US stocks hit new highs again, Apple's market value surpasses Microsoft, Tesla rises for the ninth consecutive day, silver futures once fell by 3%, French stocks opened high and fell

Market optimism believes that any signs of economic weakness later this year will lead to a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The June CPI data released on Thursday is expected to continue to boost rate cut expectations. On Monday, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both hit new highs. The latest survey results from the New York Fed show that U.S. inflation expectations have declined for two consecutive months, with the one-year inflation expectation for June in the U.S. dropping to 3.02%, down from the previous 3.17%.

In the foreign exchange market, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) remained stable, fluctuating around 105. Data shows that Japan's cash income in May grew by an average of 1.9%, and overtime pay increased, causing the yen to rise above 161. With strong wage agreements expected to boost real wages in the third or fourth quarter, the Bank of Japan's rate hike expectations later this year have been lifted.

Commodities fell across the board. The market assessed that the impact of Hurricane Beryl was limited, and hopes for a ceasefire in the Middle East strengthened, causing international oil prices to drop by about 1%. Gold prices fell by over 1.6%, erasing all gains since last Friday's "non-farm payroll day", while silver prices fell by over 2%. Analysts noted that the surge in precious metals driven by last week's non-farm data led investors to profit-taking. The strong performance of U.S. stocks partly weakened the attractiveness of precious metals. Additionally, the People's Bank of China suspended gold purchases for the second consecutive month.

Internationally, the second round of voting in the French parliamentary elections concluded with none of the three major parties securing a majority of seats. This has plunged French politics into a chaotic situation of "triangular balance", leading to a "suspended parliament" and significant political uncertainty in France. Analysts suggest that the left-wing alliance is likely to win the French parliamentary elections, which may not be favorable for the euro and French government bonds in the short term. Ultimately, a prime minister may be selected from the centrist alliance, gradually restoring stability to the market.

The market is also focusing on Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's testimonies before the Senate on Tuesday and the House of Representatives on Wednesday, as well as speeches by a series of Federal Reserve officials and the release of U.S. CPI inflation data on Thursday. This week will also see the issuance of U.S. 3-year, 10-year, and 30-year Treasury bonds, kicking off the second-quarter earnings season for U.S. stocks.

S&P and Nasdaq hit historic highs for five consecutive days, Tesla rises for the ninth consecutive day, Apple closes at a new high with the highest market value, Nvidia rises by nearly 1.9%, TSMC hits a new high

On Monday, July 9th, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed at historic highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq hit an intraday high, breaking through the 18,400 mark, with an increase of nearly 0.35%, closing 0.28% higher at a new high; the S&P 500 hit an intraday high of 5,567.19 points, up nearly 0.29%, giving back some gains towards the end of the session, closing 0.1% higher at a new high; the Dow, dominated by blue-chip stocks, turned lower at midday and closed lower, ending a month-long high; the Russell small-cap index maintained its upward trend, with the largest relative increase among major indices.

At the close, the S&P, Nasdaq, and Nasdaq 100 all hit new closing highs, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq marking the 35th and 24th times this year, respectively, that they have set new historic highs:

The S&P 500 index rose by 5.66 points, or 0.10%, to 5,572.85 points. The Dow fell by 31.08 points, or 0.08%, to 39,344.79 points The Nasdaq rose by 50.98 points, up 0.28%, to 18403.74 points.

The Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.23% to a new high, with the Nasdaq Technology Market Capitalization Weighted Index (NDXTMC) measuring the performance of Nasdaq 100 technology component stocks rising by 0.46% to a new high, closing above the 1800-point mark for the first time in history. The Russell 2000 small-cap stocks rose by 0.59%, while the "fear index" VIX fell by 0.96% to 12.36.

At the opening of the U.S. stock market, the Dow and small-cap stocks saw panic buying, but as the European markets closed, the gains began to retreat, with all indices except small-cap stocks falling.

Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 index, the S&P Information Technology/Technology sector rose by 0.72%, while the financial sector fell by over 0.1%, the energy sector fell by about 0.6%, and the telecommunications services sector fell by 1.01%.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs issued warnings on Monday, believing that there is a high risk of a recent pullback in U.S. stocks, and traders should be prepared. Goldman Sachs expert Rubner stated in a report to clients on Monday that a large amount of funds is expected to flow out of U.S. stocks in August. He wrote, "Buyers are out of ammunition, and I am watching for capital outflows."

Funds usually flow out of U.S. and global stock markets before elections, and then flow back in November; the net exposure of hedge funds before elections is usually low. Since 1928, July 17th is usually a local peak for the month, with a significant decline in August, making the first half of August the fifth worst two weeks of the year. Data going back to 1983 shows that for the Russell 2000 index, the first half of August is the second worst performing two weeks of the year. After hitting 34 historical highs, Rubner said, "I have actually turned tactically bearish. Painful trading has shifted from upward to downward."

