29 Feb - Market Highlights 💡💡💡

US stocks flounder ahead of inflation data; Hong Kong scraps stamp duty to aid property market.

🇺🇸 S&P 500: -0.16% 📉

🇺🇸 Nasdaq: -0.55% 📉

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600 Index: -0.35% 📉

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: -0.03% 📉

🇭🇰 Hang Seng: -1.51%📉

🇨🇳 CSI 300: -1.27% 📉

• Wall Street edged lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ending -0.2% and -0.5% lower, while upcoming PCE data could lead the Fed to lower its rate cut expectations.

• The U.S. economy grew 3.2% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2023, supported by strong consumer spending, which was revised upwards (3%), along with strong government spending (4.2%), taking into account full-year 2023. The U.S. economy grew by 2.5%, compared with 1.9% in 2022.

• Eurozone consumer confidence rose 0.6 percentage points to -15.5 in February 2024, as consumers became less negative about their households' past financial situation and intentions to make large purchases.

• Asia-Pacific stock markets closed lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's CSI 300 Index falling -1.5% and -1.3% respectively, as Country Garden received a liquidation application from creditors and the market came under selling pressure due to profit-taking activities. .

💡 Things you need to know today: 💡

1. Hong Kong is removing all stamp duty on residential property transactions, aiming to lay the groundwork for a prolonged downturn in the property market, which has seen residential property prices fall to seven-year lows.

2. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Wednesday that the Fed should "take time" to evaluate the data before making any policy changes to ensure it achieves the central bank's mission of maximum employment and price stability.

3. Beyond Meat shares soared 30.72% as the plant-based meat maker bet on "price increases and deep cost cutting" to reverse its battered profit margins, causing its heavily shorted stock to get squeezed.

4. Bitcoin prices hit $60,000 for the first time in more than two years on Wednesday as a flood of money poured into new U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, pushing gains for the month to 42%, on track for the biggest since December 2020 Single month increase. This is definitely creating a bullish sentiment for all the crypto related stocks as the trading frequency and volume will surge significantly, this increasing these companies revenues and profits $Coinbase Global, Inc.(COIN)$  $Marathon Digital Holdings Inc(MARA)$  $Riot Blockchain, Inc.(RIOT)$  $Block(SQ)$ for example.

✅ Key Points:

Now that these earnings catalysts are behind us, market prices may see some weakness as investors have to get a handle on the trajectory of inflation and the Fed's response, both in terms of rhetoric and higher and longer-term policy.

@TigerStars  @CaptainTiger @MillionaireTiger