Market Highlights 💡 - 9 October 2024

Wall Street closed higher, driven by buying in tech stocks; excitement in the Hong Kong market waned as China reopened without new policy measures.

🇺🇸 S&P 500: 0.97%

🇺🇸 Nasdaq: 1.45%

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600: -0.53%

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225: -1.00%

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: -9.41%

🇨🇳 CSI 300: 5.93%

🇸🇬 STI: -0.65%

The U.S. market rebounded on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 $S&P 500(.SPX)$   and Nasdaq $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$   composite rising 1.0% and 1.5% respectively, boosted by tech stocks as investors focused on upcoming inflation data and the start of the third-quarter earnings season.

The U.S. trade balance shrank to -$70.4 billion in August (with a market expectation of -$71 billion), down from -$78.9 billion, as exports surged and imports declined, contributing to a reduced trade deficit with China.

The Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed, with the Hang Seng Index falling 9.4%, while the CSI 300 rose 5.9%. This followed a briefing from China's National Development and Reform Commission that provided details on further fiscal stimulus measures to complement the monetary stimulus announced two weeks ago.

Upcoming Events:

On Wednesday, the minutes from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be released.

On Thursday, U.S. jobless claims and CPI year-on-year will attract investor attention.

By the end of the week, we will see the preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index and retail sales on Friday, along with China’s year-on-year inflation rate and exports released on Sunday.

Things to Know Today:

1. “I have increased confidence in the deflationary trajectory—but the risk of economic slowdown exceeds the degree necessary to restore price stability, and further policy adjustments may be needed.”— Susan Collins, President of the Boston Federal Reserve.

Susan Collins

2. Following a ruling that Google $Alphabet(GOOG)$  holds illegal monopoly power, the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to take action against Alphabet's Google, possibly including a breakup to restore competition in the online search sector, while Google plans to appeal, citing competition from other platforms.

Alphabet Google

3. Chinese tech giants, including ByteDance and Meituan $MEITUAN-W(03690)$ , saw a surge in consumer spending during the Golden Week holiday, driven by strong demand for gaming, dining, travel bookings, and hotel reservations. This reflects a broad rebound in consumer activity and indicates restored confidence in the recovery of the Chinese economy.

ByteDance

4. Samsung Electronics $Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.(SSNNF)$   issued a rare apology after reporting disappointing quarterly results. Despite the booming AI sector, profits and revenues did not meet expectations, and production delays of high bandwidth memory chips (HBM) allowed competitor SK Hynix $SK Hynix, Inc.(HXSCL)$   to dominate the field.

Samsung HBM

Key Point:

China's much-anticipated fiscal stimulus measures fell short of investor expectations, with spending announced at only 200 billion yuan—far below the predicted 3 trillion yuan package. The lack of substantial fiscal support has raised concerns about sustaining one of the largest stock market rallies in the country.

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