U.S. stocks surged and then fell back, with the Dow breaking below the 40,000 mark and turning lower. GameStop plummeted by double digits for two consecutive days, while Alibaba surged 7% against the market trend. Strong performers JD.com and Baidu fluctuated before closing higher

The data released on Thursday reflects that the growth of the US economy is stabilizing or gradually cooling down: the month-on-month industrial output in April remained flat, with the growth rate for March revised down to 0.1%; the number of initial jobless claims decreased by 10,000 to 222,000 last week, still higher than the economists' expected 220,000, and the four-week average of claims hit a new high since November last year; the annualized number of new housing starts in April increased by 5.7% month-on-month to 1.36 million, still below the expected 1.42 million, with the March number revised down to 1.29 million; the leading indicator of construction permits, the number of permits issued for building construction in April, decreased by 3% month-on-month to 1.44 million, hitting a new low since the end of 2022, lower than the expected 1.48 million, with the March number revised up to nearly 1.49 million.

Some analysts commented that the data on Thursday is consistent with the overall theme of the week, lacking drama, showing the economy stabilizing to cooling down, and not prompting the Federal Reserve to return to a too hawkish stance. After the release of data such as unemployment, the overall prices of US Treasuries, which had jumped after the cooling of April CPI inflation was announced, fell back, with yields accelerating their rise. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury, which had earlier hit a low since early April, turned higher; the US dollar index accelerated its rebound, moving away from the lows seen over a month since the announcement of March CPI.

The day after the CPI was announced, the gains in the US stock market subsided, with the three major indices turning slightly lower during the trading session. The Dow, which had for the first time risen above the 40,000 mark during trading, failed to join the S&P and Nasdaq in setting new closing highs. Some analysts said that after hitting historical highs this week, US stock indices may need a brief "breather" before further gains.

Meta, which is under investigation by the EU under the Digital Services Act, led the decline among tech giants; chip stocks fell, with Nvidia posting its first weekly decline this week; retail investor favorites, led by GameStop, saw double-digit declines for the second consecutive day, continuing to give back the gains from the first two days of the week. After reporting better-than-expected first-quarter revenue growth of 6% driven by high-end customer spending and US e-commerce business, Walmart rose more than 7% during trading, leading the Dow higher.

Chinese concept stocks rose against the market trend, with Alibaba rising more than 7% during trading after being favored to rise more than 20% by the former "air force" pioneer Citron Research, erasing the decline after the financial report released on Tuesday. The performance of Chinese concept stocks that released financial reports on Thursday varied: after Michael Burry, the prototype of the main character in the movie "The Big Short," disclosed a significant 80% increase in holdings in the first quarter, JD.com, whose first-quarter net profit exceeded expectations by 14%, rose nearly 3% at the opening After more than one reversal; Baidu, whose first-quarter net profit exceeded expectations by 22% and iQIYI, whose first-quarter revenue was higher than expected but still decreased by 4.8% year-on-year, opened low and rose high, erasing initial declines of over 5% and about 10%.

In the foreign exchange market, as the US dollar index rebounded, non-US currencies fell, with the yen and offshore RMB, which had hit new highs for over a week, both falling during the day. Bitcoin, which broke through the $66,000 mark for the first time in three weeks, also reversed its gains and fell, dropping by over $2,000 at one point.

In the commodity market, under the pressure of the rebounding US dollar, gold, which surged on the day CPI was announced, fell, bidding farewell to the high closing levels of over three weeks; most London base metals continued to rise, with London copper hitting a two-year high, while New York copper futures failed to withstand the pressure from the US dollar and turned lower, halting the momentum of hitting two-year highs this week. The US CPI data released on Wednesday reinforced expectations of interest rate cuts, while the EIA crude oil inventory data released the same day showed a larger-than-expected decline, releasing positive supply-side news. Thursday's jobless data indicated a stabilization in the labor market, and international crude oil, which V-shaped reversed on Wednesday, continued to rebound, moving away from the low closing levels of the past nine weeks, with US oil closing at a high level for the past week.

Three major US stock indices hit record intraday highs before closing lower, chip stocks halt four-day rally, Walmart surges after earnings report, Chinese concept stocks hit eight-month high

The three major US stock indices opened with mixed performance, shaking and turning higher in the morning before collectively hitting record intraday highs for the second consecutive day, then falling in the afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which opened slightly higher, initially turned lower and fell by over 28 points, but turned higher less than half an hour after opening, rising over 140 points and nearly 0.4% during the day, surpassing 40,000 points in the morning and falling over 30 points in the afternoon. The S&P 500, which opened slightly higher, briefly turned lower in the morning, then rose by over 0.3%, before turning lower again in the afternoon, ending down by over 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which opened slightly lower, fell by less than 0.1% in the morning before quickly turning higher, also rising by over 0.3% in the morning, and falling by about 0.3% in the afternoon.

