Financial Daily: Dow Jones Hits Another Record Closing High; Mixed Performance Among Tech Giants—What Signal Is This Sending?

– Hotspot Focus

– Richmond Fed President Barkin stated that whether rate hikes are needed depends on how the economy responds to shocks.

– Germany's Federal Agency for Foreign Trade and Investment reported that foreign investment projects in Germany have fallen to a 10-year low, as U.S. companies have paused new construction and expansion of facilities.

– U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said that talks between the U.S. and Iran have made some progress, but there is no guarantee an agreement will be reached.

Content compiled by 'Harbor Family Office,' a subsidiary of Henry Jia Group. It does not constitute any investment or trading advice. Stay tuned.

- Stock Market

[U.S. Markets] The three major U.S. stock indexes closed slightly higher, with the Dow hitting a record closing high.

Ahead of Thursday’s U.S. market open, news emerged from Iran that its Supreme Leader stated uranium enriched close to weapons-grade would not be allowed to leave the country, causing oil prices to surge and U.S. stocks to decline. Later during trading hours, reports surfaced that the U.S. and Iran might reach a deal, prompting a rebound in U.S. equities. However, toward the close, Iran’s president declared that Iran would never back down, leading U.S. stocks to retreat from their highs and narrow their gains. Oil prices rose again, yet all three major U.S. equity indexes closed modestly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching a record closing high, and market panic sentiment eased.

At the close, the S&P 500 rose 0.17% to 7,445.72; the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.09% to 26,293.098; the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.55% to 50,285.66. The VIX fear index fell 3.90% to 16.76. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.28% to 11,964.085.

The index tracking the Magnificent Seven U.S. tech stocks declined 0.15%. Among them, Amazon rose 1.30%, Apple gained 0.91%, Meta increased 0.38%, Google Class A shares fell 0.32%, and NVIDIA dropped 1.77%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index declined 1.50% to 6,659.19. Among notable Chinese ADRs, New Oriental fell 4.5%, Bilibili dropped 3.7%, and Alibaba slid 2.1%. In individual stocks, Taiwan Semiconductor rose 1.36%, Circle gained 3.02%, and Walmart fell 7.3%.

[European Market] European major indexes showed mixed results.

Major European stock indexes saw minor fluctuations on Thursday, with mixed performance across national benchmarks. At the close, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.04% to 620.56, while the STOXX 50 index declined 0.26% to 5,960.32.

Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.53% to 24,606.77; France's CAC 40 declined 0.39% to 8,086.00; the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.11% to 10,443.47; and Italy's FTSE MIB dipped 0.03% to 49,168.70.

[Asian Markets] Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday, with South Korea's benchmark index surging over 8%.

Market sentiment in Asia turned relatively more positive on Thursday, with major indices generally rising. South Korea's benchmark index jumped over 8%. At the close, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 3.14% to 61,684.14; South Korea’s KOSPI gained 8.42% to 7,815.59; Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged up 0.02% to 5,045.71; and Thailand’s SET Index advanced 0.28% to 1,532.67.

[Hong Kong Market] Hong Kong's three major indexes closed lower, with the Hang Seng Tech Index falling more than 2%.

Hong Kong stocks opened higher but closed lower on Thursday, with all three major indices ending in the red and the Hang Seng Tech Index falling over 2%. At the close, the Hang Seng Index declined 1.03% to 25,386.52; the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.15% to 4,768.90; and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 1.51% to 8,475.32. Among sectors, large-cap tech and internet stocks broadly declined—Bilibili fell over 7%, Kuaishou dropped over 5%, Alibaba slid over 4%, and Tencent lost over 3%. The optical communications sector weakened, with Cambridge Industries down 8.51%, Yangtze Optical Fiber & Cable down 6.84%, and Vision Network Technology down 4.63%. Media, security surveillance, cloud computing, and semiconductor sectors also underperformed.

[A-Share Market] Mainland Chinese stocks opened higher but closed lower, with all three major indices falling over 2%.

