US Stocks Rebound; Dow Jumps Over 300 Points; Gold Hits Record Close
2024-05-18 News Comments(78)

US Stocks Rebound; Dow Jumps Over 300 Points; Gold Hits Record Close

**Three major stock indices rebound, S&P 500 rises nearly 0.5%;

**Mid-to-long-term US Treasury yields slightly decline;

**Morgan Stanley's stock price hits a one-year high.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) setting another record, as investors assessed the latest corporate earnings, with Morgan Stanley leading the banking sector higher. At the close, the DJIA was up 337.28 points, or 0.79%, at 43,077.70, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.28% to 18,367.08, and the S&P 500 gained 0.47% to 5,842.47.

Market Overview

The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that due to a decrease in fuel prices, the U.S. Import Price Index fell by 0.4% in September, marking the second consecutive month of decline.

The New York Federal Reserve's October manufacturing index dropped by 23.4 points to -11.9, reaching a new low since May of this year.

Investors are looking forward to key economic indicators such as upcoming retail sales and industrial production, which are expected to demonstrate consumer health and the outlook for U.S. economic growth.

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Mid-to-long-term U.S. Treasury yields retreated, with the closely rate-expectation-linked 2-year Treasury note falling by 2.1 basis points to 3.934%, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling by 2.2 basis points to 4.015%. The federal funds rate indicates that the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in November remains around 80%.

The new earnings season starts strong. FactSet data shows that so far, about 50 S&P 500 components have reported third-quarter earnings, with 79% of them beating expectations.Zachary Hill, Portfolio Manager at Horizon Investments, stated: "Generally speaking, bank earnings have been well received by the market, which is helpful for broad indices; you definitely need sectors beyond technology to keep moving forward."

Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA Research, still believes that the stock market may rise in the short term, especially considering that the rebound in September reached new heights. "Typically, September in an election year is negative. However, if they are positive, it also implies that October will be positive. In the last two months of an election year, the market has almost always been rising, with positive returns across all sizes, styles, and sectors." Nevertheless, Stovall did not rule out the possibility of a pullback, as the current valuations of stocks appear to be stretched, but any selling is likely to occur after the election and possibly not until the New Year.

On individual stocks, Morgan Stanley rose by 6.5%, marking its largest increase in nearly four years, with a 32% surge in third-quarter profits and a 13% increase in trading revenue. Other major U.S. banks also performed well, with Citigroup up 2.6%, Bank of America up 1.6%, Goldman Sachs up 1.4%, and JPMorgan Chase up 0.6%.

United Airlines jumped 12.4% after the company forecast better-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter and announced a $1.5 billion share repurchase plan.

Cisco rose 4.3% after Citigroup upgraded its stock rating from neutral to buy and adjusted the target price from $52 to $62.

ASML fell 6.4%, following a 16% plunge in the previous trading session. The Dutch chip equipment manufacturer lowered the upper end of its sales outlook range for the fiscal year 2025. CEO Christophe Fouquet stated on Wednesday's earnings call: "While we continue to believe that artificial intelligence is a key driver of industry recovery, with potential upside, we see other segments recovering more slowly than expected." The company expects the recovery to "last into" next year.

Large-cap technology stocks underperformed, with Apple falling 0.9% after hitting a historical high in the previous trading session. Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft saw declines ranging from 0.2% to 1.6%. Nvidia rebounded by 3.1% after plummeting nearly 5% the day before.

The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index rose by over 1%. Baidu gained 1.4%, JD.com rose by 1.0%, and Alibaba increased by 0.3%.

International oil prices fell for the fourth consecutive day, with investors focusing on the situation in the Middle East and the outlook for demand. The near-month WTI crude oil contract fell by 0.27%,报价 at $70.39 per barrel, while the near-month Brent crude oil contract fell by 0.04%,报价 at $74.22 per barrel.

The international gold price reached a new closing high. The COMEX gold futures on the New York Commodity Exchange rose by 0.41%,报价 at $2,689.90 per ounce, touching $2,702.50 at one point during the session, approaching the record of $2,708.70 set on September 26th.

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