In the end, the three major stock indices, which had collectively risen for three consecutive days, all closed lower. The S&P fell by 0.21% to 5297.1 points. The Nasdaq fell by 0.26% to 16698.31 points. The Dow fell by 38.62 points, or about 0.1%, to 39869.38 points.

The Dow hit a historical intraday high above 40,000 points on Thursday, then fell in the afternoon

The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index fell in the afternoon, closing down by 0.21%, falling from the record high set on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Technology Market Cap Weighted Index (NDXTMC), which measures the performance of technology sector components in the Nasdaq 100 Index, also fell in the afternoon, closing down by 0.21% after hitting new closing highs for two consecutive days, ending the four-day rally seen in the Nasdaq, Nasdaq 100, and Nasdaq 100. The Russell 2000, which is dominated by value stocks, fell by 0.63%, underperforming the broader market, falling after a three-day rally to a high since March 28 Among the Dow Jones components, Walmart, which announced its financial report, rose more than 7.3% in early trading and closed up 7%. Boeing and 3M rose over 3% at the close, while Cisco, whose third-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, fell 2.7%, leading the decline, with Caterpillar falling 2.6%. In the various sectors of the S&P 500, by the close, only the essential consumer goods sector where Walmart is located rose nearly 1.5% and closed up, while the non-essential consumer goods sector where Amazon is located fell nearly 0.8%, leading the decline, with materials falling over 0.7% and the communication services sector where Google is located slightly down.

Including Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Google's parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Tesla, the tech giants "Seven Sisters" had mixed performances. Only Alphabet did not fall throughout the day, with Meta leading the decline. Tesla, which fell 2% on Wednesday, fell nearly 1.5% at the opening, turned higher in early trading, closed up 0.5%, and did not continue to fall from the closing high since May 6th.

Among the FAANMG six major tech stocks, Alphabet rose 1.4% in early trading, closed up 0.9%, rising for four consecutive days and refreshing the closing record high for two days; Apple rose over 0.7% in early trading, turned lower in the final trading session, closed up less than 0.1%, rising for four consecutive days and refreshing the closing high since January 29th; Microsoft, which rose for two consecutive days to the high since April 11th, turned higher in early trading and then lower in the afternoon, closing down 0.5%; Amazon also turned lower in the afternoon, closing down 1.3%, falling for two consecutive days to the low since May 1st; Meta, which rose for two consecutive days to the high since April 24th, closed down 1.7%; Netflix turned lower towards the end of the morning session, closed down 0.5%, continuing to move away from the high since the rebound on April 16th.

Chip stocks turned lower or gave back some gains in the afternoon. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX closed down nearly 0.6% and about 0.5%, respectively, falling from the closing high since the four-day rise on March 7th. Among chip stocks, Nvidia rose nearly 1.3% in early trading, closed down 0.3%, ending the four-day rise, failing to continue to refresh the closing high since March 25th; at the close, TSMC's US stock, Western Digital, fell over 2%, Broadcom fell nearly 1.7%, Applied Materials fell 1.5%, while Intel rose nearly 2.5%, and AMD rose nearly 1.9%.

The retail investor group stocks that surged on Monday and Tuesday fell sharply for two consecutive days. GameStop (GME), which fell nearly 20% on Wednesday, closed down 30%; AMC Theatres (AMC), which fell 20.2% on Wednesday, closed down 15.3%; Koss (KOSS), which fell 19.2% on Wednesday, fell 13.1% in early trading and closed down 4.6%; BlackBerry (BB), which fell 6.4% on Wednesday, closed down 6.2%; Reddit (RDDT), the forum where the US stock bar benefiting from the surge of retail investor group stocks is located, fell over 4% on Wednesday and then fell nearly 5.5%; while SunPower (SPWR), which fell 29.2% on Wednesday, fell 9% in early trading and then rose, closing up 5% After rising sharply on Monday and Tuesday, a basket of retail stocks tracked by Goldman Sachs fell significantly for two consecutive days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Most AI concept stocks fell, with BigBear.ai (BBAI) dropping 7.1%, known as "Little Nvidia", Astera Labs (ALAB) selling data center interconnect chips falling 5.7%, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) which rose 15.8% on Wednesday dropping 5%, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) falling nearly 4%, Dell (DELL) which rose 11.2% on Wednesday falling nearly 2%, C3.ai (AI) falling 1.5%, Adobe (ADBE) falling 0.5%, Palantir (PLTR) falling less than 0.1%, while Oracle (ORCL) rose 0.4%.

