Overnight U.S. Stocks | Three major indices mixed, Bitcoin hits a new all-time high, NVIDIA briefly drops 5% after hours

Zhitong Finance learned that on Wednesday, the three major indices had mixed results, with the S&P 500 index basically flat, and Bitcoin breaking through $94,000 to set a new historical high.

[U.S. Stocks] As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 139.53 points, an increase of 0.32%, closing at 43,408.47 points; the Nasdaq fell 21.32 points, a decrease of 0.11%, closing at 18,966.14 points; the S&P 500 index rose 0.13 points, closing at 5,917.11 points. MicroStrategy (MSTR.US) rose 10%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 1.43%, with Kingsoft Cloud (KC.US) rising 42% and iQIYI (IQ.US) rising 4%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX 30 index fell 49.11 points, a decrease of 0.26%, closing at 19,012.05 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 13.64 points, a decrease of 0.17%, closing at 8,085.38 points; the French CAC 40 index fell 31.19 points, a decrease of 0.43%, closing at 7,198.45 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 20.08 points, a decrease of 0.42%, closing at 4,731.15 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index rose 0.83 points, an increase of 0.01%, closing at 11,589.23 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index fell 81.73 points, a decrease of 0.25%, closing at 33,243.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.16%, the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia fell 0.21%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea rose 0.44%.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose over 2%, trading at $94,403.54 per coin; Ethereum fell 0.82%, trading at $3,082.85 per coin.

[Gold] Spot gold rose 0.67%, trading at $2,649.60 per ounce; COMEX gold futures rose 0.81%, trading at $2,652.30 per ounce.

[Crude Oil] U.S. WTI crude oil futures prices fell on Wednesday. The market is assessing the combined impact of the escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions on crude oil supply and the increase in U.S. crude oil inventories on oil prices. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by 52 cents, a decrease of 0.75%, closing at $68.87 per barrel. This week, the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine has supported crude oil prices. Russia is a major oil producer, and the market is concerned that escalating conflicts will reduce its oil supply.

[Metals] LME copper futures closed up $2, trading at $9,090 per ton. LME aluminum futures closed flat, trading at $2,644 per ton. LME zinc futures closed up $36, trading at $2,988 per ton. LME lead futures closed up $20, trading at $2,021 per ton. LME nickel futures closed up $40, trading at $15,906 per ton. LME tin futures closed up $146, trading at $29,026 per ton. LME cobalt futures closed flat, trading at $24,300 per ton.

[Macroeconomic News]

The U.S. 20-year Treasury bond auction results were poor, with the bid-to-cover ratio for direct bidders hitting a record low. The U.S. Treasury issued $16 billion in new 20-year bonds with a winning yield of 4.680%, the highest level since April and one of the worst results for this maturity bond since its reintroduction in 2020 The pre-issue trading level at the bid deadline of 1 PM New York time was 4.650%. Long-term government bonds subsequently erased slight gains, with the 20-year yield rising by 1.4 basis points on the day, and the yield spread slightly widening. Primary dealers were allocated 22.6%, the highest since 2021; the allocation ratio for direct bidders fell to a record low of 7.9%; the allocation ratio for indirect bidders rose to 69.5%. The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.34 times, compared to an average of 2.52 times for the last six new bond auctions.

Federal Reserve Governor Cook: If productivity has improved, the U.S. is at an extremely important moment. Federal Reserve Governor Cook stated on Wednesday that if the recent high productivity can be sustained and allows the economy to grow without inflation rising, then the U.S. may be at an "extremely important" moment. Cook's research focuses on innovation, and she noted that it is difficult to raise productivity above long-term trends; if this is happening, "we could see much higher growth in economic activity without leading to inflation rising."

