Market Highlights 💡 - 16 May 2024

* Wall Street welcomes signs of cooling of inflation, but remains elevated, Fed remains vigilant

🇺🇸 S&P 500: 1.19% 📈

🇺🇸 Nasdaq: 1.42% 📈

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600: 0.61% 📈

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: 0.08% 📈

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: Market closed

🇨🇳 CSI 300 Index: -0.77% 📉

* U.S. stocks cheered, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rising 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively, as inflation data rose less than expected, calming sentiment and boosting hopes of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

* The U.S. CPI rose less than expected in April, up 0.3% month-on-month and 3.4% year-on-year. The growth rate was lower than expected. This is a positive development for cooling down after three consecutive months of higher-than-expected data. This also fueled market expectations for the Federal Reserve this year. A bet on easing policy.

* U.S. retail sales fell short of expectations and were flat in April as higher gasoline prices pulled down spending on other goods, a sign that consumer spending may be losing steam.

* Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed, with China's CSI 300 inching down -0.9% amid caution as markets digest U.S. President Biden's imposition of import tariffs on Chinese goods ranging from electric cars and chips to medical supplies Impact. The Nikkei gained 0.1% as investors braced for much-anticipated inflation in the United States.

* The People's Bank of China kept the medium-term lending facility (MLF) interest rate at 2.5%, in line with market expectations, which shows that the central bank is focused on maintaining monetary stability, so even if credit unexpectedly shrinks in April, it is justified to take more policy stimulus measures to support economy.

💡Future events:💡

* Japan's preliminary quarterly GDP data, U.S. jobless claims and monthly industrial production were on investors' radar on Thursday.

* At the end of the week, we will see the release of China's annual industrial production and unemployment rate, and the EU's final CPI annual rate.

💡 Things you need to know today: 💡

1. The U.S. approves the bill to restrict business dealings with Chinese biotech companies (BGI Group $Bgi Genomics Co.,Ltd.(300676)$  , MGI $Mgi Tech Co., Ltd.(688114)$  , Complete Genomics , Wuxi AppTec $WUXI APPTEC(02359)$  , and Wuxi Biotech $WUXI BIO(02269)$ ) and their customers, and establish an interagency process to identify more company, calling it a necessary step to protect sensitive U.S. medical data from China.

Chinese Biotech Companies

2. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unveiled its $6.7 billion stake in insurer $Chubb(CB)$  Chubb Ltd., ending months of to raise suspense over its mysterious holdings in financial companies, which had previously been concealed in regulatory filings. The company's holdings in banking, insurance and financial companies are growing while holdings in sectors such as consumer goods have declined, quarterly filings show.

CHUBB

3. Japan's three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mizuho Bank (Mizuho) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (Sumitomo Mitsui), have provided a brighter outlook as Japan normalizes interest rates, with record profits expected to reflect the Renewed optimism comes after the economy emerges from years of negative interest rates. The latter two banks expect Japan's economy to grow 10% from last year, helped by rising overseas interest rates and a weaker yen.

Japan Largest Banks

4. Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province plans to buy and rent houses at affordable prices. The process will take place from May 15 to May 24. The total floor area purchased will be capped at 10,000 square meters, which is the highest after the country. The local government's first such move comes after policymakers pledged last month to reduce inventories and boost sales.

✅ KEY TAKEAWAYS:

U.S. stocks continued to rise on optimism that stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and positive progress on inflation could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

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