Overall, popular Chinese concept stocks continued to rise, outperforming the broader market. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) rose slightly on Wednesday, then turned lower in the short term before maintaining an upward trend, closing up about 2.5%. After a strong rebound of 3.7% on Monday, it hit a new high since September 2023 for the second time this week. The Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ rose nearly 2.7% and 1.3% respectively. After announcing earnings, JD.com initially rose nearly 2.7% but quickly turned lower, dropping nearly 4.6% before ultimately closing up 1.9%. Baidu initially fell 5.5%, iQIYI fell 10% initially, then turned higher at midday, closing up about 1.7% and 12.2% respectively. Among the new forces in the electric vehicle sector, Li Auto, facing consumer accusations of exaggerating MEGA market demand leading to a sharp drop in stock price, fell over 3.7% at the opening, closing down 2.7%. Nio turned lower after the opening, closing down 1.1%, ZEEKR, which fell over 4% at the opening, closed down 0.5%, while XPeng, which turned higher in early trading, closed up 3.5%. Xiaomi, which fell nearly 2% at the opening, closed up nearly 0.8%. Among other individual stocks, Alibaba, which rose 7.5% at midday, closed with a gain slightly exceeding 7%, NetEase rose 5.5%, Bilibili rose nearly 2.8%, Pinduoduo rose nearly 1.5%, and Tencent, which fell over 1% at the opening, closed up 0.1%.

The two-day rising streak of bank stocks reversed. The overall banking industry index KBW Bank Index (BKX), which hit a high not seen since March 2023 for consecutive days, closed down over 0.6%; the regional bank index KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed down nearly 0.6%, and the regional bank stock ETF SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) closed down over 0.4%, all falling after hitting highs not seen since January 30.

Among the more volatile individual stocks, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed its secretive holdings for three quarters, disclosed buying nearly 26 million shares in the first quarter, and after its holdings became the ninth largest of the quarter, property and casualty insurance company Chubb (CB) rose 6.8% at the opening and closed up over 4.7% In the first quarter, AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), a satellite communication service provider, surged 68.6% after announcing an agreement with AT&T to access its satellite cellular broadband network on mobile phones, despite lower-than-expected losses. Hawkins (HWKN), a chemical product manufacturer, rose 9.3% despite lower-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter but higher-than-expected revenue. Faraday Future (FFIE) surged 134%, accumulating a 3463.7% increase throughout the week.

In European stocks, the pan-European stock index fell after rising for nine consecutive trading days. The STOXX 600 index fell from the closing historical high set over seven days. Most major European stock indices declined, with German, French, and British stocks falling from their respective closing historical highs set on Wednesday, and Spanish stocks falling after a four-day rise, while Italian stocks continued to rise for six days.

In various sectors, the automotive sector fell by over 1.2%, driven by BMW and Daimler trucks falling by 6.3% and 5.1% respectively due to ex-dividend trading. The industrial sector dropped by nearly 1.1%, with Siemens, listed in Germany, falling by nearly 6.8% after announcing a 2% decline in industrial profits for the second quarter, below expectations, and lowering guidance for its main business, marking the largest daily decline in over two years. This, combined with the decline in automotive stocks, dragged down the German stock index. The oil and gas sector fell by about 1%, with BP, the British oil giant, falling by 1.5% due to the Italian Ministry of Finance selling 2.8% of its shares, and Eni, listed in Milan, falling by 2.2%. On the other hand, the insurance sector rose by over 1.6%, with Swiss Reinsurance rising by 3.8% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter performance and news of plans to exit the digital white-label business. Among other individual stocks, Ubisoft, the French gaming giant, fell by 13.5% after disappointing first-quarter net booking guidance, leading the STOXX 600 component stocks in decline.

After economic data, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond, which hit a near six-week low during the session, rebounded. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield fell below 4.31% in the Asian session, hitting a new low since April 10 on Wednesday, and then rebounded to around 4.37% by the end of the bond market session, rising by about 3 basis points during the day, along with other maturity US Treasury yields rebounding after three consecutive days of decline.

The more interest rate-sensitive 2-year US Treasury yield fell to nearly 4.70% in the early Asian session, hitting a new low since April 5 for two consecutive days, but rebounded before the European stock market opened. After the release of economic data before the US stock market opened, it accelerated its upward trend, reaching around 4.80% at the end of the bond market session, rising by nearly 10 basis points from the daily low Intraday rise of nearly 8 basis points.

The US Dollar Index turned higher after hitting a five-week low intraday, while Bitcoin rose above $66,000 before falling more than $2,000

The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the basket of six major currencies including the euro, fell below 104.10 in the early Asian session, hitting a low since the US CPI data for March 10 was released, dropping nearly 0.3% during the day. After turning higher in the early European session, it maintained its upward momentum, accelerating after the release of US economic data. The US stock market rose above 104.60 in the early session, hitting a daily high of 104.626, rising nearly 0.3% during the day.

By the time the US stock market closed on Thursday, the US Dollar Index was above 104.50, rising nearly 0.2% intraday, ending a three-day decline. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US dollar against other ten currencies, rose by less than 0.1% intraday, rebounding after two consecutive days of decline since April 9.

