① The semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom's stock price hits an all-time high; ② Popular Chinese stocks rise broadly, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 3.31%; ③ Uber Technologies and Waymo will launch Robotaxi services in Atlanta; ④ Novo-Nordisk A/S's Wegovy enters the world's third-largest market for obesity.
According to a report from Cai Lian She on June 25 (edited by Niu Zhanlin), on Tuesday Eastern time, the three major U.S. stock indexes all rose over 1% as tensions in the Middle East eased, boosting market risk appetite, while Federal Reserve Chairman Powell attended a congressional hearing, where investors sought clues about the path of interest rates.
According to a report by CCTV News, Trump previously announced that Israel and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement. However, this agreement seems extremely fragile, as both Israel and Iran accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement. Nevertheless, investors still view the ceasefire as a sign of easing tensions.
Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments, stated: "The stock market is rising strongly; the ceasefire has truly ignited a rebound for risk assets. We believe that investor bets on the easing of the Middle East situation are indeed beneficial for the stock market, although it has weighed on bonds and oil prices."
Jon Brager, a portfolio manager at Palmer Square, commented: "The key event for the market is the level of U.S. intervention and Iran's weak response; this is essentially a carefully orchestrated performance. Therefore, even if there are occasional conflicts after the ceasefire agreement, the market has already regarded such risks as past issues, and the focus may return to tariffs and fiscal policy."
On the same day, Powell reiterated his view at the hearing that inflation is expected to start rising soon, and the Federal Reserve will continue to observe the economic situation before deciding whether to lower interest rates.
This statement contrasts with Trump’s call for an immediate rate cut. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump once again harshly criticized Powell, saying, "I wish Congress could really teach this super foolish and stubborn person a lesson. We will pay the price for his incompetence for many years to come."
Currently, financial market expectations suggest that the likelihood of the Federal Reserve lowering the benchmark interest rate by the end of the July policy meeting is over 20%, and the possibility of a first rate cut in September is nearly 70%.
In terms of economic data, U.S. consumer confidence fell again in June due to the uncertainty brought by Trump's trade policy, reversing the improvement seen in May.
Consumer pessimism about the job market has dropped to its lowest level since March 2021. Additionally, the proportion of consumers expecting an economic recession in the next 12 months has slightly increased.
Market Dynamics
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 507.24 points, an increase of 1.19%, closing at 43089.02 points; the Nasdaq rose 281.56 points, an increase of 1.43%, closing at 19912.53 points; the S&P 500 Index rose 67.05 points, an increase of 1.11%, closing at 6092.22 points.
Among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 Index, Information Technology/Technology, Finance, Telecom, and Healthcare sectors closed up between 1.61% and 1.19%, while the Energy sector closed down by 1.51%.
Among the US stock sector ETFs, the Penghua Guozheng Semiconductor Chip ETF rose by 3.67%, the Global Airlines ETF increased by 3.05%, the Global Technology Stocks Index ETF went up by 2.08%, the Biotech Index ETF, Technology Sector ETF, Internet Stocks Index ETF, and Financial Sector ETF rose between 1.98% and 1.50%, the WP CSI Banks ETF climbed by 1.09%, while the Energy Sector ETF fell by 1.30%.
Performance of popular stocks
Most large technology stocks rose, with Intel up over 6%, NVIDIA, Netflix, and Amazon up over 2%, Meta up over 1%, and Microsoft and Google slightly up; Tesla fell over 2%, and Apple slightly decreased. The first stablecoin stock, Circle, fell over 15%, with a total market value dropping below $50 billion.
Defense stocks fell, with Lockheed Martin down 2.6% and RTX Corp down 2.7%; after Bitcoin reached a one-week high, the stock prices of crypto companies surged, with Coinbase and MicroStrategy rising 12.1% and 2.7% respectively.
The stock price of semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom hit an all-time high after HSBC upgraded the stock rating from hold to buy.
Popular Chinese concept stocks rose broadly, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 3.31%, marking the largest single-day increase since May 13. Pony.ai surged over 16%, New Oriental rose over 13%, Kingsoft Cloud increased by more than 7%, Qifu Technology rose more than 6%, Full Truck Alliance and PDD Holdings each rose over 5%, TAL Education and Bilibili rose over 4%.
Company news
[Uber and Waymo Expand Partnership to Launch Robotaxi Service in Atlanta]
On Tuesday local time, American online car-hailing platform Uber announced that it would expand its partnership with Waymo, officially launching a self-driving taxi (Robotaxi) service in Atlanta. Following this news, Uber's stock price surged nearly 8%, with a year-to-date increase of 52%. According to Uber, Waymo's Robotaxi service will cover a 65-square-mile area around Atlanta, including downtown, Buckhead, and the Capitol landscape area, but it will not operate on highways or go to the airport at this time. Waymo stated that it will initially deploy dozens of taxis in Atlanta and currently has over 1,500 self-driving taxis in the U.S.
[Purchasing Books to Train AI Does Not Constitute Infringement! American AI Star Company Wins Major Legal Victory]
According to a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, American AI startup Anthropic won a landmark ruling favorable to the AI industry: Judge William Alsup ruled that the digitization of legally purchased books for training AI models falls under fair use. However, the judge also stated that although there are legal purchasing avenues, the company downloaded 'millions of' pirated books through the internet, and this negligence still needs to be pursued legally.
[Novo-Nordisk's Wegovy enters the world's third-largest obese population, starting at 50 dollars a week.]
The weight loss giant Novo-Nordisk announced on Tuesday that it will launch five dosages of the semaglutide injection Wegovy in the Indian market. The company has also devised a pricing strategy that aligns with local purchasing power, introducing a "India-exclusive pricing" for the semaglutide injection. The monthly price for the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1 mg versions is set at 17,345 rupees, equivalent to 4,366 rupees per week, or about 50 dollars a week; the 1.7 mg dosage is priced at 24,280 rupees per month, while the highest 2.4 mg dosage costs 26,015 rupees per month, equivalent to 75 dollars per week.
[FedEx's adjusted operating profit for the fourth quarter reaches 2.02 billion dollars, exceeding market expectations.]
FedEx's adjusted operating profit for the fourth quarter reached 2.02 billion dollars, while analysts expected 1.91 billion dollars; due to global demand uncertainties, the company temporarily does not provide full-year profit guidance; the company anticipates an adjusted EPS of 3.4-4 dollars for the first fiscal quarter, with analysts expecting 4.03 dollars.
