The "faith" in AI has ignited global stock markets, with stock indexes in Europe, the US, and Japan hitting historic highs together. Leading performer NVIDIA surged by 16%, setting new records for consecutive days.

NVIDIA, the benchmark of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has once again delivered a stunning performance report, causing a frenzy of demand in the AI market that has left Wall Street in awe. In the fourth quarter, revenue surged by 265%, surpassing market expectations, with continued strong growth in data centers and AI businesses, showcasing its dominance as the king of AI chips. The revenue guidance for the first quarter has once again exceeded expectations, with growth of over 230%.

NVIDIA has injected a strong dose of confidence into the market, triggering a global stock market frenzy in AI concept stocks. Major stock indices in Japan, Europe, and the United States have reached historic highs. NVIDIA opened more than 10% higher, with its market value skyrocketing by over $20 billion in a single day, equivalent to the value of a Goldman Sachs and two Netflix, marking the highest single-day market value increase in U.S. stock market history. Concept stocks related to AI computing power hardware, such as AMD, and AI application side "hot stock" Super Micro Computer, both saw double-digit increases. Tech stocks led by NVIDIA once again supported the market to rise, with SPDR S&P 500 and Nasdaq both achieving their best performance in over a year.

NVIDIA's market value increased by over $200 billion in a single day on Thursday, breaking the record set earlier this month by Meat for the highest single-day market value increase.

Data released on Thursday showed steady economic growth in the United States: last week, initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to a one-month low; the February U.S. Markit Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose to a 17-month high, while the services and composite PMI fell compared to January but remained in the expansion zone. Commentators noted that the PMI reflects economic expansion in February above the average level. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Jefferson and other Fed officials' latest statements continue to pour cold water on recent rate cut expectations, consistent with the minutes of the Fed meeting released on Wednesday, both suggesting that rapid rate cuts pose risks that could hinder the Fed's goal of reducing inflation.

Following the release of economic data and Fed officials' speeches, U.S. bond yields continued to rise overall. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit a two-month high again after a week, with U.S. stocks initially turning lower. The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury, sensitive to interest rates, maintained its upward trend, hitting a new high since the Fed's interest rate meeting in December last year, following last Friday's unexpected increase in U.S. PPI inflation, marking the third consecutive trading day of highs. In the foreign exchange market, the overall US dollar index continued to fall, hitting a near four-week low during the session, but rebounded after the release of US economic data. Analysts pointed out that after reaching a three-week high last week, the US dollar index mostly traded sideways, with some bulls showing signs of fatigue. For the US dollar to make another breakthrough, more data is needed. The PMI data released on Thursday showed signs of easing in the decline of business activities in the Eurozone, with the February services PMI rising to 50.0, escaping the contraction zone for the first time in seven months; the UK composite PMI hit a nine-month high. Both the Euro and the Pound hit near four-week highs against the US dollar, suppressing any rebound of the US dollar during the session.

In the commodity market, the softening of the US dollar during the session initially helped spot gold reach a near two-week high. However, as the US dollar gradually narrowed its decline, both spot and futures gold prices turned downward during the session, failing to sustain the rebound, with futures gold continuing to fall from the high of over a week ago. The US Energy Information Administration reported a MoM increase of over 3.5 million barrels in US crude oil inventories last week, less than half of the market's expectations. Following signs of lower-than-expected supply, international crude oil prices accelerated during the session, rising by over 1% at one point, with both US and Brent crude oil hitting their highest levels in over three months set last Friday and this Monday.

Nasdaq rises nearly 3%, SPDR S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq 100, and chip stocks hit record highs at the close

The three major US stock indices opened higher and continued to rise. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose by over 2% in the early session, reaching nearly 3.1% at midday. The SPDR S&P 500 Index rose by nearly 2.3% at midday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by over 460 points, up nearly 1.2%, with both hitting intraday record highs.

Ultimately, all three indices closed higher collectively this week. The SPDR S&P 500 and Dow both rose for two consecutive days, hitting record closing highs. The SPDR S&P 500 rose by 2.11%, marking the largest increase since January 6, 2023, closing at 5087.03 points. The Dow rose by 456.87 points, up 1.18%, closing at 39069.11 points. The Nasdaq halted its three-day decline, rising by 2.96%, marking the largest increase since November 30, 2022, closing at 16041.62 points. It not only moved away from the lows set on February 1 after two consecutive days of refresh but also is set to surpass the closing high since November 22, 2021.

The Nasdaq 100 Index, dominated by technology stocks, rose by 3.01%, hitting a record high after three consecutive declines. The Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index, rose by 4.79%, hitting a new high. The Russell 2000 Index, which is mainly composed of value stocks, rose by over 1% at midday, closing up by 0.96%, rebounding after three consecutive days of decline since last Tuesday, February 13.

Underperforming the Market

In the SPDR S&P 500's major sectors, only utilities fell by nearly 0.8% on Thursday. Chip stocks like NVIDIA and the IT sector where Microsoft is located surged by nearly 4.4%, leading significantly ahead of other sectors. Non-essential consumer goods where Amazon is located rose by 2.2%, communication services where Meta is located rose by 1.6%, while finance, healthcare, and industrial sectors also rose by over 1%.