Mainland Chinese stocks opened higher but steadily extended losses in the afternoon, with all three major indices closing down over 2%. At the close, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.04% to 4,077.28; the Shenzhen Component dropped 2.07% to 15,247.27; and the ChiNext Price Index declined 2.35% to 3,829.78. In terms of sectors and themes, chip and semiconductor stocks plunged sharply after midday—Shanghai Synchrotron lost over 16%, Dongxin Semiconductor fell 15.81%, Liansheng Technology dropped 15.58%, and nearly 20 stocks declined over 10%. Brokerage stocks generally rose, with Hua’an Securities gaining nearly 9%, Guoyuan Securities up 5.56%, and China Merchants Securities and East Money both climbing over 4%. Intelligent driving-related stocks performed strongly, with Howell Auto Electronics rising 10.64%, and Desay SV and Zhejiang Shibao hitting their daily trading limits. CPO, memory, and commercial aerospace sectors underperformed.

- Bonds

[U.S. Treasuries] U.S. Treasury yields broadly declined, with the 10-year yield falling by 1.59 basis points.

U.S. Treasury yields broadly declined. At the New York close, the 10-year Treasury yield fell 1.59 basis points to 4.5696%; the 2-year yield rose 2.80 basis points to 4.0830%; and the 30-year yield dropped 3.11 basis points to 5.0919%.

[Non-U.S. Bond Markets] Sovereign bond yields in major European countries saw modest fluctuations.

Sovereign bond yields in major European countries saw modest fluctuations as markets awaited positive news from U.S.-Iran negotiations. Germany’s 10-year yield rose 0.2 basis points to 3.098%; its 2-year yield increased 3.1 basis points to 2.685%. The UK’s 10-year yield declined 2.2 basis points to 4.965%. France’s 10-year yield rose 0.9 basis points, while Italy’s 10-year yield climbed 1.2 basis points.

[China Bond Market] Treasury futures declined across the board on Thursday.

Thursday saw Treasury futures pause their rally, opening higher before turning lower across the board. At the close, the front-month 30-year Treasury contract fell 0.21%, the 10-year contract dropped 0.13%, the 5-year contract declined 0.07%, and the 2-year contract slipped 0.02%.

– Foreign exchange

[USD] The dollar index edged up slightly, while the yen dipped modestly by 0.07%.

The dollar showed noticeable intraday volatility before closing slightly higher. At the New York close, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.15% to 99.241, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.10% to 1,202.12.

The dollar strengthened modestly against major global currencies: USD/JPY rose 0.07% to 159.03 yen; EUR/USD fell 0.08% to $1.1618; GBP/USD declined 0.01% to $1.3429.

[CNY] USD/CNH traded at 6.8001.

At the New York close, the offshore renminbi (CNH) weakened by 21 pips from the previous session’s close, trading at 6.8001 against the dollar. Meanwhile, the onshore renminbi (CNY) strengthened by 100 pips from the prior day’s close, settling at 6.7960 per dollar.

[Digital Assets] Bitcoin was essentially flat.

Bitcoin experienced significant intraday volatility on Thursday due to U.S.-Iran news but ultimately closed near the previous session’s level, remaining above $77,500.

– Products

[Energy] U.S. crude oil futures fell nearly 2%.

Crude oil prices initially surged but then pulled back, recovering somewhat by the close after briefly rising more than 4% during the session. At the New York close, U.S. crude oil futures settled down 1.94% at $96.35 per barrel.

[Precious Metals] Precious and base metals prices generally rose slightly, with gold holding around the $4,500 level.

Precious Metals:Gold prices remained largely unchanged from the previous session. At the New York close, spot gold fell 0.08% to $4,540.60 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.16% to $4,542.80 per ounce.

Metals Futures Market:Precious and base metals generally posted modest gains. At the New York close, spot silver rose about 1% to $76.6124 per ounce, and U.S. silver futures climbed approximately 1% to $76.960 per ounce. U.S. copper futures increased by about 0.2% to $6.3450 per pound. Spot platinum rose 0.75%, and spot palladium gained 0.9%.

[Disclaimer]

The above content is provided by Harbor Family Office (hereinafter referred to as "Harbor Family Office"), summarized from various market information sources. Harbor Family Office and its group members did not participate in preparing the content nor explicitly or implicitly endorse it. This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment or trading advice. Investment involves risks. Readers should independently assess and judge this material and are advised to seek professional opinions before making any related investments or trades. Without authorization, no one may reproduce, copy, or publish this content in whole or in part to the public in any manner. Copyright belongs to Harbor Family Office and related providers.

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