1. Powell's wording was 'just right,' and the Dow Jones Index closed above 45,000 points for the first time in history. 2. AI applications and chip sectors once again saw positive financial reports. 3. The CEO of the largest health insurance company in the United States was assassinated on the street. 4. Trump nominated an SEC chairman with a pro-cryptocurrency stance.
On December 5th, Caixin reported (Edited by Shi Zhengcheng) last night and this morning, with Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's 'just right' assessment of the U.S. economy, combined with positive financial reports from AI applications and chip sectors, driving the surge in stocks, the three major U.S. stock indexes simultaneously reached historic highs.
As of the close on Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index rose 0.61% to 6086.49 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3% to 19,735.12 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69% to 45,014.04 points, closing above 45,000 points for the first time in history.
(Nasdaq Index Daily Chart, Source: TradingView)
Powell stated on Wednesday in New York that the U.S. economy is in better condition than expected in September, giving Federal Reserve officials more caution on the issue of rate cuts. At the same time, the Fed's Beige Book released on Wednesday also reflects a more optimistic outlook on demand prospects.
Krishna Guha, head of Evercore ISI's global policy and central bank strategy team, said Powell's remarks are somewhat 'hawkish,' but they stop at a perfect position, not challenging the market's growing confidence in a rate cut in December.
Popular stocks performance
Wednesday was also a moment for Trump to demonstrate his influence on the U.S. stock market. With his announcement of nominating cryptocurrency supporter Paul Atkins as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bitcoin surged straight to $0.099 million, also boosting cryptocurrency concept stocks Coinbase by 6.98% and MicroStrategy by 8.72%.
In addition to supporting cryptos, Atkins also holds an overall position of relaxing regulatory policies. For example, he has criticized the Dodd-Frank Act for placing excessive burdens on banks.
Wednesday was also a day where tech giants continued to lead the index forward. However, there were some overall developments, with significant progress in AI applications. Salesforce surged 10.99%, while chip manufacturer Marvell Technology rose by 23.19%, both companies demonstrating strong performance boosts from AI in their latest financial reports.
(Marvell Technology hits a new historical high, Source: TradingView)
Encouraged by this, the tech 'Big Seven' also made significant gains. By the close, Nvidia was up 3.48%, Microsoft up 1.44%, Amazon up 2.21%, Google up 1.77%, Tesla up 1.85%, Apple up 0.15%, and Meta up 0.02%.
For the U.S. stocks, where the tech stocks lead the way in determining market direction, Wednesday also had a potential bullish sign - OpenAI is set to hold a new product release event every day for the next 12 trading days. If they meet market expectations, it could at least provide support for the U.S. stocks until the end of the year.
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell by 1.38%, breaking its four-day winning streak. Alibaba dropped by 0.88%, JD.com by 3.69%, Baidu by 1.51%, PDD Holdings rose by 0.26%, and Kingsoft Cloud, a concept stock related to AI, surged by 8.51%.
On Wednesday, reports emerged from American media that Apple is in talks with Baidu regarding the deployment of the Wenxin Large Model 4.0. Different from OpenAI, although there are currently a series of challenges, if Baidu's model enters the iOS system, Apple will pay Baidu for using the Wenxin model along with matching the expenses for Apple's system integration.
Other news
CEO of the largest health insurance company in the United States assassinated on the street.
According to the New York police, Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Insurance, a listed company on the US stock market, was shot dead by an ambush shooter at the entrance of the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning. The company was scheduled to hold its annual Investor Day event today, but Thompson arrived early to prepare.
UnitedHealth Group's latest market cap exceeds $560 billion, ranking 16th among global listed companies. The UnitedHealth Insurance led by Thompson is the largest health insurance company in the USA, contributing nearly two-thirds of the group's revenue.
Eli Lilly confronts Novo Nordisk.
American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced on Wednesday that in a comparative trial, Zepbound (telbivudine) showed a 47% higher relative weight loss effect compared to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide). After 72 weeks of treatment, patients using Zepbound had an average weight loss of 20.2% (about 50 pounds), while those using Wegovy lost 13.7% of their weight (about 33 pounds).
At the close, Eli Lilly rose by 2.03% and Novo Nordisk fell by 0.21%.