Including Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Google's parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook's parent company Meta, and Tesla, the seven major tech stocks all rose during trading. Tesla initially fell by nearly 1.8% but turned positive at midday, closing up by nearly 1.4%.

Among the FAANMG six major tech stocks, Meta rose by nearly 3.9%, hitting a new closing high since February 15th, Amazon rose by nearly 3.6%, Netflix rose by 2.6%, Microsoft rose by nearly 2.4%, Apple rose by 1.1%, and Alphabet rose by nearly 1.1%.

NVIDIA, Meta, and other seven major tech stocks overall hit historical highs on Thursday, with a one-day market value increase of over $500 billion, second only to November 10, 2022.

After four consecutive days of decline, chip stocks saw a strong rebound, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX rising by nearly 5% and 4.9% respectively, both hitting historical highs. Among individual stocks, NVIDIA opened with an 11.2% increase, reaching $785.75 at the close, a nearly 16.5% increase during the day, closing up by 16.4%, hitting both intraday and closing historical highs. With a market value of around $1.94 trillion at the close, it approached the $2 trillion mark. AMD rose by 10.7%, Arm initially rose by over 10%, closing up by 4.2%, Broadcom rose by 6.3%, Intel opened with nearly 2.8% increase but quickly turned negative, falling by over 2% in early trading and closing down by 1.1%.

AI concept stocks that experienced significant declines on Tuesday and Wednesday rebounded. At the close, Super Micro Computer rose by 32.9%, BigBear.ai (BBAI) rose by over 7%, Synopsys (SNPS) rose by nearly 6.9% with first-quarter earnings and second-quarter guidance exceeding expectations, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) rose by over 5%, Palantir (PLTR) rose by 3.7%, C3.ai (AI) rose by 1.7%, while Adobe (ADBE) turned negative at the close, falling by nearly 0.2%.

AI Concept Stock Super Micro Computer Soars Over 30%

Overall, popular Chinese concept stocks continue to rise. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) closed up 1.4%, rising for two consecutive days. Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ closed. Among individual stocks, by the closing bell, Li Auto rose over 5%, Baidu rose over 3%, NetEase rose nearly 2%, Pinduoduo rose over 1%, Alibaba, JD.com, XPeng rose about 0.7%, Tencent Music rose 0.5%, while Nio fell 2%, and Bilibili fell 0.3%.

Among the stocks that released earnings reports, another electric vehicle company Rivian (RIVN) that reported quarterly losses higher than expected and projected lower production for this year than market expectations fell by 25.6%; electric car manufacturer Lucid (LCID) with quarterly revenue below expectations fell by 16.8%; e-commerce platform Etsy (ETSY) with lower-than-expected profits fell by 8.45%; carbonated beverage company Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) with fourth-quarter revenue below expectations fell by 3.9%; while vaccine producer Moderna (MRNA) with fourth-quarter revenue higher than expected rose by 13.5%; infrastructure services company Quanta Services (PWR) with quarterly profits and revenue higher than expected rose by 10.3%.

Among other stocks with significant fluctuations, after announcing the settlement of its dispute with the non-governmental global vaccine organization Gavi over the cancellation of the COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreement, biotech stock Novavax (NVAX) rose by 22.6%.

In Europe, the pan-European stock index rebounded after two consecutive days of decline. Following January 2022, the STOXX 600 index in Europe hit a new closing high after two years. Major European stock indices rose, with German, French, and Italian stocks all rising by over 1%. The French stock market hit a new closing high for the sixth consecutive trading day, while the German stock market rose for two consecutive days, and the Spanish and Italian stock indices rose for four and three consecutive days, respectively. The UK stock market rebounded after two days of decline.

In various sectors, the technology sector rose by 3.1%. Among technology stocks, ASML, the highest market value chip stock listed in the Netherlands, rose by 5.1%, approaching the closing historical high set on February 12. BESI semiconductor, a Dutch-listed semiconductor equipment supplier that counts NVIDIA as a customer, rose by 4.9% after an intraday increase of 12%, reaching a historical high. German software giant SAP rose by about 3%. Among other individual stocks, Mercedes-Benz rose by 4.7% after announcing a solid full-year performance and a plan to repurchase up to 3 billion euros in shares, jointly leading the German stock market with SAP in various European countries. UK pharmaceutical company Indivior, with annual revenue guidance higher than expected, rose by 22.4%, leading the STOXX 600 component stocks. The U.S. Treasury yield rose for two consecutive days, with the two-year yield hitting a new high since the Federal Reserve meeting in December last year after the release of U.S. unemployment data. The 10-year benchmark Treasury yield briefly rose to 4.35%, surpassing the high set on December 1, 2023, by about 3 basis points before quickly falling back. The stock market initially dropped below 4.30% to set a new daily low, then decreased by nearly 2 basis points during the day, rebounding towards the end of the morning session to around 4.32%, with a slight increase of less than 1 basis point by the end of the day.

