On December 15th local time, the three major US stock indexes experienced mixed gains and losses, with the Dow continuing to hit a new historical high. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.01%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.35%.
New Oriental's US stock market plummeted by nearly 10%. Recently, the event of Oriental Selection of Essays under New Oriental has continued to ferment. As of the latest, the number of fans of Oriental Selection of Tiktok account has been less than 30 million, and more than 2 million fans have been lost compared with that before the storm of Essays. On the early morning of the 16th, Dongfang Zhenxuan announced that it would cease broadcasting on that day.
Dongfang Zhenxuan announces a 1-day suspension of broadcasting "Teacher Yu is leading everyone to review"
In the early morning of December 16, Beijing time, the official Tiktok account of Oriental Selection updated its profile and announced that the broadcast was temporarily suspended that day
Previously, the "essay storm" of Oriental selection continued to ferment, and the total number of fans on the Tiktok account quickly fell below 30 million, which has lost more than 2 million fans compared with 31.16 million on December 9. At the same time, the number of followers of Gaotu Jiapin under Gaotu has significantly increased, reaching over 1.7 million as of the latest update, with an increase of over 1.4 million followers compared to around 320000 before the controversy.
Last night, New Oriental's US stock market plummeted, falling 9.44% as of closing. In addition, the recently rising stock of Gaotu also experienced a decline last night, falling 3.04% as of the close. In the previous four trading days, the stock rose more than 70%.
On the evening of December 15th Beijing time, a screenshot circulating online showed that Liu Qiangdong's Vice President of Human Resources had taken Liu Qiangdong's autograph to Shaanxi to recruit Dong Yuhui, and the negotiations went smoothly, indicating a high possibility of going to JD.com. JD has not responded to this incident yet. Regarding the rumor, Dong Yuhui said, "It is not true and we have not contacted any companies at present.". In addition, according to Pengpai News, Chen Xiangdong, founder, chairman, and CEO of Gaotu, stated in an interview that he will not actively poach Dong Yuhui and believes that Dong Yuhui will not come out to start a business. "I have been working at New Oriental for over 14 years and have a strong emotional attachment to it." He said that Dong Yuhui is a rare person and can even be said to have built a company. However, actively poaching Dong Yuhui is "not something that people do" unless he leaves on his own.
In terms of Chinese concept stocks, popular Chinese concept stocks have fluctuated, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling 0.34% and a cumulative increase of 1.95% this week. JD.com rose by over 4%, Alibaba rose by nearly 3%, NIO, Vipshop, Pinduoduo, Baidu rose by over 1%, and iQiyi, Ctrip, and others rose slightly; Xiaopeng Automobile fell more than 7%, Tencent Music and NetEase fell more than 1%, while Bilibili, Ideal Automobile and others saw a slight decline.
Alibaba rose 2.79%, while Xiaopeng Motors fell 7.53%. On the news front, Alibaba Group announced the sale of its partial stake in Xiaopeng Motors. In response, the relevant person in charge of Alibaba Group stated, "We have sold some of our shares in Xiaopeng based on our own capital management goals, reducing our shareholding from 10.2% to 7.5%. Xiaopeng is one of the leaders in China's electric vehicle industry, and we have established a strategic cooperation relationship with it. We believe in Xiaopeng's prospects and look forward to continued cooperation with the company." At the quarterly performance conference on November 16, Alibaba Group management stated that they will continue to optimize capital management, improve capital return on investment, and enhance shareholder value in the future.
The US stock market fluctuates and continues to hit new highs
On December 15th local time, the three major US stock indexes experienced mixed gains and losses, with the Dow continuing to hit a new historical high. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15% to close at 37305.16 points; The S&P 500 index fell 0.01% to 4719.19 points; The Nasdaq rose 0.35% to close at 14813.92 points.
The three major stock indices have performed strongly this week, all recording their seventh consecutive week of gains. Among them, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.92% this week, the S&P 500 Index rose 2.49%, and the Nasdaq rose 2.85%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through the 37000 point mark for the first time on Wednesday and set a new historical high, followed by two consecutive trading days on Thursday and Friday.
