Nasdaq and S&P 500 Hit New Highs, S&P 500 Closes Above 5,100 Points for the First Time
U.S. Consumer Confidence Index Decreases in February, Manufacturing Index Continues to Shrink
New York Community Bank's Stock Price Plunges Nearly 26%
WTI Oil Price Briefly Breaks Through the $80 Mark
As the market weighs inflation and the prospects of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts, U.S. stocks closed higher across the board on Friday, with both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new highs. The S&P 500 closed above 5,100 points for the first time. Investor attention to the AI sector has driven the rise of large technology stocks and the overall market, while expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have also been beneficial to the Nasdaq trend. In terms of individual stocks, chipmaker NVIDIA's stock price rose by 4%, with its stock price having increased by over 260% in the past 12 months.
As of the close of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 90.99 points, or 0.23%, to close at 39,087.38 points; the Nasdaq Composite rose by 183.02 points, or 1.14%, to close at 16,274.94 points; the S&P 500 rose by 40.81 points, or 0.80%, to close at 5,137.08 points.
For the week, the DJIA fell by a cumulative 0.11%, the Nasdaq rose by a cumulative 1.74%, and the S&P 500 rose by a cumulative 0.95%. Among them, the semiconductor sector led the Nasdaq's gains. AMD and Marvell Technology's stock prices rose by nearly 14% this week, while Micron Technology, NXP Semiconductors, Broadcom, and On Semiconductor's stock prices increased by about 7%. In addition, Constellation Energy rose by 25% this week, leading the Nasdaq's gains.
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U.S. Treasury yields declined. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell by 6 basis points to 4.188%, and the yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note fell by nearly 11 basis points to 4.538%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks generally rose, with the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index up by 1.04%. Sohu rose by 7.03%, Bilibili increased by 3.82%, iQIYI was up by 3.52%, Baidu rose by 2.65%, Pinduoduo increased by 1.85%, JD.com was up by 1.68%, Alibaba rose by 0.8%, and NIO increased by 0.52%.
U.S. Consumer Confidence Index Decreases in February
Please note that the translation provided is a direct translation of the original text and does not include any additional context or commentary.In terms of economic data, the US February ISM Manufacturing Index fell to 47.8 points, down 1.3 points from January, missing market expectations and below the 50 boom-or-bust threshold. Among them, the new orders index decreased by 3.3 points, while the new export orders surged by 6.4 points.
The final value of the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index in February dropped to 76.9, below market expectations and previous data. Consumers' expectations for inflation over the next year rose from 2.9% in January to 3%, and they anticipate a 2.9% increase in prices over the next five to ten years, unchanged from the previous month. Survey director Joanne Hsu believes that consumer sentiment in February remained essentially stable, only declining by 2 index points relative to January, maintaining the upward trend of the past three months.
Richmond Fed Chairman Thomas Barkin stated that he would not overinterpret the high inflation data in January, as data from that month is often unreliable. Barkin noted that inflation varies across different economic sectors, with the decline in used car prices helping to offset price increases in other areas. Barkin also indicated that he is not in a hurry to make any decisions.
New York Community Bancorp's stock price plummeted nearly 26%.
On the corporate front, New York Community Bancorp's stock price plummeted 25.89%, breaking below $4, closing at $3.55 per share, hitting a 52-week low. The bank announced leadership changes and disclosed internal control issues after the market closed on Thursday. So far this year, New York Community Bancorp's stock price has fallen by 65.3%, with a nearly 38% plunge on January 31st following the release of a massive loss in its financial report.
HP's stock closed up 2.17%, at $15.56 per share. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.03 in the first fiscal quarter, exceeding expectations; revenue reached $6.76 billion, below the market expectation of $7.11 billion. At the same time, HP expects EPS for the second fiscal quarter to be between $0.36 and $0.41, with revenue expected to be between $6.6 billion and $7.0 billion, with the market expectation average at $7.11 billion.
According to information revealed by market insiders, Boeing is in talks to reacquire Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier that manufactures fuselages for Boeing's 737 Max jets and was spun off from Boeing in 2005. Driven by the acquisition news, Spirit AeroSystems' stock price rose by 15%, while Boeing's stock closed nearly 2% down.
WTI oil prices once broke through the $80 mark.
In the commodity market, influenced by international geopolitical factors, crude oil futures prices rose on Friday. The April delivery of WTI crude oil futures increased by 2.2%, closing at $79.97 per barrel, with WTI oil prices briefly surpassing the $80 mark during the session. WTI oil prices rose by 4.6% for the week and by 3.2% for the month of February. The May delivery of Brent crude oil futures increased by 2%, closing at $83.55 per barrel. Brent oil prices rose by 3.4% for the week.
With the rise in crude oil prices, gasoline prices also increased in tandem. According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price of regular gasoline per gallon in the United States was $3.33 on Friday, compared to $3.15 a month ago.
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