Musk announces the latest Mars plan.
On Monday, September 23rd local time, all three major US stock indexes closed slightly higher. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, the Nasdaq rose 0.14%, and the S&P 500 index rose 0.28%. Among them, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index reached new closing highs.
In terms of economic data, the initial value of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for September was 47, with an expected 48.5; The initial value of the S&P Global Services PMI for September is 55.4, with an expected value of 55.3. Federal Reserve's Gulsby stated that the current interest rate level is several hundred basis points higher than the neutral rate.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on social media platform X on Sunday that SpaceX plans to launch approximately five unmanned starships to Mars within two years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index hit new closing highs
On Monday, September 23rd local time, the three major US stock indexes collectively closed higher. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.29 points, or 0.15%, to 42124.65 points; The Nasdaq rose 25.95 points, or 0.14%, to 17974.27 points; The S&P 500 index rose 16.02 points, or 0.28%, to 5718.57 points. Among them, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index reached new closing highs.
In terms of economic data, the data released by S&P Global on Monday showed that the initial value of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for September was 47, with an expected value of 48.5; The initial value of the S&P Global Services PMI for September is 55.4, with an expected value of 55.3. Among them, the manufacturing industry shrank for the third consecutive month and hit a 15 month low, while the expansion speed of the service industry slightly slowed down.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist of S&P Global Market Intelligence, said, "Early survey indicators in September indicate that despite weak manufacturing and increasing political uncertainty being major obstacles, the US economy is still steadily growing. At the same time, inflation is accelerating again, indicating that the Federal Reserve cannot completely shift its focus away from its inflation target. In addition, the price indicators of the survey also issue a warning. Although PMI indicates that the hiring trend will further deteriorate in September, the Federal Reserve's FOMC may need to cautiously implement further interest rate cuts. Prices of goods and services are rising at the fastest pace in six months, and input costs in the service industry (mainly including wages and salaries) are rising at the fastest pace in a year
On the news front, Federal Reserve's Gulsby stated that starting with a 50 basis point rate cut is reasonable, and the Fed is returning to its normal dual mission mode. Gulsby said that the current interest rate level is several hundred basis points higher than the neutral rate, and if the situation continues, there will be a large number of interest rate cuts in the next 12 months. "We still have a long way to go to bring interest rates close to the neutral level.
Wall Street strategist Ed Adney has issued a warning that if the Federal Reserve does not act cautiously, last week's significant interest rate cut could lead to inflation resurfacing. He added, "The Federal Reserve ignored the upcoming presidential election, and both candidates proposed policies that could trigger inflation
In other markets, most US Treasury yields closed higher, with 2-year yields falling 0.7 basis points to 3.597%, 3-year yields rising 0.2 basis points to 3.49%, 5-year yields rising 1 basis point to 3.512%, 10-year yields rising 1 basis point to 3.754%, and 30-year yields rising 0.9 basis points to 4.094%.
The international precious metal futures market is currently fluctuating. London gold rose 0.25% to $2628.405 per ounce, while COMEX gold futures rose 0.27% to $2653.4 per ounce. London silver fell 1.53% to $30.690 per ounce, while COMEX silver futures fell 1.57% to $31.010 per ounce.
International oil prices have fallen. As of the close of the day, the price of light crude oil futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 63 cents, closing at $70.37 per barrel, a decrease of 0.89%; The London Brent crude oil futures price for November delivery fell 59 cents to close at $73.90 per barrel, a decrease of 0.79%.
Musk announces launch of approximately 5 unmanned starships to Mars within 2 years
In terms of sectors, the S&P 500 index's 11 major sectors saw 8 gains and 3 losses. Among them, the energy sector and non essential consumption sector led the gains, with increases of 1.31% and 1.30% respectively. The healthcare, information technology, and essential consumer sectors all closed slightly lower.
Most popular technology stocks have risen. Tesla rose nearly 5%, Intel rose over 3%, Micron Technology rose nearly 3%, Arm rose over 2%, AMD, Amazon, Broadcom, and ASML rose over 1%, Netflix, Meta, AMD Semiconductor, Cisco, TSMC, Texas Instruments, and Nvidia rose slightly, while Eli Lilly, Microsoft, and Apple fell slightly, and Google A, Oracle, and Qualcomm fell over 1%.
Tesla surged 4.93%, with its stock price reaching a new high in nearly two months and its market value increasing by approximately $37.5 billion (equivalent to over 260 billion yuan) overnight.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on social media platform X on Sunday that SpaceX plans to launch approximately five unmanned starships to Mars within two years. Musk stated that the schedule for the first manned mission will depend on the success of the unmanned starship flight. If the unmanned mission lands safely, the manned mission will be launched within four years. If there are challenges, the manned mission will be postponed for another two years. Musk later claimed on social media, "For the first time in 4.5 billion years, the window for life on Earth to survive on multiple planets has been opened
(Source: Musk Social Media)
Musk said, "Regardless of whether the landing is successful or not, SpaceX will use every opportunity to exponentially increase the number of spacecraft heading to Mars. We hope that anyone who wants to become a space traveler can go to Mars! This means you or your family, friends - anyone who dreams of a great adventure
At the beginning of the month, Musk announced plans to conduct unmanned starship missions to explore Mars during the next launch window. This mission will verify the reliability of the spacecraft's complete landing on Mars. If the landing goes smoothly, the plan is to conduct the first manned Mars exploration mission of the starship within 4 years.
