at the beginning of the European session and maintained the upward trend, accelerated upward after the release of U.S. economic data, and broke through 104.60 at the beginning of the U.S. stock market to hit a daily high of 104.626, rising by nearly 0.3% during the day.

By the close of the U.S. stock market on Thursday, the U.S. dollar index was above 104.50, rising by nearly 0.2% during the day, ending a three-day consecutive decline; the Bloomberg U.S. dollar spot index, which tracks the exchange rates of the U.S. dollar against ten other currencies, rose by less than 0.1% during the day, rebounding after two consecutive days of decline to the lowest level since April 9 at the same time.

Among non-U.S. currencies, the Japanese yen, which had rebounded by 1% on Wednesday, turned down during the session, marking the fourth day of decline in the last five trading days, with the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen falling to 153.60 in the early Asian session, setting a new low since May 6 for two consecutive days, turning positive before the U.S. stock market opened and rising above 155.50 to 155.53 in the morning, rising by 0.4% during the day; the euro against the U.S. dollar had approached 1.0900 in the early Asian session, setting a new high since March 21, and the British pound against the U.S. dollar had tested 1.2700 in the early Asian session, setting a new high since April 10 for two consecutive days, both turned down before the opening of the European stock market and maintained the downward trend, with the euro falling below 1.0860 and the British pound falling below 1.2650 when the U.S. stock market refreshed the daily low in the morning session.

The offshore renminbi (CNH) against the U.S. dollar had risen to 7.2042 in the early Asian session, setting a new high since May 6 for two consecutive days, turned down before the opening of the European stock market and basically maintained the downward trend, falling to 7.2273 at the beginning of the U.S. stock market to hit a daily low, falling by 231 points from the daily high. At 4:59 AM Beijing time on May 17, the offshore renminbi against the U.S. dollar was reported at 7.2227 yuan, falling by 48 points from the New York close on Wednesday, after stopping a three-day consecutive decline on Wednesday and then falling back.Bitcoin (BTC) once broke through $66,700 in the pre-market of the US stock market, setting a new intraday high since April 24 for two consecutive days. After the release of US economic data, it continued to fall back. During the midday of the US stock market, it once fell below $64,800, and some platforms fell below $64,700, falling more than $2,000 and more than 3% from the daily high. At the close of the US stock market, it was above $65,200, falling more than 1% in the last 24 hours.

Crude oil has risen for two consecutive days, with US oil closing at a new high for a week.

Most international crude oil futures remained bullish on Thursday. After the European stock market turned down in the morning and refreshed the daily low, US WTI crude oil fell to $78.20, and Brent crude oil approached $82.30, both falling more than 0.5% during the day. After the European stock market turned up during the trading and the US stock market refreshed the daily high in the early morning, US oil broke through $79.80, rising nearly 1.6% during the day, and Brent oil approached $83.80, rising more than 1.2% during the day.

In the end, crude oil closed higher for two consecutive days. WTI June crude oil futures, which closed at a new low since March 12 on Tuesday, rose by $0.60, or 0.76%, to $79.23 per barrel, refreshing the closing high since May 9; Brent July crude oil futures rose by $0.52, or 0.63%, to $83.27 per barrel, continuing to move away from the low point since March 12 on Tuesday.

US gasoline and natural gas futures both rose for two consecutive days. NYMEX June gasoline futures closed up 1.64%, at $2.5378 per gallon, refreshing the high since May 9; NYMEX June natural gas futures closed up 3.27%, at $2.495 per million British thermal units, refreshing the high for nearly four months for two consecutive days.

London copper continues to set a two-year high, and New York copper fell from a two-year high after rising nearly 2% during the session, and gold bid farewell to a high of more than three weeks.

Most of the basic metal futures in London rose on Thursday. Leading London copper closed up about 2%, breaking through $10,400 for the first time in two years, setting a new high since April 2022 for two consecutive days and the third time this week, and continued to rise for two consecutive days with London nickel, which rose more than 1%, continuing to set a new high since late April. London tin and lead both rose for four consecutive days, setting new highs since late April and November last year, respectively, for four consecutive days. However, London zinc fell for two consecutive days from the high point set by the four consecutive days of rise since March last year, and London aluminum, which had risen for three consecutive days to the highest point in three weeks, fell back.

New York copper, which had risen for five consecutive days, turned down during the session. COMEX July copper once rose to $5.02 during the Asian trading session, rising more than 1.9% during the day. After turning down before the US stock market and maintaining the downward trend, it refreshed the daily low to $4.8415 during the early morning of the US stock market, falling nearly 1.7% during the day, closing down 0.96%, at $4.877 per pound, falling from the closing high for two consecutive days, and failing to continue approaching the historical closing high set on March 4, 2022.

Gold turned down during the session on Thursday. In the early morning of the Asian trading session, New York gold futures once broke through $2,400 to $2,402.7, setting a new high since April 22 for the second consecutive day, rising more than 0.3% during the day. Spot gold once rose above $2,397, setting a new high since April 20, rising nearly 0.5% during the day, and then turned down several times. After turning down before the European stock market and maintaining the downward trend, when the futures gold fell to $2,375.2 during the early morning of the US stock market, it fell more than 0.8% during the day, and spot gold approached $2,371, falling more than 0.6% during the day.

By the close of the US stock market, COMEX June gold futures, which had risen for two consecutive days, closed down 0.39%, at $2,385.5 per ounce, falling from the closing high since April 19 on Wednesday. At the close of the US stock market, spot gold was above $2,378, falling more than 0.3% during the day.