Overnight US Stocks | Nasdaq, S&P 500 Indexes Continue This Week's Rally, Gold Price Reaches Record High

According to Zhitong Finance, on Thursday, the three major indices rose, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices recording gains for the fourth consecutive day.

[US Stocks] As of the time of publication, the Dow Jones rose by 235.06 points, or 0.58%, to 41096.77 points; the Nasdaq rose by 174.15 points, or 1.00%, to 17569.68 points; the S&P 500 index rose by 41.63 points, or 0.75%, to 5595.76 points. Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose by nearly 2%, Micron Technology (MU.US) fell by nearly 4%, Wells Fargo (WFC.US) fell by 4%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index closed down by 0.8%, Alibaba (BABA.US) rose by 0.8%, XPeng Motors (XPEV.US) fell by over 5%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 index rose by 196.08 points, or 1.07%, to 18523.65 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 47.66 points, or 0.58%, to 8241.60 points; the French CAC40 index rose by 38.24 points, or 0.52%, to 7435.07 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 49.77 points, or 1.04%, to 4813.35 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose by 120.94 points, or 1.07%, to 11394.54 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index rose by 270.58 points, or 0.82%, to 33445.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 index rose by over 3.4%, the Indonesia Jakarta Composite Index rose by 0.48%, and the Vietnam VN30 index rose by 0.29%.

[Gold] Spot gold closed up by 1.84% at $2558.07 per ounce, hitting a historical closing high. Spot silver rose by 4.19% to $29.8792 per ounce.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose by 0.7% to $57981.9, while Ethereum rose by 0.16% to $2354.12.

[Crude Oil] WTI October crude oil futures closed up by $1.66, or 2.46%, at $68.97 per barrel; Brent November crude oil futures closed up by $1.36, or 1.92%, at $71.97 per barrel.

[Metals] Most London metals fell, with nickel down by 0.25%; zinc rose by over 3%, aluminum rose by over 1.7%, and copper rose by over 1.3%.

[Macro News]

US August PPI up 1.7% YoY, lowest in two months. The US August PPI increased by 1.7% year-on-year, the lowest since February; month-on-month increase of 0.2%, higher than the expected 0.1%. The US August core PPI increased by 2.4% year-on-year, in line with expectations and consistent with the previous value; month-on-month increase of 0.3%, higher than expected. Following the data release, investors continue to bet that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the upcoming meeting next week.

US job market slows but layoffs remain low. Initial jobless claims in the US increased by 2,000 to 230,000 people for the week ending September 7. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits has slightly increased, indicating that despite a slowdown in the labor market, layoffs remain at a low level It is worth noting that last week's data included the Labor Day holiday. Data tends to be unstable during public holidays. However, since dropping from a 11-month high of 250,000 at the end of July, this number has hardly changed. Due to rising interest rates suppressing demand across the economy, businesses have reduced their hiring scale, leading to a slowdown in the labor market. Against the backdrop of a slowing job market, the Fed is expected to start its policy easing cycle next Wednesday. After a significant slowdown in the year-on-year CPI growth in August, the Fed is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, although inflation still shows some stickiness.

The European Central Bank announces interest rate cuts. The ECB announced its latest interest rate decision, cutting the key deposit rate by 25 basis points and the main refinancing and marginal lending rates by 60 basis points, in line with market expectations. Considering the economic situation and inflation outlook in the euro area, the ECB has sufficient conditions for interest rate cuts. Current market expectations for the growth rate of the euro area economy are declining, with Germany, the largest economy in Europe, frequently sounding recession alarms; the inflation level in the euro area is close to the ECB's target range, with the overall inflation rate in the euro area dropping by 2.2% year-on-year in August, hitting a three-year low. After the ECB's interest rate cut announcement, market focus shifted to the future monetary policy path of the euro area. Following the ECB's policy statement, traders reduced their expectations for ECB interest rates, expecting a further 36 basis point cut by the end of 2024, with analysts divided on the prospect of two more rate cuts this year. Some analysis institutions believe that the weak economic growth in the euro area may prompt the ECB to continue cutting rates in the upcoming meetings.

Driven by steady increases in stock and house prices, U.S. household net worth rises to a record high in the second quarter. U.S. household wealth hit a record high in the second quarter, driven by steady increases in real estate values and stocks held by Americans. A report released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday showed that household net worth increased by $2.76 trillion, up 1.7% quarter-on-quarter to $163.8 trillion. The value of real estate held by households increased by about $1.75 trillion, the largest in a year. The value of stocks held by households increased by about $662 billion. The Fed's report also showed a slight slowdown in the growth rate of consumer and business borrowing in the second quarter. Business nonfinancial debt grew at an annual rate of 3.8%, while consumer non-mortgage credit grew at a rate of 1.6%. Mortgage debt growth accelerated to 3%. Meanwhile, although household liquidity remains significantly strong, it fell from the record high of the previous quarter. Deposits held by households and nonprofit organizations, including savings and checking accounts and money market funds, decreased to $18.4 trillion.

