U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the sixth consecutive time, aligning with market expectations.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that U.S. inflation remains high, making it unlikely that the next rate adjustment would be an increase.
U.S. private employment in April saw its largest increase since July 2023, while the April ISM Manufacturing Index reentered contraction territory.
During the post-FOMC press conference, Powell acknowledged that U.S. inflation is still too high and future progress is uncertain. He committed to continuing the Fed’s focus on its dual mandate—maximizing employment and stabilizing prices.
ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson reported broad-based hiring in April, with only the information sector—telecommunications, media, and IT—showing weakness, marking the lowest wage growth since August 2021.
U.S. Stocks
Fundamental Analysis:
Large tech stocks showed mixed results. Amazon and Meta each rose over 2%, Microsoft over 1%, with Netflix and Google posting slight gains; Tesla dropped over 1% and Apple slightly declined.
The semiconductor and semiconductor equipment sectors were mostly down, with Advanced Micro Devices dropping nearly 14% after adjusting third-quarter earnings to $6.65 per share.
AMD shares fell nearly 9% as Q2 revenue projections were below market estimates. ARM and Broadcom dropped nearly 6% and over 4%, respectively, while Nvidia and GlobalFoundries fell over 3%.
Chinese concept stocks mostly rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.58%.
Nio surged over 11%, iQiyi over 3%, Huazhu Group over 2%, with New Oriental and JD.com rising over 1%.
Baidu, Alibaba, Bilibili, and NetEase made modest gains, while TAL Education, BOSS Direct Hire, and Tencent Music each dropped over 1%.
Technical Analysis:
(S&P 500 Index, 1-day chart)
Market Trends:
- Nasdaq fell 52.34 points, or 0.33%, to 15,605.48.
- Dow rose 87.37 points, or 0.23%, to 37,903.29.
- S&P 500 dropped 17.30 points, or 0.34%, to 5,018.39.
Hong Kong Stock Market
Fundamental Analysis:
The three major Hong Kong indices surged and then pulled back.
In the tech sector, Alibaba rose 2.42%, Tencent Holdings 3.63%, JD.com 5.92%, Xiaomi 1.62%, NetEase 0.07%, Meituan 8.4%, Kuaishou 5%, and Bilibili 4.09%.
The auto sector performed robustly, with Nio’s shares soaring over 21%. In April, several new energy vehicle manufacturers reported strong sales figures.
Li Auto delivered 25,787 new vehicles, marking a modest year-over-year increase of 0.4%. Nio delivered 15,620 vehicles, achieving a substantial growth of 134.6% year-over-year and 31.6% month-over-month.
XPeng reported delivering 9,393 vehicles, up 33% from the previous year. BYD led the group with April sales of new energy vehicles reaching 313,245 units, representing a year-over-year increase of 49%.
Technical Analysis:
(Hang Seng Index, 1-day chart)
Market Trends:
- Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose 2.21%, to 18,155.28.
- Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) increased 4.06%, to 3,850.74.
- Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI.) went up 2.34%, to 6,420.83.
FTSE China A50 Index
Fundamental Analysis:
Due to the Labor Day holiday, the A-share market will remain closed until May 5th and is set to resume normal operations on May 6th.
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