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley strategist Wilson believes, "I think there is a very high probability of a 10% correction between now and the election. The third quarter will be very volatile. The likelihood of stock price increases from now until the end of the year is very low, much lower than normal."

In addition, Andrew Tyler from J.P. Morgan's trading department stated that he remains bullish, but recent weak economic data has slightly reduced his confidence. Scott Chronert from Citigroup issued a warning about a potential pullback In the S&P 500 index, the top 10 stocks account for 18% of the total index value, the second highest concentration in history. When a few stocks have a significant impact on the index, it may mask the true volatility of the overall market.

Tech stocks perform differently. Tesla rose by 0.56%, achieving a nine-day winning streak with a cumulative increase of 38.5% over 9 days; Apple rose by 0.65% to a historic high, marking a five-day winning streak and the ninth week of increase in the past ten weeks, surpassing Microsoft in market value to reclaim the top spot. Other stocks performed poorly, with Google, Microsoft, Meta falling from last Friday's historic highs. Microsoft fell by 0.28%, Google A fell by 0.82%, "metaverse" Meta fell by 1.96%, Amazon fell by 0.36%, and Netflix fell by 0.71%.

Investors await Powell's testimony and U.S. CPI data. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield rose by about 2.1 basis points. The left wing emerges as a dark horse in the French Sunday election, leading to a rise and fall in French government financing costs, with the 10-year French yield falling by over 4 basis points.

At the close, the more interest rate-sensitive two-year U.S. Treasury yield rose by 2.08 basis points to 4.6243%, ending a three-day decline trend ahead of the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report, the opening of Fed Chair Powell's semi-annual testimony, and the release of U.S. CPI data. The 10-year benchmark bond yield fell by 0.59 basis points for the fourth consecutive trading day, closing at 4.2725%, trading in the range of 4.3155%-4.2627% during the session.

U.S. bond prices fluctuated narrowly, with slightly better performance in long-term government bonds.

The 10-year German bund yield in the eurozone fell by 1.6 basis points at the close to 2.540%. The two-year German bund yield rose by 1.7 basis points to 2.906%, reaching a daily high of 2.937%.

The 10-year French bond yield fell by 4.5 basis points to 3.167%, showing a "high open and low close" trend throughout the day as the left-wing alliance won in the French parliamentary elections on Sunday. The overall trading range for the day was 3.259%-3.164%. Influenced by the French bond market, the 10-year Italian bond yield fell by 4.7 basis points, the Spanish 10-year bond yield fell by 3.8 basis points, and the Greek 10-year bond yield fell by 4.6 basis points. The 10-year UK bond yield fell by 1.2 basis points to 4.113%

The US dollar showed little fluctuation before Powell's testimony and the release of US CPI data, with the yen rising above 161 during the session, and the euro "opening low" before rising and falling back.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures against a basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.13% to 105.014 points, with an intraday trading range of 104.801-105.034 points.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose by 0.02% to 1260.56 points, with an intraday trading range of 1259.13-1261.35 points.

The US dollar showed almost no fluctuation, with no signs of strengthening.

Offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH) against the US dollar was at 7.2857 yuan at 04:59 Beijing time, up 32 points from the New York closing price last Friday, trading overall in the range of 7.2930-7.2844 yuan during the session.

Among Asian currencies, the US dollar against the Japanese yen rose by 0.04% to 160.80, with an intraday trading range of 160.26-161.12.

The euro fell by 0.13% against the US dollar, "gapping down" after the French Sunday election results, rising and falling throughout the day. The British pound fell by 0.03% after rising and falling throughout the day, while the US dollar against the Swiss franc rose by 0.20%, showing a V-shaped trend throughout the day; among commodity currencies, the Australian dollar fell by 0.17% against the US dollar, the New Zealand dollar fell by 0.29%, and the US dollar against the Canadian dollar fell by 0.03%.

Emerging market currencies rose for the fourth consecutive day, with the Mexican peso rising to a two-week high, partially recovering from the "surprising June election results." Currencies such as the South African rand, Polish zloty, and Colombian peso also benefited from risk appetite, while the Brazilian real declined. Local media reported that Gabriel Galipolo will become the new head of the Brazilian central bank. The Indian rupee fell by 3.9% at one point, with reports stating that the Mauritius central bank sold US dollars as the country's exchange rate hit a historic low, hoping to intervene in the forex market by selling dollars.

Mainstream cryptocurrencies slightly rebounded. The largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, fell by 0.36% to $56,480.00, trading in the range of $58,525.00-$54,580.00 during the session. The second-largest Ethereum rose by 0.79% to $3,008.00, trading in the range of $2,832.50-$3,107.50 during the session.

Data from CoinShares International Ltd. shows that in the week of July 5th, inflows into cryptocurrency asset products amounted to $441 million, marking the first weekly inflow in the past month.

It fell to near $54,000 overnight, then panic buying during the European trading session pushed it above $58,000 all the way During the U.S. trading session, it fell back to $55,000.