Intel rose 3.30%. Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Apollo Global Management has proposed investing billions of dollars in Intel, which will be a vote of trust in the chip manufacturer's turnaround strategy. According to insiders, this "alternative" investment giant is willing to make up to $5 billion in equity investments in Intel, and Intel executives are also weighing Apollo's proposal. The insider further added that everything has not yet been finalized, the scale of potential investments may change, and negotiations may fail. Currently, both Apollo and Intel have declined to comment on this matter.
Apollo and Intel established a partnership in June. Intel agreed to sell a portion of its stake in a factory in Ireland to Apollo in June of this year. According to the agreement, Intel has agreed to sell a 49% stake in Fab 34 factory located in Leixlip, Ireland to Apollo Global Management for a transaction amount of $11 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024. This external financing has eased Intel's financial pressure.
Meta rose 0.55%. According to exclusive sources cited by Reuters, Meta has reached an agreement with actors such as Judy Dench, Kristen Bell, and John Cena to voice its Meta AI chatbot. The person stated that Meta will announce the audio feature at its annual Connect conference starting on Wednesday. In addition, Meta is expected to launch the first version of its AR (Augmented Reality) glasses at this year's Connect conference and discuss roadmaps for other hardware devices.
Qualcomm fell 1.75%. Regarding the recent report by The Wall Street Journal about Qualcomm's acquisition of Intel, Reuters cited informed sources as saying that Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon personally participated in negotiations with Intel and has been researching various transaction options for the company. Apple analyst Guo Mingchi from Tianfeng International stated that the acquisition of Intel is only helpful for Qualcomm's AI PC chip business. But from Microsoft's commitment to WoA (whose latest Surface models all use Qualcomm processors/ARM architecture), Qualcomm's growth in the PC market is only a matter of time. In addition, based solely on Intel's market value of approximately $93 billion, this acquisition will put immense financial pressure on Qualcomm and have an immediate negative impact on its profitability. The net profit margin may drop from the current 20%+to single digits or even losses (the wafer foundry business is the biggest burden). Moreover, considering the subsequent anti-monopoly investigations in various countries, it is difficult to complete this merger case in the short term. Guo Mingchi believes that Qualcomm should not have a strong motivation to acquire Intel, and if this merger occurs, it could be a disaster for Qualcomm.
Financial stocks are experiencing mixed ups and downs. Visa and UBS Group rose over 1%, BlackRock rose nearly 1%, Mastercard, American International Group, Citigroup, Travelers Insurance, and JPMorgan Chase fell slightly, Morgan Stanley closed flat, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Financial, United Bank of America, American Express, First Capital Financial, and Regional Finance fell slightly, Bank of America fell nearly 1%, and Wells Fargo fell over 2%.
Bank of America fell 0.99%. Bank of America announced on Monday that it plans to open over 165 new branches in the United States by the end of 2026. Bank of America has redesigned its branches to emphasize face-to-face sales of products such as mortgages and investments, rather than conventional teller transactions. Bank of America stated in a statement that this year's expansion plan will include building 40 new branches. The company stated that it currently operates in 38 states except for the District of Columbia and will expand to 41 states by 2026.
Goldman Sachs fell 0.20%. After the Federal Reserve significantly lowered interest rates, Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for the US dollar against a range of currencies. The bank expects the US dollar to gradually weaken as yields lose their appeal. Goldman Sachs has instead raised its forecasts for several major currencies, including the euro, pound, and yen. Based on the latest forecast for the US dollar, Goldman Sachs, which has been bullish on the pound since the beginning of the year, now expects the pound to reach 1.40 against the US dollar within 12 months, higher than the previous 1.32. This is the first time since 2021 that the outlook has reached this level and is also among the highest predictions on Wall Street. The bank also raised its forecast for the euro, currently believing that the euro will rise to 1.15 against the US dollar within 12 months, rather than weakening to 1.08. The bank expects the Japanese yen to rise to 140 yen per US dollar during the same period, compared to the previous forecast of 150 yen per US dollar.
Energy stocks have generally risen. US energy rose by over 3%, Imperial Oil rose by over 2%, ExxonMobil, Apache Oil, Chevron, Petrobras, Schlumberger, and Western Petroleum rose by over 1%, Duke Energy, BP, Murphy Oil, and Shell rose slightly, while ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil fell slightly.
Popular Chinese concept stocks rose, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index up 1.36%. Douyu rose nearly 8%, JD.com rose over 4%, Huya rose nearly 4%, Tencent Music and Ideal Auto rose over 3%, Futu Holdings, Pinduoduo, Alibaba, and NetEase rose over 2%, iQiyi, Weibo, and Vipshop rose over 1%, NIO, Manbang, and Bilibili rose slightly, Xiaopeng Motors fell slightly, New Oriental fell nearly 4%, and Miniso fell over 16%.