In terms of economic data, the initial value of Markit's manufacturing PMI in December was 48.2, with an expected value of 49.3 and a previous value of 49.4; The initial PMI for the Markit service industry in December was 51.3, with an expected 50.6 and a previous value of 50.8; The initial value of Markit's comprehensive PMI in December was 51, with an expected 50.5 and a previous value of 50.7.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist for S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that data shows that the US economy slightly rebounded in December, ending the year at its fastest growth rate since July. A relaxed financial environment helps to promote demand, business activities, and employment in the service industry, as well as increase expectations for future output. However, the increase in cost of living and the cautious attitude of households and businesses towards spending mean that the overall growth rate of the service industry is still far below the level of the spring and summer tourism and leisure activity recovery period. At the same time, the manufacturing industry is still dragging down the economy, with an accelerated decline in orders, prompting factories to reduce production, lay off employees, and reduce investment in procurement. Therefore, despite the economic recovery in December, surveys show that GDP growth in the fourth quarter remained weak.
Multiple Federal Reserve officials speak out
New York Fed Chairman Williams stated that the economy and inflation are still highly uncertain, and the Fed has not really discussed rate cuts at the moment. It is too early to consider a rate cut in March next year. The Federal Reserve will continue to monitor data, and if the trend of easing inflation is reversed, the Federal Reserve is prepared to tighten policy again.
Atlanta Fed Chairman Bostek stated that interest rate cuts are not urgent, but has instructed staff to start developing possible principles and thresholds to guide the rate reduction process; It is expected that there will be two 25 basis point interest rate cuts in 2024, the first of which will take place "at some point" in the third quarter, provided that the progress of inflation expectations continues; Decision makers need to determine what kind of inflation level is necessary to lower interest rates, but the data is already close. Bostic has provided the clearest interest rate path for the Federal Reserve so far.
Chicago Fed Chairman Goolsby stated that in the process of inflation falling back to the 2% target, more attention should be paid to the risk of rising unemployment rates, and the possibility of interest rate cuts at the March meeting next year is not ruled out; It is expected that interest rates will be lower than current levels next year, but there will not be a significant decrease.
On Wednesday of this week, the Federal Reserve held its ground as expected, while the released chart showed that the current interest rate hike cycle had been completed. Officials expected a 75 basis point rate cut in 2024, which means three more cuts next year, higher than expected in September.
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell also made a rare statement stating that interest rate cuts have begun to enter the field of vision, and decision-makers are considering and discussing when it is appropriate to cut rates. Looking ahead, interest rate cuts have inevitably become a theme.
Large tech stock, Broadcom, rose nearly 20% this week
In terms of sectors, the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500 index fell seven times, rose three times, and remained flat. The utility sector and the real estate sector led the decline with declines of 1.73% and 1.24%, respectively. The technology sector and non essential consumer goods sector led the rise with gains of 0.70% and 0.48%, respectively. The essential consumer goods sector closed flat.
Large tech stocks generally rose, with Oracle, Broadcom, and Intel up over 2%, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia up over 1%, Tesla up nearly 1%, and Facebook parent companies Meta, Google A, and Netflix slightly rising; Apple saw a slight decline.
Broadcom rose 2.1%, reaching a historic high and has been rising for 7 consecutive trading days, with an increase of nearly 20% this week. Last week, Broadcom's performance was better than expected, with an adjusted earnings per share of $11.06 in the fourth quarter and analysts expecting $10.93; Adjusted net revenue of 9.3 billion US dollars in the fourth fiscal quarter; In the fourth quarter, semiconductor solutions revenue was 7.33 billion US dollars, with analysts expecting 7.27 billion US dollars; Expected revenue for fiscal year 2024 is approximately $50 billion; It is expected that the adjusted EBITDA for the entire year will account for approximately 60% of the estimated revenue.
Tesla rose 0.98%, bringing its total market value back to the $800 billion mark. According to reports, Tesla will receive a factory construction award of 2.63 billion pesos ($153 million) from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to establish the next large factory in the state.
The New Leon government stated in a statement on Thursday that the state's Economic Development Commission has approved these incentive measures, including the construction of infrastructure such as roads and water treatment, as well as a reduction in payroll taxes.
In a recent interview, Musk stated that due to the delayed completion of the new factory, Tesla will first produce the next generation entry-level cars at its Texas factory, and then at its Mexico factory.
In March of this year, Tesla officially announced the construction of a super factory in Mexico to produce the next generation of electric vehicles based on the new car platform. The factory's area will be 20 times that of the domestic Shanghai factory, covering over 4200 acres (approximately 16.9968 million square meters). But at the third quarter financial report meeting, Musk announced a suspension of construction.
Tesla stated that it will invest approximately $10 billion in the factory in several stages. According to the New Leon government, Tesla's initial investment will be $4.5 billion.
Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, fell 3.7% as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the company's petition to establish new rules for the digital asset industry. The SEC has repeatedly stated that most cryptocurrencies are securities and are subject to its jurisdiction.