Hurricane Beryl had limited impact, international oil prices fell by about 1%, further retreating after hitting a 2-month high last Thursday.

Oil prices fluctuated lower throughout the day. WTI August crude oil futures closed down $0.83, nearly 1%, at $82.33 per barrel. Brent September futures closed down $0.79, a decrease of over 0.91%, at $85.75 per barrel.

U.S. WTI crude oil saw the deepest intraday decline of $1.08 or nearly 1.3%, breaking below the $82.5 integer level, falling from over a two-month high set last Thursday on April 17. International Brent fell by $0.98 or 1.1%, dropping below the $86 integer level, also moving away from the 2-month high.

Analysts pointed out that the market evaluated the short-term supply impact of Hurricane Beryl. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Beryl, as a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, but the storm was later downgraded to a tropical storm, with wind speeds decreasing from 80 miles per hour to 60 miles per hour, and further weakening expected, avoiding the worst-case scenario that Hurricane Beryl could have brought. Investors are no longer as concerned about Hurricane Beryl causing operational losses for oil companies in Texas, leading to a slight decline in oil prices.

Oil prices sliding from highs

U.S. natural gas August contracts closed up over 2.02% at $2.3660 per million British thermal units. U.S. gasoline futures closed at $2.5379 per gallon, and U.S. heating oil futures closed at $2.5791 per gallon.

Reports indicated that due to Hurricane Beryl making landfall locally, pipeline transportation company Enbridge in Tres Palacios, Texas, suspended operations of natural gas storage facilities (with a capacity of up to 31.122 billion cubic feet).

Additionally, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed that bullish sentiment for WTI reached a nine-month high. In the week of July 2, speculators increased their net long positions in NYMEX WTI crude oil by 13,265 contracts to 249,081 contracts. Net long positions in NYMEX gasoline decreased to 31,229 contracts, while net short positions in NYMEX heating oil decreased to 376 contracts, hitting a more than five-week low.

Gold prices fell by over 1.6%, giving back all gains since "non-farm payroll day" last Friday, and further declining, with silver futures dropping over 2.3%.

On Monday, the strengthening U.S. dollar weighed on precious metal prices, causing a sharp decline. COMEX August gold futures closed down over 1.35% at $2,365.30 per ounce, while COMEX July silver futures closed down over 2.36% at $30.94 per ounce After the opening, the price of spot gold has been declining. The pre-market of US stocks fell moderately, but US stocks plummeted in the morning session, with the deepest drop reaching nearly 1.7% to $2351.24 per ounce, falling below $2360 per ounce, and slightly erasing some of the decline in the late session, falling from the high point of $2421 on May 21.

Similarly, spot silver plummeted in the morning session of US stocks, dropping by over 2.5% at the lowest, falling below the $30.5 integer mark, deviating from the high point set last Friday since June 7.

In addition, other precious metals such as platinum and palladium prices also fell by more than 2%.

Some analysts believe that macro data such as non-farm payrolls boosted rate cut expectations, driving gold and silver to rise sharply last week. Investors tended to take profits to lock in some profits. At the same time, the Nasdaq and S&P hit new highs, and the Dow approached its historical high, indicating an increase in investor risk appetite. The strong performance of US stocks partially affected the attractiveness of gold as a safe-haven asset, weakening the appeal of precious metals. In addition, as the world's largest gold consumer, the People's Bank of China did not increase its gold reserves for the second consecutive month in June.

However, many analysts still have a positive outlook on the future trend of gold. The market is awaiting inflation data this week, with some analysts stating that based on the rate cut expectations for September by the Federal Reserve, if US CPI data is lower than expected again, the gold price is expected to rise further.

The latest data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) shows that speculators' bullish sentiment towards gold has cooled. In the week of July 2, speculators reduced their net long positions in COMEX gold by 6169 contracts to 178,541 contracts. Net long positions in COMEX silver fell to 32,472 contracts, and net long positions in COMEX copper fell to 34,885 contracts, hitting a new low in over three months.

After the release of non-farm payroll data on Friday, the price of gold rose briefly but continued to fall from July 4.

London industrial base metal prices fluctuated: London zinc fell by over 1.5%, while London tin rose by over 1%:

The "Copper Doctor" indicator fell by $0.29 to $9915 per ton. London aluminum fell by $4 to $2532 per ton. London zinc fell by $46, a decrease of over 1.53%, to $2956 per ton. London lead fell by $6 to $2232 per ton. London nickel rose by $132 to $17,473 per ton. London tin rose by $344, an increase of over 1.01%, to $34,218 per ton.

In addition, international copper night trading fell by 0.24%, Shanghai copper fell by 0.24%, Shanghai aluminum fell by 0.10%, Shanghai zinc fell by 0.81%, Shanghai lead fell by 0.15%, Shanghai nickel fell by 0.27%, and Shanghai tin fell by 0.90%