U.S. Treasury proposes new rule: Corporations with annual profits exceeding $1 billion must pay a minimum tax of 15%. The U.S. Treasury announced proposed rules for a new corporate alternative minimum tax rate on Thursday, expected to generate $250 billion in revenue over the next 10 years from around 100 large companies currently averaging a tax rate of only 2.6%. The Treasury stated that this tax rate will apply to companies with annual adjusted financial statement income of $1 billion or more. These companies often use income deductions and other strategies to minimize net income and federal income tax, sometimes even reducing it to zero US Treasury Secretary Yellen said in a statement that the proposed rules released by the Treasury Department today are an important step towards achieving congressional efforts, aiming to address the most serious corporate tax avoidance issues in the United States and will help create a fair competitive environment for small businesses. Officials stated that the new rules further clarify the deduction limit used to determine adjusted financial statement income and tax obligations. Treasury officials said that while there is a general requirement for companies with profits reaching the $1 billion threshold to pay a 15% alternative minimum tax, the more specific clarifications included in the proposed rules on Thursday will apply to the 2024 tax year.

Gold price continues to rise to record highs, global focus on the Fed's upcoming rate cut. Spot gold continues to rise, hitting a historical high above $2550, as US inflation data once again exceeded expectations and initial jobless claims rose, confirming people's bets on the Fed cutting rates next week. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said, "The European Central Bank's rate cut, a slight increase in initial jobless claims, and factors such as PPI are enough to push the gold price to a historical high." After the release of the August CPI rebound on Wednesday, derivative traders consolidated their bets on a 25 basis point rate cut at the Fed's meeting next week. Hansen added that the start of a rate cut cycle may provide additional support for the gold market, regardless of the extent of the rate cut. Gold prices have risen by more than one-fifth this year, with increasing expectations for the Fed to soon start a rate cut cycle, supporting the recent strength in gold prices. Strong buying from central banks and robust demand from the off-exchange trading market have also driven the rise in gold.

[Stock News]

TSMC (TSM.US) rises over 1%, Jensen Huang says NVIDIA heavily relies on TSMC to produce its most important chips. TSMC rose over 1%, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said at a Goldman Sachs technology conference on Wednesday that NVIDIA heavily relies on TSMC to produce its most important chips because TSMC is far ahead in this field. TSMC's flexibility and capabilities are incredible, they perform exceptionally well, so we have them produce, and of course, if necessary, we can collaborate with others. In addition, Morgan Stanley stated that TSMC's strong sales in August indicate that third-quarter performance may exceed its guidance. The firm maintains an "overweight" rating on the stock with a target of NT$1200. Analysts believe that due to strong N3 demand, as well as continued demand for N5 from artificial intelligence accelerators and other high-performance computing (HPC) products, TSMC's third-quarter revenue may slightly exceed the high end of its guidance range.

Mastercard (MA.US) agrees to acquire cybersecurity company Recorded Future for $2.65 billion. Mastercard announced on September 12 that it has agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Recorded Future from private equity firm Insight Partners for $2.65 billion. Mastercard stated that this acquisition will expand Mastercard's ability to use artificial intelligence to protect customers from network threats and fraud. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025 McDonald's (MCD.US) extends $5 value meal promotion in the United States. McDonald's announced on Thursday that the $5 value meal offer will be extended until December in most parts of the United States. The $5 meal was introduced by McDonald's at the end of June and later extended to August to retain customers sensitive to prices. Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald's USA, stated that they are committed to providing prices that people can afford. According to the latest annual report, McDonald's has 13,500 stores in the United States. Foot traffic at McDonald's restaurants increased this quarter, with J.P. Morgan analyst Andy Barish attributing it to the $5 meal and other promotional activities creating greater marketing appeal.

Warren Buffett's key deputy Ajit Jain reduces holdings of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US) Class A shares by over half. Ajit Jain, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway's insurance business, sold Berkshire Class A shares worth $139 million. Jain is one of Warren Buffett's key deputies. According to regulatory filings, he sold 200 Class A shares at a price of around $695,418 per share. This sale means he still controls a total of 166 shares of Berkshire stock, with 61 shares directly owned by him personally.

OpenAI unveils AI model with reasoning capabilities. In order to maintain a leading position in the competitive market, OpenAI has launched a new AI model internally codenamed "Strawberry" that can perform some human-like reasoning tasks. The company stated in a blog post on Thursday that this new model named o1 will "take more time to think before responding to user queries." With this model, OpenAI's tools should be able to solve multi-step problems, including complex mathematical and programming problems. Preview versions of this model are available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users on Thursday. "As an early model, it doesn't have many of the features that make ChatGPT useful, such as browsing the web for information or uploading files and images," the company said. "But for complex reasoning tasks, this is a significant advancement, representing a new level of AI capability. As such, we are resetting the counter to 1 and naming this series OpenAI o1."