Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Powell will give a speech later, the market is holding its breath, trying to find clues about future interest rate policy from Powell’s remarks. In addition, the US July personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index released earlier The annual growth rate was lower than expected, and inflation showed signs of slowing down, which may reduce the room for the Fed to raise interest rates sharply. The main US stock indexes were mixed on Friday (26th).
Before the deadline,Dow Jones Industrial Averageup 0.02%,Nasdaq Composite Indexdown 0.42%,S&P 500 Indexdown 0.21%,Philadelphia SemiconductorThe index fell more than 1%.
According to data released by the US Department of Commerce today, the US PCE price index in July increased by 6.3% year-on-year, lower than the market expectation of 6.4%, and the previous value was 6.8%; The PCE price index increased by 4.6% year-on-year, which was lower than the market expectation of 4.7% and the previous value of 4.8%. While consumer spending barely grew in July, inflation slowed sharply, potentially reducing the scope for the Fed to raise interest rates sharply.
Fed Chairman Powell will give a speech at the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Conference later. The market is focusing on Powell’s remarks as hawks and doves, and is looking for clues about the Fed’s next interest rate hike. Several Fed officials have already shown them one after another. Eagle Claw, reaffirmed the determination to fight inflation. Before the deadline, according to data from the CME Group FedWatch Tool, the probability of a two-yard rate hike (50 basis points) in September was 61.5%, and the probability of a three-yard rate hike (75 basis points) was 38.5%.
In the Chinese market, according to the information announced on the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission today, the recently signed Sino-US audit supervision cooperation agreement marks a key step in solving the audit supervision problems of Chinese concept stocks through strengthening cooperation, which is in line with the expectations and expectations of the market. If the follow-up cooperation can meet their respective regulatory needs, it is expected to solve the audit supervision problem of Chinese concept stocks, thereby avoiding passive delisting from the United States.
The news inspired Chinese concept stocks to rise in an all-round way, Alibaba (BABA-US) surged 3.5%, JD.com (JD-US) rose 1.34%, Baidu (BIDU-US) rose 1.02%, and electric vehicle stocks also experienced rain and dew, Weilai Automobile (NIO-US) rose 2.74%, Xpeng Motors (XPEV-US) rose 0.72%, Li Auto (LI-US) rose 0.68%.
As of 21:00 on Friday (26th) Taipei time:
Stocks in focus:
Electronic Arts (EA-US) rose 4.96% to $133.94 a share in early trade
According to foreign media reports, Amazon (AMZN-US) could announce its takeover of Electronic Arts as soon as Friday, with its shares jumping 12% premarket on the news. EA is the publisher of major games like Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends and countless sports games like Madden NFL.
Affirm(AFRM-US) tumbled 11.66% to $27.59 a share in early trade
Shares of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) company Affirm Holdings tumbled 14 percent in premarket trading after it previously announced a weaker-than-expected financial forecast for the 2023 fiscal year. According to the financial report, Affirm’s revenue in the fourth quarter of the 2022 fiscal year was reported at $364.1 million, which was better than analysts’ estimates of $354.66 million, and earnings per share were reported at $0.65.
Looking ahead, the company estimates that fiscal 2023 first-quarter revenue will be $355 million, far less than the market’s $386.4 million; fiscal 2023 full-year revenue is estimated to be between $1.63 billion and $1.73 billion. Also far behind market estimates of $1.91 billion.
GAP(GPS-US) rose 2.6% to $10.27 a share in early trade
Brand apparel company GAP’s revenue last quarter fell 8% to $3.86 billion, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were reported at $0.08, which were better than market estimates of $3.82 billion and a loss per share of $0.05. In addition, Gap estimates that inventory growth at the end of the third quarter will slow down significantly, and the annual inventory growth rate at the end of fiscal year 2022 will turn negative.
Today’s key economic data:
- The monthly rate of U.S. personal spending in July was 0.1%, expected to be 0.4%, and the previous value of 1.0%
- The monthly rate of personal income in the United States in July was 0.2%, expected 0.6%, the previous value was 0.7%
- The US July PCE price index reported an annual rate of 6.3%, expected 6.4%, and the previous value of 6.8%
- US July PCE price index monthly rate reported -0.1%, expected 0%, the previous value of 1%
- The US core PCE price index in July reported an annual rate of 4.6%, expected 4.7%, and the previous value of 4.8%
- US July core PCE price index reported a monthly rate of 0.1%, expected 0.3%, the previous value of 0.6%
- The monthly rate of wholesale retail inventory in the United States in July initially reported 0.8%, expected 1.3%, and the previous value was 1.8%
- The final value of the U.S. Michigan consumer confidence index in August was 58.0, expected to be 55.2, and the previous value of 55.1
Wall Street Analysis:
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said talk of the Fed turning dovish appealed to some long-term bulls who can’t wait for the stock market to recover, and dismissed the claim that the Fed remains hawkish. But the point today is that Powell is likely to maintain his previous hawkish stance, and if there is any hint of dovishness, U.S. bond yields will fall and U.S. stocks close higher.