On June 18th Eastern Time, the three major US stock indexes collectively rose again, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting new closing highs, with the Nasdaq hitting a new high for seven consecutive days.
Several Federal Reserve officials have spoken out, saying they will be patient with inflation!
Milestones! Nvidia's market value has surpassed Microsoft and Apple, becoming the world's highest company by market value.
Multiple Federal Reserve officials spoke out intensively
On June 18th, Eastern Time, data released on that day showed weak retail sales data in the United States. Retail sales in the United States increased by 0.1% month on month in May, with an expected increase of 0.3%. The previous value was revised from flat to a decrease of 0.2%; Core retail sales decreased by 0.1% month on month, with an expected increase of 0.2%. The previous value was revised from an increase of 0.2% to a decrease of 0.1%.
Several officials from the Federal Reserve spoke out intensively on the same day.
New York Fed Chairman Williams stated that the path of interest rate cuts depends on data, and the Fed's decisions will depend on the economy; The US economy is performing well and in a better state of balance. The US has a very strong economy and income is growing; The development direction of monetary policy is correct; It is expected that as inflation slows down, interest rates will gradually decrease, and the inflation rate is returning to the Federal Reserve's target level of 2%. Recent inflation data is encouraging.
Richmond Fed Chairman Barkin said that the scenario of lowering interest rates once and then keeping them unchanged may be reasonable. Always maintain an open attitude and adjust interest rates based on data.
Boston Fed Chairman Collins stated that the Federal Reserve should maintain policy patience, as data shows that the economy is gradually balancing; It takes some time for inflation to decline; There may be one or two interest rate cuts in 2024.
Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman Logan stated that the Federal Reserve is slowing down its pace of tightening its balance sheet to provide a more stable path of tightening its balance sheet; The economy is entering a better balance, but there are still concerns about the risk of upward inflation; There are still some ongoing supply chain issues. Inflation remains high, but significant progress has been made, and the May CPI data is good news; It will take "a few more months" to have confidence that inflation is moving towards 2%; We will closely monitor the data in the coming months; The Federal Reserve is in a good position and should maintain patience and a cautious attitude towards policies.
St. Louis Fed Chairman Moussalem stated that retail sales data in May showed that the current growth rate of total demand in the second quarter was moderate; It is expected that total consumption will moderately slow down in the coming quarters, but will not stagnate, and then recover or slightly exceed the trend by 2026; It is expected that the labor market will further cool down in the coming months; The labor market no longer looks overheated, but it remains tense; Continuous high employment levels and wage growth should mitigate the impact of labor market conditions on overall demand.
Federal Reserve Governor Kugler stated that there is still a focus on housing, and import prices and wages are still higher than productivity; We must see sustained progress in slowing wage growth rates; The US economy has shown considerable resilience.
Chicago Fed Chairman Goolsby said that the inflation data released last week performed "well" and hoped to see more similar data; The Federal Reserve will achieve a 2% inflation rate.
The three major US stock indices collectively closed higher
The Nasdaq has hit a new high for seven consecutive days
On June 18th Eastern Time, the market continued to rise against the backdrop of weak retail data and multiple officials expressing patience with interest rate cuts. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, the Nasdaq rose 0.03%, and the S&P 500 index rose 0.25%.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 index have reached new historical highs, with the Nasdaq hitting a new closing high for seven consecutive trading days.
NVIDIA's market value ranks first in the world
On June 18th Eastern Time, the US stock market experienced a milestone event - Nvidia's stock price closed up 3.51% at $135.58. Reaching a new historical high, with a total market value of $3.335 trillion, surpassing Microsoft and Apple, becoming the world's highest market value stock for the first time in history.
The market believes that this leap in market value once again proves the market potential of artificial intelligence technology and the great interest of investors.
It is worth noting that since the end of 2022, Nvidia's stock price has increased more than nine times; Since 2024 alone, Nvidia's stock price has surged by over 160%.
Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives stated in a report that he believes Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft will become the focus of the $4 trillion market value competition in the technology industry in the coming year. With the advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the demand for these chips from businesses and consumers is increasing day by day. Nvidia's GPU chips are essentially new gold or oil in the field of technology.
In terms of market news, Antonio Neri, CEO of Huihe Technology, and Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, jointly attended the HPE Discover 2024 conference on Tuesday and announced the launch of a new AI solution called "NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE". One of the main products of the solution is Huihe Private Cloud AI, which is the first solution that deeply integrates NVIDIA AI computing, networking, and software, as well as Huihe Technology's AI storage, computing, and GreenLake cloud.
In addition, Nvidia is said to have reached an agreement to acquire software startup Shoreline.
(Edited by Ivan)