The three major US stock indexes closed with mixed gains and losses, all recording five consecutive monthly gains. The Dow Jones rose 0.12%; The S&P 500 index rose 0.11%; The Nasdaq fell 0.12%. Among them, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones index both hit historic closing highs.
Monthly charts of the three major US stock indices
Large tech stocks fluctuated, with Tesla falling more than 2%; Meta fell more than 1%; Netflix and Microsoft saw a slight decline; Intel, Nvidia, Google, and Amazon saw a slight increase.
Apple (Appl) reported $171.48, a decrease of 1.06%, with a market value of $2.6 trillion. On March 28th local time, the media quoted a well-known tech expert as saying that Apple plans to officially release an upgraded version of the new iPad Pro and iPad Air in early May. The Pro model will be equipped with a clearer OLED display, and the iPad Air will launch a 12.9-inch screen option for the first time. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a display technology that provides brighter colors and darker black, thereby improving the viewing experience.
In addition, Apple's overseas suppliers had already accelerated production of the highly anticipated new iPad before its release in May.
Since the last update of the iPad, there has been approximately 18 months without the launch of new iPad products, which has led to weak overall demand for tablets in the market. Although iPad sales have increased during the pandemic, Apple's sales have declined in the past two fiscal years (each ending in September). During the recent holiday season, when iPads were typically popular gifts, sales experienced a 25% year-on-year decline.
This update and upgrade to the iPad may end the 18 month history of no new models being released. Moreover, Apple hopes that the new iPad equipped with faster processors and new accessories can reignite market interest in tablets, thereby boosting tablet sales.
Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rising 0.30%. IQiyi rose more than 5%, Bilibili, Tencent Music, and Alibaba rose more than 1%, while Futu Holdings, JD.com, Vipshop, Ideal Automobile, and Baidu saw a slight increase. Weibo fell more than 4%, NIO fell more than 3%, Xiaopeng Automobile and Manbang fell more than 1%, Pinduoduo and NetEase slightly declined.
At the end of the US trading session, spot gold rose more than $10 in the short term, setting a new historical high of $2236 per ounce. As of the close on March 28th, it was at $2232.78 per ounce, up 1.74%
According to Securities Daily, many analysts believe that the strong trend of international gold prices in this round is due to various factors, including macroeconomic fluctuations in overseas markets and hedging sentiment.
According to researchers at Galaxy Futures Precious Metals, "The rise in international gold prices is partly due to recent US macroeconomic data not matching expectations, and partly due to increased market risk aversion caused by Fitch Ratings' downgrade of some banks in New York. At the same time, central banks around the world continue to buy gold and continuously raise the gold price center. Therefore, international gold prices have created a round of upward trend under various favorable factors."
Li Hui, Deputy Manager of Investor Consulting at Zhongyan Futures, believes that "the rise in international gold prices is mainly due to the decrease in expectations of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts triggered by the latest economic data in the United States. From the performance of the interest rate futures market, it is expected that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates four times this year, a decrease of two from the previous six rate cuts. At the same time, the market expects liquidity to be tight."
