Finlink News October 19th (Editor: Niu Zhanlin) Friday Eastern Time, driven by Netflix's financial report and the widespread rise in technology stocks, the three major US indexes closed higher together, with all setting new historical closing highs.$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$and$Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ Continuing to set new historical closing highs.

This week, due to better-than-expected financial reports, utilities and financial stocks have joined the leading ranks, helping the three major stock indexes maintain their upward momentum.

Stable economic data have boosted hopes that the US can avoid a recession, as the Federal Reserve enters a period of monetary easing, optimists predict that the US stock market will continue to rise.

However, the high valuation - the forward P/E ratio of the S&P 500 index is close to 22 times, much higher than the long-term average of 15.7 times, combined with too high expectations for corporate performance and the approaching November 5th U.S. presidential election, indicates that a correction in the U.S. stocks is likely to occur next.

However, Waddell & Associates analyst David Waddell pointed out that strong corporate profits might outweigh any political considerations or concerns about overvaluation. "Our pricing is based on very good profit expectations, so if we don't meet those expectations, it may cause some volatility. But if there is no economic recession, I believe the bull market foundation remains solid."

David Lebovitz from UBS Global Wealth Management stated: "We believe that the current environment remains constructive for U.S. stocks. Earnings growth is expanding. Although election results add a layer of uncertainty, we believe that any policy changes that may result from the election will not significantly alter the market environment. Valuations are relatively high, but still reasonable in the macro context."

Bret Kenwell, a U.S. investment analyst at eToro, expects that in September, the vibrant tech stocks will continue to recover in the fourth quarter, and tech stocks will soon return to the forefront of the market.

One of Kenwell's bullish reasons is that many well-known stocks that investors seem eager to buy on dips are in the technology sector. In addition, he expects third-quarter earnings reports to boost this sector.

Market Dynamics

At the close, the Nasdaq rose 0.63%, up 0.8% for the week; the S&P 500 index rose 0.4%, up 0.85% for the week; the Dow rose 0.09%, up 0.96% for the week.

Most of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 index closed higher, with the telecom sector up 0.92%, real estate sector up over 0.7%, information technology/tech sector up around 0.5%, financial sector largely flat, and the energy sector down 0.35%.

Most US industry ETFs closed up, with global aviation ETFs up over 1.5%, internet stocks index up over 1%, utilities ETF, medical ETF, consumer discretionary ETF, global tech ETF, and technology industry ETF all up approximately 0.5%. Meanwhile, regional banks ETF and banking ETF both fell nearly 1.5%, energy ETF fell less than 0.5%.

Popular stocks performance

Most large technology stocks rose, $Intel (INTC.US)$ Some rose more than 1%.$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$and$Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$N/A.$Amazon (AMZN.US)$,$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$Slight increase; $Tesla (TSLA.US)$Please use your Futubull account to access the feature.$Meta Platforms (META.US)$ Slightly declined.

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ Rising by 1.23% and hitting a new closing high, Apple Inc.'s latest iPhone sales in China for the first three weeks before launch are 20% higher than the products in 2023, which is a positive sign for Apple's smartphones facing challenges in the world's largest smart phone market this year.

$Netflix (NFLX.US)$ Surging more than 11% and reaching a historical high, the company's performance in the third quarter and the fourth quarter performance guidance both exceeded market expectations.

$CVS Health (CVS.US)$Dropping by 5.23%, the company replaced its CEO previously and disclosed preliminary third-quarter performance that was below expectations.

China concept stocks rose across the board, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index up 3.03%, but down 7.66% for the week.$Li Auto (LI.US)$rose more than 6%,$Bilibili (BILI.US)$,$NetEase (NTES.US)$rose more than 3%.

In addition, the largest market cap leader.$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$Rising 3% to nearly $0.069 million, approaching a four-month high, with a weekly increase of around 10%. Cryptocurrency concept stocks surged across the board.$MicroStrategy (MSTR.US)$Rose more than 11%.$Coinbase (COIN.US)$rose nearly 8%.

Company news

The US federal government has begun investigating Tesla's FSD.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States publicly disclosed documents on Friday, revealing that the agency has formally launched an investigation into "fully autonomous" $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated an investigation into Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. The investigation aims to determine if Tesla's self-proclaimed 'fully automated driving system' has necessary safety measures in place to require the driver to take back control of the vehicle when the automated driving technology is unable to handle the situation. Despite the name suggesting automatic driving, Tesla also notes on its official website that FSD software requires active supervision by the driver when on the road, and this software does not give vehicles autonomous driving capabilities.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States has announced a new safety review of Boeing.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States stated on October 18 local time that it will conduct a new safety review of Boeing as part of its proactive oversight of the company. The new review will focus on risk assessment quality, resource allocation, compliance with regulatory requirements, and is expected to take three months. According to reports, the US Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General criticized the FAA's oversight of Boeing's production last week, stating that it lacked an effective system to supervise Boeing's various manufacturing facilities.

Stellantis will sell a test facility located in Arizona, USA.

European carmakers $Stellantis NV (STLA.US)$ will sell a test facility in Arizona, USA, as one of its attempts to reduce costs. Due to poor financial performance, layoffs, and overall business decisions, the company's CEO Carlos Tavares is facing increasing pressure from Wall Street, dealers, and the United Auto Workers union.

Editor/Somer