The US March CPI is about to be announced, European stocks are generally up, US stock futures are flat, while gold and crude oil continue to rise

On Wednesday, April 10th, on the eve of the heavyweight U.S. CPI inflation announcement, European and American stock markets rose across the board, with little change in the bond market. Gold and crude oil continued to rise, while the Japanese yen fell against the U.S. dollar again, approaching the 152 alert line where the Japanese Ministry of Finance may intervene.

Wall Street consensus expectations show that the market expects a 0.3% month-on-month increase and a 3.4% year-on-year increase in U.S. CPI in March. If CPI inflation stubbornly exceeds expectations, it may lead the market to rule out the possibility of a rate cut in June, causing a sharp rise in the U.S. dollar and U.S. bond yields.

The CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows that before the data is released, traders estimate the probability of a rate cut at the June meeting to be around 60%, higher than Monday's 51%. In addition, the market will also focus on the European Central Bank's interest rate meeting on Thursday to look for clues about the timing of a rate cut.

Pre-market trading: Only NVIDIA among the seven sisters of U.S. stocks fell, Chinese stocks generally rose, Alibaba rose more than 3%

Pre-market U.S. stock index futures all rose, but the gains were limited. Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 0.17%, Dow futures rose by 0.11%, and S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.12%.

The seven sisters saw all except NVIDIA rise by less than 1%, with the rest rising by less than 1%. Among other star tech stocks, TSMC rose by more than 1%, AMD fell slightly, and Intel rose slightly.

In terms of news, TSMC previously announced revenue of NT$195.21 billion in March, a strong increase of 34% year-on-year.

Chinese stocks rose in pre-market trading, with Alibaba rising by more than 3%, Pinduoduo rising by nearly 3%, Baidu rising by more than 1%, XPeng rising by more than 2%, Bilibili and Beike rising by nearly 2%.

In terms of news, Alibaba's founder Jack Ma published a post titled "To Reform, To Innovate" on Alibaba's internal network today, affirming the changes made by the new management team composed of Joseph Tsai and Eddie Wu, stating that Alibaba has returned to a healthy growth track and supporting continued reform. It is reported that this is the first time in five years since Jack Ma's retirement that he has shared his thoughts on company reform, innovation, and future prospects in a long post.

In the letter, Jack Ma pointed out:

"A three to five-year time span is like a century in the Internet field, enough to bring about earth-shaking changes. The AI era has just arrived, everything is just beginning, and we are right on time!"

European stocks rise across the board,

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose by more than 0.6%, with the technology sector rising by more than 1.1%.

Major stock indices in various countries rose, with the UK's FTSE 100 index rising by more than 0.5%. The Middle East crisis pushing up oil prices led to a 1% rise in the oil and natural gas sector. Among individual stocks, the country's largest retailer Tesco climbed by 1%, with the company predicting further profit growth in the new fiscal year due to strong demand and an increase in new customers European stocks mostly rose, with LVMH Group up nearly 1% and Novo Nordisk slightly down.

No major changes in the main bond market.

Ahead of the CPI announcement, the bond market saw little volatility. The benchmark US Treasury yield remained flat, the 10-year UK bond rose slightly by 1 basis point, and the 10-year German bond fell by 1 basis point.

The yen continues to weaken, approaching the 152 alert line.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated today that there will be no adjustment to monetary policy to address the weakness in the foreign exchange market. The yen continued to hover near a 34-year low, falling to 151.86 yen per US dollar before the CPI announcement, approaching the 152 alert line where the Japanese Ministry of Finance may intervene.

If US inflation stubbornly exceeds expectations, supporting a stronger US dollar, the yen may continue to be under pressure.

The euro held steady against the US dollar near 1.08, with little fluctuation. The euro fell by nearly 0.01% against the British pound, trading at 1 euro to 0.855 pounds.

Oil prices surged to $90 per barrel, while gold prices continued to rise.

Brent crude oil fluctuated near the $90 mark, rising 0.13% intraday to $89.45 per barrel.

On the news front, there is a recent escalation in the Middle East crisis, with concerns in the market that if Iran becomes involved in the Israel-Palestine conflict, oil supply may be affected.

Strong central bank buying and safe-haven demand have driven gold prices higher, with spot gold rising by 0.44% intraday to $2354 per ounce