Market Highlights 💡 - 19 December 2024

After the Federal Reserve's rate cut, Wall Street plummeted, signaling that the pace of easing will slow in 2025. The Chinese stock market rebounded as Beijing proposed measures to release the value of state-owned enterprises.

🇺🇸 S&P 500 Index: -2.95% 📉

🇺🇸 Nasdaq: -3.56% 📉

🇪🇺 STOXX 600 Index: 0.15% 📈

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: -0.72% 📉

🇭🇰 Hang Seng: 0.83% 📈

🇨🇳 CSI 300: 0.51% 📈

🇸🇬 Straits Times Index: -0.53% 📉

The U.S. stock market plummeted, with the S&P 500 Index $S&P 500(.SPX)$   and Nasdaq Composite Index $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$  falling by -3.0% and -3.6%, respectively, after the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points, but indicated a more cautious easing path for next year.

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 4.25%-4.50%, with its Economic Projections (SEP) showing that policymakers expect the economy to end 2025 in the range of 3.75%-4.00%, assuming a strong labor market and stagnant inflation in the short term.

The EU's final inflation rate rose from 2% in October to 2.2% in November (expected 2.3%), due to the base effect as last year's significant drop in energy prices no longer factored into the annual rate.

Japan's exports exceeded expectations in November, growing 3.8% YoY, up from 3.1% in October, mainly due to the yen's depreciation and strong demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports to Taiwan and China.

Asia-Pacific markets performed strongly, with the Hang Seng Index and CSI 300 Index rising 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively, as investors anticipated guidelines to help state-owned enterprises enhance their value and a halving of dividend service fees.

💡 Upcoming Events: 💡

The U.S. will release the Federal Reserve's rate decision, final GDP growth rate, and unemployment claims on Thursday, while the Bank of Japan will announce its rate decision on Thursday.

At the end of this week, on Friday, we will see the release of the U.S. Core PCE Price Index YoY, Japan's core inflation YoY, China's 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates.

💡 Things You Need to Know Today: 💡

1. Micron Technology $Micron Technology(MU)$  stock plummeted 15% after the chipmaker projected second-quarter revenue below expectations, while demand for DRAM, its core business, is slowly recovering, and global PC shipments continue to decline.

Micron

2. Novo Holdings $Novo-Nordisk A/S(NVO)$ completed a $16.5 billion acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent, gaining key facilities in Italy, Belgium, and the U.S. to expand production of its blockbuster weight-loss drug, Wegovy.

Novo

3. The Biden administration launched an investigation into Chinese semiconductors, aiming to reduce dependence on older, low-cost chips used in cars, phones, and weapons, claiming they pose national security risks.

Biden Administration 

4. China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission issued guidelines, including recommendations on mergers, market-oriented reforms, information disclosure, and stock buybacks, to help state-owned enterprises unlock market value.

5. CATL $Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.,Ltd.(300750)$ (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited), the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, announced plans to build 1,000 battery swapping stations by 2025, offering 100-second fast battery exchange services to attract fleet operators with high speed requirements, such as taxis and trucks.

CATL

✅ Key Points:

The Federal Reserve has made its statement, and for investors, the message is clear - it's clearly hawkish. Now, attention shifts to the Bank of Japan's policy decision, with Asian investors entering a defensive mode on Thursday.

@Daily_Discussion  @TigerStars  @Tiger_comments  @TigerGPT