On Wednesday, September 11th, local time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed higher. By the end of the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 0.31%, the Nasdaq Composite increased by 2.17%, and the S&P 500 index gained 1.07%.
In terms of economic data, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August rose by 2.5% year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline, with an estimate of 2.5% and a previous value of 2.9%; the U.S. CPI for August increased by 0.2% month-over-month, in line with the estimate of 0.2% and the previous value of 0.2%. The core CPI in the U.S. for August rose by 3.2% year-over-year, which was in line with market expectations.
NVIDIA's stock surged by over 8%, with CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stating that the demand for Blackwell chips is so strong that the supply cannot meet the demand, causing tensions in customer relationships.
The Japanese stock market opened high and continued to rise, with the Nikkei 225 index expanding its gains to over 3%.
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In the U.S., the core CPI month-over-month growth exceeded expectations.
On Wednesday, September 11th, local time, the three major U.S. stock indices closed higher. By the close, the DJIA gained 124.75 points, or 0.31%, to 40,861.71; the Nasdaq Composite added 369.65 points, or 2.17%, to 17,395.53; the S&P 500 index rose by 58.61 points, or 1.07%, to 5,554.13.
The S&P 500 index increased by 1.07%, with First Solar leading the S&P 500 constituents with a 15.19% rise. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1.3% at one point during the session but rebounded to close up over 2%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped by 4.90%, with NVIDIA leading the large-cap tech stocks, increasing by 8.15%. Jen-Hsun Huang mentioned in his latest remarks that the demand for Blackwell chips is so strong that the supply cannot meet the demand, causing tensions in customer relationships. International Business Machines (IBM) stock hit a historical high. OpenAI is in talks to raise $6.5 billion from investors at a $150 billion valuation.
In terms of economic data, a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. CPI for August rose by 2.5% year-over-year, in line with market expectations; the core CPI for August increased by 3.2% year-over-year, meeting expectations, and the core CPI for August rose by 0.3% month-over-month, slightly exceeding expectations.
Due to the unexpected increase in the core inflation month-over-month rate, traders reduced their bets on a substantial rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September. Wall Street institutions believe that after the CPI data release, a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September is almost a foregone conclusion. The "CME FedWatch Tool" indicates that the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September has risen to 85%, while the probability of a 50 basis point rate cut has dropped to 15%.
"Fed Whisperer" Nick Timiraos wrote that the inflation data for August paved the way for the Federal Reserve to gradually lower interest rates next week, but a significant 50 basis point rate cut is not expected. The more resilient housing inflation led to a slightly higher-than-expected core price increase in August, which could make it more difficult for Federal Reserve officials to push for a more substantial 50 basis point rate cut at next week's Federal Reserve meeting. However, some officials have not completely ruled out the possibility of a more significant rate cut. At the same time, although the easing of inflation has provided some relief for burdened households, the labor market is also cooling, with hiring and wage growth slowing down, and the average duration of unemployment increasing as job searching becomes more challenging."Core inflation data came in stronger than expected, which will make it more difficult for Jerome Powell to cut rates by 50 basis points in September." Krishna Guha of Evercore said, "We still believe that cutting rates by 50 basis points first is the right approach."
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that due to the weak job market, the Federal Reserve may still choose a more aggressive rate cut than expected. David Solomon stated on Wednesday that, given the more subdued labor market, the Fed has reason to cut rates by 50 basis points, with a probability exceeding 30%. However, he believes the most likely scenario is a 25 basis point cut, with two to three cuts by the end of the year. The 62-year-old banker also predicted in May that there might be no rate cuts in 2024, although he said a soft landing remains the most likely outcome.
In other market news, U.S. Treasury yields generally rose, with the 2-year Treasury yield increasing by 4.3 basis points to 3.65%, the 3-year Treasury yield rising by 0.3 basis points to 3.469%, the 5-year Treasury yield increasing by 2 basis points to 3.45%, the 10-year Treasury yield rising by 0.9 basis points to 3.658%, and the 30-year Treasury yield rising by 0.2 basis points to 3.97%.
International oil prices rose, with the light crude oil futures for delivery in October at the New York Mercantile Exchange rising by $1.56 to close at $67.31 per barrel, a 2.37% increase; the Brent crude oil futures for delivery in November rose by $1.42 to close at $70.61 per barrel, a 2.05% increase.
International precious metal futures closed mixed, with COMEX gold futures falling by 0.11% to $2540.2 per ounce, and COMEX silver futures rising by 1.37% to $29.005 per ounce.
Nvidia surges as demand for Blackwell chips is strong.
In terms of sectors, six of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors rose while five fell. The information technology sector led the gains with a 3.25% increase, followed by the non-essential consumer sector with a 1.32% rise and the communication services sector with a 1.03% gain. The energy sector led the declines, with a 0.93% drop.
