Breakfast | U.S. Stock Market Celebration! Dow Jones, S&P Hit New Highs, Tesla Soars 7%

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in four years by a significant 50 basis points, benefiting risk assets and driving European and American stock markets higher on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through the 42,000-point mark for the first time, rising by 1.26%, while the S&P 500 Index also increased by 1.7%, reaching a historical high.

The Nasdaq surged nearly 3%, with the "Big Seven Tech Sisters" collectively rising. Tesla closed up by 7.36%, Nvidia by 3.97%, Meta by 3.93% to a new high. Apple rose by 3.71%, Amazon by 1.85%, Microsoft by 1.83%, and Google Class A by 1.46%.

Chinese concept stocks rose across the board, with the Chinese concept index up by over 4%, including Nio up by over 7% and Alibaba up by 4.8%. Commodities rose across the board, with geopolitical tensions intensifying, pushing spot gold up by about 1.1% to near historic highs, and US oil rising by nearly 1.5%, erasing losses from earlier in the year.

In the week ending September 14th, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States dropped sharply to a four-month low of 219,000, indicating that the labor market remains healthy. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for September unexpectedly rose to a positive 1.7, higher than the expected -1.0 and the previous -7.0. Employment and prices paid both rose significantly, with the employment rate jumping from -5.7 to 10.7 and the prices paid inflation index rising to 34.0 from the previous 24.0.

Meta surges nearly 4%, hitting a new high, the only "Big Seven Sister" to do so

Meta's stock price has been hitting new highs recently. The Meta Connect 2024 conference will be held from September 25th to 26th, where Mark Zuckerberg will share Meta's vision for artificial intelligence and the metaverse. The keynote speech will focus on the release of Meta's next-generation products, especially the highly anticipated Meta Quest 3S and a mature prototype of AR glasses. The Meta Quest 3S is a more affordable virtual reality headset compared to the Quest 3, expected to be equipped with Meta's latest developed large model Llama 3.1.

Tesla soars by 7.3%, bringing new expectations with Robotaxi

With only about three weeks left until the "Tesla Robotaxi Unveiling Ceremony" in Los Angeles, investors and Wall Street analysis teams are eagerly anticipating this Tesla event. Some short sellers have turned bullish due to the potential of Robotaxi, hoping that this heavyweight unveiling ceremony will drive a significant rebound in Tesla's stock price. Morgan Stanley, known as the "super bull of Tesla," is clearly looking forward to the new things and ideas that Tesla plans to bring to this event. Musk has repeatedly stated that this Tesla Robotaxi unveiling event will not only showcase brand-new physical autonomous taxis but also "some other novel things."

However, UBS expressed skepticism on Thursday: Tesla's upcoming unmanned taxi is unlikely to be deployed on a large scale "in the coming years" due to potential regulatory and other obstacles

Apple faces EU warning, demands opening iPhone operating system, but stock price rises for 3 consecutive days

Apple has been warned by the EU that if it refuses to open the iOS system, it may face hefty fines. The company must comply with the new regulations within six months, or face a penalty of 10% of its annual revenue. The EU hopes that this move will force Apple to redesign its closed ecosystem, allowing competitors to access the operating system of iPhone and iPad.

Amazon strengthens e-commerce AI, launches third-party seller assistant Amelia

Amazon launched the beta version of Amelia in the US on Thursday, which will expand to other countries later this year. The assistant can help sellers quickly understand sales and inventory data, provide key metrics and year-over-year comparisons. Amazon also introduced a video AI video generator, Video Generator, exclusively for advertisers, which can convert a single product image into a video display of that product.

After-hours plunge of over 11%! FedEx stumbles at the start of the fiscal year, profit plunges by over 20%, lowers full-year guidance

Considered an economic barometer, US express delivery giant FedEx stumbled at the start of the new fiscal year, with first-quarter revenue declining instead of increasing, and EPS falling more than four times the analysts' expectations. The EPS guidance range for this fiscal year has been lowered by up to 6.7% from previous expectations, and the revenue guidance year-over-year growth rate has been reduced from mid to low single digits to low single digits. The company announced a new $1.5 billion share repurchase plan for the fiscal year. Executives stated that the adjusted guidance reflects the impact of cost-cutting measures, which help offset the trend of softer-than-expected demand.

US house prices hit new high, real estate ETFs like ITB hit new high

US existing home sales hit a new low since October last year, with prices hitting a new high and inventory continuing to rise. The annualized total of existing home sales in August in the US was 3.86 million, below the expected 3.9 million and the previous value of 3.95 million. The median price of existing homes in August rose by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, reaching $416,700, a record high. Existing home inventory in August increased for the eighth consecutive month, hitting the highest level since October 2020, although still lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Nio rises over 7%, sub-brand LeDao unveils its first new car L60

Nio has created its own Model Y. On September 19, the launch of LeDao's first new car, L60, is already in the countdown. L60 is the "ultimate product" that the team has been polishing for over 3 years, and before its debut, it is determined to disrupt the Model Y