Among non-US currencies, the Japanese Yen, which rebounded by 1% on Wednesday, turned lower intraday, marking the fourth day of decline in the last five trading days. The USD/JPY pair fell to 153.60 in the early Asian session, hitting a low since May 6 for two consecutive days. The pair rose to above 155.50 to 155.53 in the early session after the US stock market turned higher, rising by 0.4% during the day. The EUR/USD pair approached 1.0900 in the early Asian session, hitting a high since March 21, while the GBP/USD pair tested above 1.2700 in the early Asian session, hitting a high since April 10. Both pairs turned lower before the European stock market opened and maintained a downward trend. When the US stock market hit a daily low, the EUR/USD fell below 1.0860, and the GBP/USD fell below 1.2650.

The offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH) rose to 7.2042 against the US dollar in the early Asian session, hitting a high since May 6 for two consecutive days. After turning lower before the European stock market opened, it maintained a downward trend. In the early US stock market session, it fell to 7.2273 to hit a daily low, dropping 231 points from the daily high. At 4:59 am Beijing time on May 17, the offshore Chinese Yuan against the US dollar was quoted at 7.2227, down 48 points from the New York closing on Wednesday, rebounding after three consecutive declines on Wednesday.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $67,000 in the pre-US stock market session, hitting a new intraday high since April 24 for two consecutive days. After the release of US economic data, it continued to fall, with the US stock market falling below $64,800 at midday, some platforms dropping below $64,700, falling more than $2,000 from the daily high, a drop of over 3%. By the US stock market close, it was above $65,200, falling more than 1% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin rose above $66,000 during Thursday's session before briefly falling below $65,000.

Crude oil rose for two consecutive days, with US oil hitting a one-week high

International crude oil futures mostly maintained an upward trend on Thursday. When European stocks turned lower in early trading and hit a daily low, U.S. WTI crude oil fell to $78.20, Brent crude oil approached $82.30, both falling more than 0.5% intraday. During the European stock session, U.S. stocks hit a daily high in early trading, with U.S. oil rising above $79.80, up nearly 1.6% intraday, and Brent oil approaching $83.80, up more than 1.2% intraday.

In the end, crude oil closed higher for two consecutive days. The June WTI crude oil futures, which hit a new low since March 12th on Tuesday, rose by $0.60, or 0.76%, to $79.23 per barrel, hitting a high not seen since May 9th; the July Brent crude oil futures rose by $0.52, or 0.63%, to $83.27 per barrel, continuing to move away from the low set on March 12th.

U.S. gasoline and natural gas futures both rose for two consecutive days. NYMEX June gasoline futures rose by 1.64% to $2.5378 per gallon, hitting a high not seen since May 9th; NYMEX June natural gas futures rose by 3.27% to $2.495 per million British thermal units, hitting a near four-month high for two consecutive days.

London copper hits a two-year high, New York copper rises nearly 2% before falling from a two-year high, gold bids farewell to a high of over three weeks

London base metal futures mostly rose on Thursday. Leading the gains, London copper rose by about 2%, closing above $10,400 for the first time in two years, hitting a new high since April 2022 for the second consecutive day and the third day of the week, while nickel rose by over 1% for two consecutive days, continuing to hit highs not seen since late April. Tin and lead in London rose for four consecutive days, hitting new highs since late April and November last year, respectively. Zinc in London fell for two consecutive days from the high set since March last year, while aluminum in London, which rose for three consecutive days to a high in three weeks, fell back.

New York copper, which rose for five consecutive days, fell during the session. COMEX July copper futures rose to $5.02 in the Asian session, up more than 1.9% intraday, but fell nearly 1.7% during the U.S. stock session, hitting a low of $4.8415, down 0.96% to $4.877 per pound, falling from the two-year closing high set for three consecutive days and failing to approach the historical closing high set on March 4, 2022.

Gold fell during Thursday's session. In the Asian session, New York gold futures rose above $2400 to $2402.7, hitting a high not seen since April 22nd for the second consecutive day, up over 0.3% intraday. Spot gold rose to above $2397, hitting a high not seen since April 20th, up nearly 0.5% intraday, but then fell multiple times. When European stocks turned lower in pre-market trading and U.S. stocks hit a daily low in early trading, gold futures fell to $2375.2, down over 0.8% intraday, with spot gold approaching $2371 Intraday fell more than 0.6%.

By the time of the midday close of the US stock market, COMEX June gold futures, which had risen for two consecutive days, closed down 0.39% at $2385.5 per ounce, falling from the closing high since April 19 set on Wednesday. At the close of the US stock market, spot gold was above $2378, falling more than 0.3% intraday.

Spot gold in the Asian market hit a new high since late April before turning lower