Popular tech stocks rose across the board. Arm surged over 10%, Nvidia jumped over 8%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained nearly 8%, Broadcom and ASML rose over 6%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) increased by almost 5%, TSMC and Micron Technology rose over 4%, Intel and Qualcomm gained over 3%, Amazon, Eli Lilly, and Microsoft rose over 2%, Google A, Meta, Texas Instruments, Netflix, and Apple increased over 1%, and Tesla and Cisco saw minor gains.
Nvidia surged 8.15%. On Wednesday, Jensen Huang attended the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference in San Francisco, where he stated that the limited supply of popular chip products has frustrated some customers, causing tensions in relationships. He said, "The demand is so strong that everyone wants to be the first to get them, everyone wants to order the most, our customers are quite excited, which is understandable, it is indeed very tense, and we are doing our best." Huang told the audience that there is strong demand for the latest generation of Blackwell chips. Nvidia has outsourced the physical production of the hardware, and suppliers are working hard to catch up. Previously, after releasing its second-quarter earnings report on August 28, Nvidia stated that a modification to the Blackwell chip's design was needed to improve yield, thus delaying the chip's release.
Additionally, Oracle announced the launch of a Zettascale cloud computing cluster, claiming that the company could obtain up to 131,072 Blackwell chips from Nvidia.Amazon rose 2.77%. Amazon's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced on Wednesday that the company will invest $1.8 billion in Brazil by 2034 to expand its data center operations in the country. In a statement, the company said these resources will be used for "expanding, building, connecting, operating, and maintaining data centers in Brazil." The statement mentioned that AWS's previous investment plans in the Latin American country totaled $3.387 billion from 2011 to 2023.
Apple increased by 1.16%. Market research firm TechInsights released a report, expecting the iPhone 16 series to outperform its predecessors in terms of shipments, with a global shipment forecast of 73 million units for 2024. Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to become the best-selling model in the iPhone 16 series, accounting for 35% of total sales. The firm attributes this to its larger display, A18 Pro chip, and appeal to high-end users.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped 4.91%. AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su recently stated that the supercycle for artificial intelligence has just begun, and AMD aims to target NVIDIA's market leadership by accelerating the launch of high-performance AI chips. At a communication and technology conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, Dr. Su said, "Artificial intelligence is a larger cycle than I anticipated five years ago, and we are now making big bets for the next five years."
On the other hand, according to a Bloomberg report, OpenAI is in talks with investors to raise funds at a valuation of $150 billion, which would solidify its position as one of the world's largest startups. The report states that OpenAI plans to raise $6.5 billion from investors and is discussing debt financing of $5 billion from banks. Currently, OpenAI's new valuation is 74% higher than the $86 billion valuation earlier this year.
Financial stocks were mixed. American Express rose over 3%, UBS Group rose over 1%, and Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho Financial, and Mastercard saw slight increases. American International Group, Wells Fargo, Visa, US Bancorp, Bank of America, and BlackRock experienced minor declines. Capital One Financial, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Regional Financial fell over 1%, and Travelers Insurance dropped over 3%.
Bank of America fell 0.71%. According to the latest SEC filing, Berkshire Hathaway sold nearly 5.8 million shares of Bank of America stock in three trading days (September 6, 9, and 10), valued at $229 million. Notably, the average trading price on Tuesday was $39.30 per share, one of the lowest since Warren Buffett initially started selling Bank of America shares in July. Buffett's selling spree began on July 17, and since then, he has cashed out nearly $7.2 billion. Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, spoke about Buffett's continuous selling of Bank of America shares. He first praised Warren Buffett as a great investor who has stabilized the company, then stated that he has not asked the legendary investor why he keeps selling Bank of America shares.
Moynihan mentioned at an investor conference in New York, "Buffett has always been a great investor in our company, stabilizing our firm. But I don't know what he is doing, because frankly, we can't ask."
Energy stocks saw more declines than gains. Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, and Apache Corporation fell over 1%, Exxon Mobil dropped nearly 1%, and Imperial Oil, Duke Energy, Chevron, and Schlumberger experienced minor declines. Murphy Oil, BP, Shell, Petrobras, and US Energy saw minor increases, and US Energy rose over 1%.
Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose, with the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index up 1.02%. XPeng Motors rose over 4%, Bilibili and Douyu rose over 3%, Full Truck Alliance, Pinduoduo, Baidu, NetEase, JD.com, and NIO rose over 2%, Futu Holdings rose 2%, Weibo, Alibaba, and Tencent Music rose over 1%, Huya saw a minor increase, Li Auto fell slightly, VIPShop and New Oriental fell over 1%, and iQIYI dropped over 2%.