Following the release of U.S. unemployment data, the more interest rate-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield rose above 4.71%, then retraced most of its intraday gains. The stock market initially dropped below 4.68%, with an increase of less than 1 basis point during the day, before expanding the gains. At midday, the stock market rose above 4.72%, reaching a high not seen since the Federal Reserve interest rate meeting on December 13 last year, with an increase of nearly 6 basis points during the day, closing around 4.71% at the end of the bond market, up more than 4 basis points for the day, marking a two-day consecutive increase along with other Treasury yields.

The U.S. Treasury yield continued to climb on Thursday, with short-term yields leading the way.

The U.S. dollar index hit a near four-week low before rebounding, while the euro and the pound both reached near four-week highs. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major currencies including the euro, was mostly on a downward trend on Wednesday, dropping below 103.50 in early European trading, hitting a low not seen since February 2, with a decline of over 0.5% during the day. However, it rebounded later, with the stock market turning positive, breaking above 104.10 at the opening, rising over 0.1% during the day, fluctuating briefly in the morning before turning negative again at midday.

By the time the U.S. stock market closed on Thursday, the U.S. dollar index was slightly below 104.00, down less than 0.1% for the day, marking a three-day decline. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the dollar against ten other currencies, also saw a slight decline for two consecutive days, marking a four-day decline.

In the Asian trading session on Friday, the U.S. dollar index hit a near four-week low, with European stocks rebounding and U.S. stocks turning negative.

Among non-U.S. currencies, the euro against the dollar briefly rose to 1.0890 in early European trading, hitting a new high since February 2, with an increase of nearly 0.7% during the day before gradually giving back most of the gains. The pound against the dollar rose to 1.2710 in early European trading, also hitting a new high since February 2, with a 0.6% increase during the day. The yen fell for two consecutive days, hitting a one-week low, with the dollar against the yen briefly dropping below 150.00 in early European trading to set a new daily low, then rising as European stocks rebounded and maintaining the upward trend during U.S. trading, reaching nearly 150.70, hitting a new high since February 14, with an increase of nearly 0.3% during the day. The offshore Renminbi (CNH) against the US dollar rose in early European trading and hit a daily high of 7.1913. During the European session, it turned lower, and after the US unemployment data was released, it continued to decline. In pre-market trading, the US stock market hit a daily low of 7.2050, falling 137 points from the daily high, moving away from the intraday high reached on January 31st when it broke through 7.19. At 5:59 am Beijing time on February 23rd, the offshore Renminbi against the US dollar was at 7.2021 yuan, down 27 points from the New York closing on Tuesday, after rising for six consecutive trading days.

Bitcoin (BTC) approached $52,000 during the European session, dropped below $51,000 in pre-market trading to test $50,900, hitting a daily low, then rebounded. In the US stock market, it rose above $52,000 in the final trading session, up more than $1,000 from the daily low, a rise of over 2%. However, it still failed to reach the high point since December 2021 when it hit the $53,000 mark. At the close, the US stock market was slightly below $52,000, up nearly 2% in the last 24 hours.

Crude oil rose to a three-month high for the second consecutive day. International crude oil futures turned higher on Thursday. When European stocks turned lower and US stocks hit a daily low in pre-market trading, US WTI crude oil fell to $77.23, down nearly 0.9% intraday, while Brent crude fell to $82.33, down over 0.8% intraday. However, oil prices rose after the US EIA crude oil inventory data was released, with US oil approaching $79.00 at noon, up nearly 1.3% intraday, and Brent oil nearing $84.00, up 1.1% intraday.

In the end, crude oil closed higher for two consecutive days. WTI April crude oil futures rose by $0.70, up 0.91%, to $78.61 per barrel, hitting the highest closing price since November 6, 2023, set last Friday. Brent April crude oil futures rose by $0.64, up 0.77%, to $83.67 per barrel, hitting the highest level since November 6, 2023, when it rose for three consecutive days on Monday.

Copper in London rose for the third consecutive day, hitting a three-week high, while spot gold hit a near two-week high before turning lower in intraday trading.

London base metal futures saw mixed movements on Thursday. Copper and lead in London rose for three consecutive days, hitting new highs in three weeks and two weeks respectively. Nickel in London rose for two consecutive days, closing above $17,000, hitting a new high since mid-November last year. London zinc fell for seven consecutive trading days, hitting a two-week low. Following a four-day decline that ended on Wednesday, London aluminum retreated, approaching the late January low set on Tuesday. London zinc, which rebounded on Wednesday, saw a slight pullback and failed to continue approaching the high set on Monday over the past week.

New York gold futures hit a daily high of $2045.5 before the European stock market, rising nearly 0.6% intraday, then continued to decline. The U.S. stock market turned lower in early trading, hitting a daily low of $2029.3 towards the end of the morning session, with an intraday drop of over 0.2%.

In the end, COMEX April gold futures closed down 0.18% at $2030.70 per ounce, further distancing from the closing high set on February 8 since Tuesday.

Spot gold approached $2034.90 in early European trading, hitting an intraday high since February 9, then continued to fall. At midday, U.S. stocks briefly fell below $2020 to hit a daily low, dropping 0.3% intraday. By the U.S. market close, it was above $2024, with a drop of less than 0.1% intraday.

Spot gold turned lower during trading