Zhitong Finance learned that on Thursday, the Dow rose for the 7th consecutive trading day because all three major US stock indexes rose after the weekly data on the number of people applying for unemployment benefits brought new hope for interest rate cuts. Federal Reserve policy has been a major driver of investor sentiment in 2024. Hopes for the central bank to cut interest rates have been revived, driving the Dow to record its biggest increase since December last year. The index closed at its highest point since April 1.

[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones index closed up 331.37 points, or 0.85%, to 39387.76 points; the S&P 500 closed up 26.41 points, or 0.51%, to 5214.08 points; the Nasdaq Composite closed up 43.51 points, or 0.27%, to 16346.26 points. Roblox (RBLX.US) fell more than 22%, while Tesla (TSLA.US) and Nvidia (NVDA.US) both fell more than 1.5%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 1.64%, Zaiding Pharmaceuticals (ZLAB.US) rose 26%, Xiaopeng Motors (XPEV.US) rose more than 3%, and Alibaba (BABA.US) rose more than 1%.

[European stocks] The main indices of European stocks rose. The German DAX30 index rose more than 1%, the French CAC40 index rose 0.69%, the European Stoxx 50 index rose 0.32%, and the British FTSE 100 index rose 0.33%.

[Asia Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.34%, the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.04%, Vietnam's VN30 Index fell 0.26%, and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.53%.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose more than 2.2% to $62563.1; Ethereum rose more than 1.5% to $3020.11.

[Gold] COMEX's June gold futures closed up 0.78% to $2340.3 per ounce; spot gold was above $2,340, up more than 1.5% during the day.

[Crude oil] WTI crude oil futures for June closed up $0.27, or 0.34%, to $79.26 per barrel; Brent crude oil futures for July closed up $0.30, or 0.36%, to $83.88 per barrel

[Metals] London Metals closed higher, with nickel up more than 1%, Lunan aluminum up 0.94%, copper up 0.58%, and Lunzinc up 0.29%.

[Macro News]

The number of initial jobless claims in the US rose to the highest level since August last year. Last week, the number of initial jobless claims in the US rose to the highest level since August last year, which is consistent with signs that the labor market is gradually cooling down. According to published data, the number of initial jobless claims increased by 22,000 to 231,000 in the week ending May 4. In the week ending April 27, the number of renewed jobless claims recorded the biggest increase in a month, to about 1.79 million.

US money market fund assets rose to their highest level in four weeks. US money market fund assets have been rising for the third week in a row because the market expects short-term interest rates to continue to rise after Federal Reserve officials sent a signal that they are not in a hurry to cut interest rates. According to data from the Association of American Investment Companies, in the week ending May 8, about 31.1 billion US dollars flowed into US money market funds, and total assets increased to 6.03 trillion US dollars from 6 trillion US dollars the previous week. The asset size of government funds (mainly investing in securities such as treasury notes, repurchase agreements, and institutional debt) increased to US$4.88 trillion, an increase of US$20 billion. The asset size of funds that tend to invest in high-risk assets such as commercial paper increased to 1.03 trillion US dollars, an increase of 8.6 billion US dollars.

Interest rates on US mortgages have fallen back and have been rising for five consecutive weeks before. Interest rates on US mortgages fell for the first time after five weeks of continuous increases. Freddie Mac announced on Thursday that the average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages is 7.09%, down from 7.22% last week. Buyers usually get a breather during the busiest trading times of the year. Home loan applications increased in the week ending May 3, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data, indicating that any drop in borrowing costs could trigger an increase in demand.

Federal Reserve Daly: It will take more time for restrictive interest rates to work. Federal Reserve Daly said that interest rates are currently holding back the economy, but it may take more time to get the inflation rate back to the target. Daly said that recent data highlights why officials cannot declare victory until they are convinced that inflation is under control. “There is still considerable uncertainty about the inflation situation in the next few months and the measures we should take to deal with it.” This statement underlines the will of the Federal Reserve officials to keep interest rates stable until they are more confident that inflation will continue to slow to the 2% target. Daly said she believes there is no need for Federal Reserve officials to depress the economy to further ease inflation; if the labor market starts to deteriorate, then interest rate cuts can be considered, but “it is still too early to announce that the labor market is weak or shaky.”

US banking climate change simulation results highlight data and modelling challenges. US banks face a series of data and modelling challenges in predicting the impact of climate change on their loan books, according to an analytical report released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday. The Federal Reserve's first exploratory climate change simulation also found that US banks are using multiple methods to assess how rising temperatures and policies aimed at mitigating climate change will affect their balance sheets. Some regulatory experts believe that physical risks such as rising sea levels and fires, as well as policies to shift from a heavy carbon industry, could destroy trillions of dollars in assets and pose potentially significant risks to banks' loan books. Although the Federal Reserve did not provide an estimate of how much money banks may lose, its report highlights the challenges banks and regulators face in quantifying climate-related risks.

[Individual Stock News]

Apple (AAPL.US) will use self-developed server chips to support AI functions this year. According to well-known technology journalist Mark Gurman, Apple will provide some upcoming artificial intelligence features through data centers equipped with self-developed processors this year. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple will deploy high-end chips in cloud computing servers to handle the most advanced artificial intelligence tasks on Apple devices, while simpler artificial intelligence-related functions will be handled directly on iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. Plans to use self-developed chips and handle AI tasks in the cloud were proposed about three years ago, but the AI boom has forced them to speed up the pace. The first AI server chip will be the M2 Ultra launched last year, but Apple is already looking at future versions based on the M4 chip. The move will be part of the iOS 18 system that will be launched in the fall.

The US Securities and Exchange will investigate Boeing (BA.US)'s security statement to determine whether it misled investors. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reviewing Boeing's statement regarding its safety measures after the January 737 Max 9 hatch incident. According to three people familiar with the matter, the focus of the SEC investigation was whether the remarks made by Boeing or its executives misled investors and violated SEC regulations. An SEC review doesn't necessarily mean enforcement action, but it could result in fines if the agency finds the company or its executives making false or misleading statements. Regulators have yet to accuse the company or its managers of misconduct.

Micron (MU.US) ships key memory products for AI data centers. Micron Technology announced that it was the first in the industry to validate and ship 128GB DDR5 RDIMM memory based on a large 32GB single DRAM chip, with a speed of up to 5,600 MT/s on all major server platforms. The Micron 128GB DDR5 RDIMM memory module is on sale. It can now be purchased directly from Micron, and will be supplied to the outside world through some channel distributors and dealers from June 2024.

[Big Bank Ratings]

Barclays: Lowering Shopify's (SHOP.US) Price Target from $68 to $63