Overnight US Stocks | Growth Tech Companies rebound, three major indices closed higher this week

According to the Wise Finance APP, on Wednesday, the three major indexes closed higher. This week, all three major U.S. stock indexes recorded gains, with the Dow rising 1.59% for the week, the Nasdaq up 0.63%, and the S&P 500 rising 0.55%. During Friday's session, the Dow rose to a high of 40,257.24 points, and the S&P 500 reached a high of 5,655.56 points, both hitting new intraday highs.

[U.S. Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 247.15 points, or 0.62%, to 40,000.90 points; the Nasdaq gained 115.04 points, or 0.63%, to 18,398.45 points; the S&P 500 rose 30.81 points, or 0.55%, to 5,615.35 points. Tech stocks rebounded, with Intel (INTC.US) and Tesla (TSLA.US) both up nearly 3%, while NVIDIA (NVDA.US) rose 1.44%. The Russell 2000 small-cap index continued its upward trend, closing up 1.09%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index rose 0.59%, with Nio (NIO.US) up 3.95%. As earnings season kicks off, banks showed mixed performance, with Wells Fargo (WFC.US) falling 5.98% and Bank of NY Mellon (BK.US) rising 5.23%.

[European Stocks] Major European indexes rose, with Germany's DAX30 up over 1%, the UK's FTSE 100 up 0.36%, France's CAC40 up over 1.2%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 up over 1.3%.

[Asia-Pacific Markets] The Nikkei 225 index fell 2.45%, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.17%, and Vietnam's VN30 index fell 0.34%.

[Gold] COMEX gold futures fell 0.24% to $2,416 per ounce; COMEX silver futures fell 2.04% to $31.025 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrencies] Bitcoin rose 0.72% to $57,755.4 per coin; Ethereum rose 0.9% to $3,127.06 per coin.

[Crude Oil] International oil prices fell on Friday, ending a four-week uptrend. WTI crude oil futures fell 41 cents or 0.5% to $82.21 per barrel; Brent crude oil futures fell 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.03 per barrel. U.S. oil fell 1.1% for the week, while Brent oil fell 1.7%.

[Metals] Most London metals rose, with copper up over 1%, aluminum up 0.5%, and nickel up 0.68%; zinc fell 0.24%.

[Macro News]

U.S. PPI in June Slightly Higher Than Expected. The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for June rose slightly higher than expected, driven by an increase in service provider profit margins that more than offset the decline in commodity costs. Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last Friday showed that the PPI rose 0.2% from the previous month and increased by 2.6% year-on-year Last night, the more closely watched CPI saw its first decline since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the Federal Reserve to embark on the path of rate cuts as early as September.

U.S. inflation expectations fall but consumers remain frustrated by persistently high prices. In early July, the U.S. consumer confidence index unexpectedly fell to its lowest level in 8 months, with high prices continuing to affect Americans' views on their financial situation and the economy. According to preliminary data from the University of Michigan, the consumer confidence index in July dropped from 68.2 to 66. Data released on Friday showed that consumers' expectations for inflation in the next year fell for the second consecutive month to 2.9%. They expect the annualized cost growth rate for the next 5 to 10 years to be 2.9%, slightly down from the previous month. Joanne Hsu, the survey's lead, said, "Despite expectations that inflation will ease somewhat, consumers remain very frustrated by persistently high prices." "Nearly half of consumers complain that high prices are eroding their standard of living, equivalent to the historically high levels reached two years ago."

The total return of U.S. Treasuries since the beginning of the year turned positive for the first time since February. The index measuring the total return of U.S. bonds since the beginning of the year returned to positive territory after months of consecutive declines, as Thursday's U.S. CPI data showed inflation cooling off and U.S. Treasury yields plunging. The ICE BofA US Treasury Index shows that the year-to-date total return (including bond income and price fluctuations) rose to 0.324% on Thursday. The return rate has been negative since early February. U.S. Treasury yields are still rising this year, with the 10-year yield about 35 basis points higher than at the end of last year.

Barclays raises expectations for Fed easing, expects two rate cuts in 2024. Barclays economists adjusted their forecasts for Fed policy based on this week's U.S. June inflation data and the gradual cooling of the labor market. They now believe the Fed will cut rates for the second time in December following the rate cut in September. Barclays economists Marc Giannini and Jonathan Millar said in a research note, "We also believe that the FOMC is increasingly convinced that the monetary policy stance is restrictive, which should further convince the FOMC to cut rates in September and December."

Economist El-Erian: Political factors pose a threat to Fed rate cut in September. Renowned economist El-Erian said the likelihood of a Fed rate cut in September is threatened by post-election inflation shocks in the U.S. "There are two factors that complicate the outlook for a rate cut in September," El-Erian said on Friday, one being poor economic data and the other being political factors. How concerned is the Fed about inflation shocks post-election due to policy factors? El-Erian believes the U.S. will not experience a market upheaval like that caused by former UK Prime Minister Theresa May's budget plans. He expects the Fed's "biggest concern" is having to reverse rate cuts and restart rate hikes as inflation accelerates again El-Erian added that the possibility of the Fed raising interest rates next year is very low, but cannot be completely ruled out. Rate hikes may occur due to significant external shocks or "fundamental changes in fiscal, trade, and other policies."

BMO: Canadian stock market expected to outperform US stocks in the second half of the year. Brian Belski, Chief Investment Strategist at Bank of Montreal (BMO), believes that the performance of the Canadian stock market in the second half of the year will be better than that of the US stock market. He thinks that faster rate cuts will help boost the country's attractiveness. Belski stated that the driving factors behind this trend are that Canada's interest rates will be cut before the US, easing consumer pressures and pressures in the real estate industry. Belski said, "I think people are too negative about Canada, believe it or not, people will flock to Canada in the future. We believe that Canada's performance will exceed that of the US."

[Stock News]

Amazon (AMZN.US) launches AI shopping assistant Rufus for all US customers. After five months of small-scale testing, Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus is now available to all US customers. Amazon announced in a blog post on Friday that by clicking on an icon in the Amazon mobile app, shoppers can bring up a text chat interface to ask Rufus various questions. Rufus has been trained on Amazon's catalog and web content, and has similar functions to ChatGPT and other chatbots.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US) achieves record profits in Q2 boosted by gains from Visa transactions and investment banking. JPMorgan Chase reported record profits today, as performance from investment bankers and stock traders exceeded expectations, and the company booked billions of dollars in gains related to Visa transactions. The largest US bank's net profit for the second quarter was $18.1 billion, a 25% increase from the previous record set a year ago, and beat analyst expectations. Investment banking revenue soared 50%, surpassing expectations, and stock trading also saw a 21% increase in revenue. Transactions with Visa contributed $7.9 billion to the second-quarter profit.

[Major Banks' Ratings]

Mizuho Bank: Raised Tesla's (TSLA.US) target price from $180 to $230

Bank of Montreal: Raised Microsoft's (MSFT.US) target price from $465 to $500

Jefferies Group: Raised Bilibili's (BILI.US) target price from $15.8 to $19.6