According to a report on January 9 by the Financial Associated Press (Editor: Niu Zhanlin), U.S. stock indices closed mixed on Wednesday, as investors lacked a clear trading direction amid complex economic data and policy uncertainties.

Reports indicate that U.S. President-elect Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal grounds for imposing high and widespread tariffs on other countries.

The Federal Reserve's December monetary policy meeting minutes revealed that nearly all decision-makers believe the inflation outlook's upward risks have increased regarding a series of policies proposed by Trump. Officials believe that if the inflation rate remains high, the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates unchanged or ease monetary policy at a slower pace.

Charlie Ripley, a senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management, said, "Inflation is an important and unpredictable economic variable for 2025, and many factors could pose risks that lead to a resurgence in inflation."

On that day, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose to 4.691%, while the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond reached 4.931%, hitting the highest level since November 1, 2023.

A significant rise in bond yields may have an unstable impact on the stock market. On one hand, it will increase borrowing costs for the entire economy; on the other hand, as risk-free returns on government bonds rise, riskier assets such as stocks may be suppressed.

As Trump is set to take office later this month, market concerns about possible additional fees imposed by the USA on trade partners keep investors on edge.

Thomas Hayes, Chairman of Great Hill Capital LLC, stated: "If broader tariffs are implemented, there may be a short-term impact on inflation. The Federal Reserve will closely monitor Trump's policy actions, and cuts in government spending may somewhat alleviate the inflationary pressure brought about by tariff policies."

In memory of former USA President Jimmy Carter, the stock market will be closed for one day tomorrow, and the bond market will close early at 2 PM Eastern Time.

Market Dynamics

At the close, the Dow rose by 106.84 points, an increase of 0.25%, closing at 42,635.20 points; the Nasdaq fell by 10.80 points, a decrease of 0.06%, closing at 19,478.88 points; the S&P 500 Index rose by 9.21 points, an increase of 0.16%, closing at 5,918.24 points.

Sector ETFs in the USA had mixed performance, with the Medical Industry ETF up 0.52%, the Internet Stocks Index ETF rising over 0.4%, the Finance Industry ETF and GF CSI All-Share Index Consumer Discretionary ETF both increasing by about 0.3%, while the Global Technology Stocks Index ETF closed down nearly 0.1%, and the Penghua Guozheng Semiconductor Chip ETF dropped 0.71%.

Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 Index, 8 sectors were up, with the Consumer Staples sector rising by 0.46%, the Financial sector by 0.31%, the Medical Care sector by 0.53%, the Information Technology sector by 0.09%, and the Communications Services sector falling by 0.75%.

Performance of Popular Stocks

Major technology stocks performed moderately, with Meta down by 1.16%, Google A down by 0.79%, NVIDIA down by 0.02%, Amazon slightly up by 0.01%, Tesla rising by 0.15%, Apple up by 0.2%, and Microsoft rising by 0.52%.

eBay rose by about 10% after Meta announced that it would showcase listings from competitor eBay on its platform Facebook Marketplace in response to the EU antitrust ruling.

California wildfires rage on, with strong winds in the forecast making them difficult to control. Electrical utilities provider Edison International fell by 10%, marking its worst single-day performance since 2020.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that 'very useful' quantum computers may still be decades away. This led to a collapse in Quantum Computing stocks, with IonQ down 39%, Quantum Computing down 43%, and Rigetti Computing plunging 45%.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell by 0.67%, with most China concept stocks declining. XPeng Motors dropped over 5%, NIO and Kingsoft Cloud fell over 4%, and Bilibili decreased over 3%; TAL Education rose over 5%, and NetEase increased over 2%.

Company news

[California's insurance market is treading lightly as wildfires may exacerbate the exodus of insurance companies.]

The economic losses caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles are currently uncertain, but their impact on California's already troubled insurance market could be significant. Experts indicate that due to the increasing scale and frequency of wildfires leading to rising losses, this week's wildfires might accelerate the tide of insurance company exits from California. Milliman's insurance expert and chief actuary Nancy Watkins stated, 'California's insurance market has been like walking on thin ice.' As homeowners begin to file claims, insurance companies covering a large number of residences in Southern California may face depletion of capital reserves, forcing them to abandon clients, face penalties from investors, or exit the state market. AM Best's Senior Director of Industry Research and Analysis, Sreedhar Manim, pointed out that if insurance companies continue to leave California, already high premiums will rise further, making it harder for people to get insured.

[Blackrock will lay off about 1% of its workforce to realign resources with strategy.]

Blackrock informed its employees that the company will reduce its workforce by about 1%. The group made over $25 billion in acquisition deals last year, thus expanding its business in the private market assets and data sector. Blackrock President Rob Kapito and Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein stated in a memo to employees on Wednesday that the plan aims to realign resources and strategy through measures such as layoffs. The company has more than 21,000 employees, meaning that around 200 people will be affected.

[Intel: Will continue to commit to the discrete graphics card market]

During CES 2025, Intel's newly appointed co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holst stated in her keynote speech: "We are very committed to the discrete graphics card market and will continue to make strategic investments in this direction." Previously, Intel had hinted during an earnings report conference call that investment in discrete graphics cards was "not necessary."

[Apple, Google, and Samsung to accept Matter certification for Smart Home products]

At the ongoing CES 2025, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) announced that Apple, Google, and Samsung will all accept certification under its "Works With" program, and stated that Apple has begun accepting the Alliance Interop Lab testing results for Matter devices used in Works With Apple Home. Google and Samsung will also take similar actions later this year for their respective Works With Google Home and Works With SmartThings certifications, highlighting the credibility and reliability of the alliance's testing program.