Federal Reserve Governor Bowman: Progress toward achieving the inflation target appears to have stalled. Federal Reserve Governor Bowman expressed unease on Wednesday about lowering interest rates while inflation remains above the 2% target, adding more color to her cautious call for further rate cuts. "We are recalibrating policy, but we have not yet achieved the inflation target, which concerns me," she said. Bowman indicated that due to the still high inflation rate, progress toward the Fed's 2% target appears to have stalled, "I tend to be cautious about lowering the policy rate to better assess how far we are from the finish line, while recognizing that we have not yet achieved the inflation target and closely monitoring the evolution of the labor market." She believes that the neutral policy rate is much higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Fed is not constrained in lowering rates again as the market currently expects. She also stated that the greater risk facing the Fed is the price stability target, although a deterioration in labor conditions is also possible.

The busiest ports in the U.S. continue to see a surge in imports, as tariff threats prompt businesses to import quickly. The busiest maritime trade center in the U.S. saw import volumes in October continue to approach record highs, as businesses rushed to import goods before potential tariff increases and to avoid operational disruptions related to labor at alternative ports like those on the East Coast. In October, the Port of Los Angeles imported 462,740 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). According to port data, the port also handled 122,716 export containers and 319,570 empty containers in October. The nearby Port of Long Beach handled nearly 1 million import and export containers and empty containers in October, breaking the record set two months ago.

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventory is at its highest since the week of November 18, 2022. As of the week ending November 15, the EIA Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventory in the U.S. was at its highest since the week of November 18, 2022. The EIA gasoline inventory increase for the week ending November 15 was the largest since the week of September 6, 2024. The increase in the EIA Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventory for the week ending November 15 was the largest since the week of August 30, 2024, marking the 49th consecutive week of increases As of the week ending November 15, the commercial crude oil inventory in the United States, excluding strategic reserves, is at its highest level since the week of August 9, 2024.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Ramsden: Will consider faster rate cuts if uncertainty is removed. Bank of England Deputy Governor Ramsden stated that if the uncertainty surrounding the UK economy is removed in the coming months, he would consider voting in favor of faster rate cuts. Official data released earlier on Wednesday showed that UK inflation growth exceeded expectations and was above the 2% target. However, Ramsden indicated that he expects the economy to "continue to normalize" and move towards "low and relatively stable inflation."

【Individual Stock News】

"Top Student" NVIDIA (NVDA.US) Earnings Report: Exceeded expectations but could not meet everyone's expectations. NVIDIA's sales surged in the most recent quarter, with profits nearly doubling, indicating a strong AI boom that has made the company the most valuable in the world. The earnings report showed that its third-quarter revenue was $35.1 billion, a 17% quarter-over-quarter increase, surpassing FactSet's analyst survey predictions. Profits reached $19.3 billion, also exceeding Wall Street's expectations. Additionally, the company expects fourth-quarter revenue to be around $37.5 billion, which also exceeds expectations, indicating that NVIDIA's next-generation AI chips are expected to be launched in large quantities next year, driven by high demand from clients such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Musk's xAI. However, NVIDIA's stock price fell by as much as 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings report, as its performance did not meet the expectations of some investors after several quarters of soaring revenue and profits.

Tesla (TSLA.US) Chairman sells $35 million in stock, cashing out as the stock price soars. In November, Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm sold over $35 million in stock, coinciding with a surge in the stock price following the U.S. elections. Regulatory filings show that Denholm exercised 112,390 stock options set to expire next year and sold the shares on November 15. She had pre-arranged these transactions in July through a trading plan that allows U.S. company insiders to sell stock. After considering the exercise cost, Denholm netted approximately $32.5 million from this stock sale.

NIO (NIO.US) names its third brand "firefly," with the first model set to be delivered in the first half of 2025. NIO has officially named its third brand "firefly" and announced that the first product will share the same name. The firefly brand is positioned in the high-end small car market and will further enrich NIO's product portfolio, contributing to sales through existing sales channels. The positioning of firefly within NIO is comparable to BMW Group's MINI brand. Leveraging NIO's decade-long experience in the high-end pure electric market, firefly will usher in the intelligent electric era for global high-end small cars in terms of design, safety, space, intelligence, and energy replenishment efficiency. The firefly brand will be officially launched on December 21 during NIO Day 2024, with the first model set to be delivered in the first half of 2025