Investors awaited comments from Fed officials for clues on the next policy moves, after the previous day's mild inflation report fueled rate cut hopes and drove major indexes to fresh record highs.Options market data suggested a positive view on the S&P 500 for May, though longer-dated butterflies spreads pointed to a gradual bearish shift. Upside room kept expanding in QQQ, with expectations for a 2.2% rally priced in by late May. For small-caps, bullish flows continued in the Russell 2000, with expectations for a 1.2% rally by month-end.Details:The $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ saw open call interest rise 2.4% over the past 5 days. Open put contracts increased 5.6% over the same period.For call options, investors sold the most

U.S. stocks rose again Thursday as oil prices extended gains and the dollar tumbled after producer prices showed inflation continued to fall in June. The Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos, who is known as the Fed's mouthpiece, wrote that the US consumer price index (CPI) rose in June at a 26-month low, which increases the probability that the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates after an expected interest rate hike this month, that is, July may be the last interest rate hike this year.It is worth noting that the Fed's "eagle King" and St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Bullard announced that he would resign on August 14 and then go to Purdue University.John Flood, a partner at Goldman Sachs, thinks the S&P could end the year at a new high. Flood said in a not

Market highlights:International rating authority Moody's downgraded the credit rating of 10 small and medium-sized banks in the United States, Italy announced a 40% windfall tax on the banking sector, and the main US stock index fell on Tuesday (8).Markets continue to watch data and comments from Fed officials. Bank of America last week dropped its forecast of a recession in 2023, citing solid economic growth and near-record low unemployment. However, Bank of America warned that receding recession fears could eventually put high interest rates back at the top of investors' concerns.Lori Calvasina, a strategist at RBC Capital Markets, believes that as the summer draws to a close, the rally in U.S. stocks could be hampered by three major factors, including weaker corporate earnings, a poor o

The latest U.S. data releases showed April CPI and retail sales cooled, with the CPI report prompting markets to price in a faster pace of Fed rate cuts this year.Options market data suggested a continued positive outlook for the S&P 500, though longer-dated put buying remained. Upside room kept expanding in QQQ, with expectations for a rally over 1.3% priced in by May 20 expiration. For small-caps, bullish flows continued in the Russell 2000, with expectations for the index to hold above 210 through June 21.Details:The $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ saw open call interest rise 0.9% over the past 5 days. Open put contracts increased 1.7% over the same period.For call options, investors sold the most

The Fed's preferred measure of core inflation has slowed below 3 percent, and corporate earnings have been mixed. Intel shares plunged nearly 12 percent after the company's first-quarter outlook fell well short of Wall Street expectations, undermining AI-driven hopes to some extent and weighing on tech stocks, putting AMD and Nvidia under pressure.The solid growth in the U.S. economy comes amid continued signs of slowing inflation. The December personal consumption expenditure (PCE) report showed that the annual inflation rate fell below 3%, the first time in nearly three years that it was below economists' expectations, and the growth rate was the lowest since March 2021.This follows U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, and the soft l

A larger-than-expected slowdown in inflation bolstered bets that the Fed would cut interest rates as early as March, but Nike's sharp drop in its full-year outlook weighed on sentiment and the three major U.S. indexes ended the eighth straight week with gains, the first for the S&P since 2017 and the first for the Dow since 2019.The latest data showed the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index fell to 3.2 percent in November, the lowest since April 2021 and below market expectations. In addition, the PCE price index rose 2.6 percent year-on-year in November, below market expectations of 2.8 percent.Meanwhile, U.S. durable goods orders rose 5.4 percent in November, the largest increase since December 2022. Signs that inflation is accelerating and slowing have bolstered

Markets focus on the Fed's latest interest rate decision. Tech companies such as Meta and Qualcomm will report quarterly earnings. The Federal Reserve will announce the resolution at 2 o 'clock on Thursday, 30 minutes after the press conference, the market is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, so that the interest rate reached a 22-year high, which represents the benchmark interest rate will reach 5.25-5.50%, is the Fed since the beginning of 2022 so far the 11th rate increase, and Chairman Bauer's press conference will be the focus of observation.Microsoft reported lackluster fourth-quarter sales growth after the bell on Tuesday, due to slowing demand for cloud computing, and its revenue outlook for the current quarter fell short of market expectations, sending it

As markets digested another batch of strong economic data and earnings, the $Semiconductor Index ETF-HOLDRs(SMH)$Semiconductor ETF rose more than 3% to a new all-time high. Apple led the technology sector higher, while Taiwan Semiconductor Semiconductor Co surged nearly 10 percent after its earnings report, boosting semiconductor shares, but Humana warned that healthcare costs would hit its outlook for the year, triggering a broad decline in health insurance stocks.New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to their lowest level since September 2022 as a new round of jobs data pointed to persistent labor market tightness, suggesting job growth likely remained solid in January.In order to avoid a repeat of the "liquidity" crisis, the Fed

Nvidia surged more than 7 percent and technology stocks surged, leading U.S. stocks to break out of a two-week slump. However, Tesla cut prices and electric vehicles were generally weak. AMC shares plunged 35% after a preferred stock conversion plan was approved.As earnings season comes to a close, the focus turns to retail earnings this week, including Home Depot on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Walmart on Thursday.Minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting to be released on Wednesday will also be closely watched as investors look for more clues on the outlook for monetary policy and see whether most officials are sounding hawk or dove. Goldman expects the Fed to hold off on raising rates at its regular September meeting and then announce in November that inflation is slowing, meaning fu

A number of banks kicked off the earnings season with better-than-expected results, but investors had to contend with volatility amid rising geopolitical tensions. For the week, the Dow rose 0.8 percent, snapping a three-week losing streak, while the S&P gained 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.2 percent.International oil prices rose more than 6% on fears that a war between Israel and Hamas could exacerbate geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, said after a strong second quarter, investors need to see at least the same level of results in the third quarter, and as the quarter's tech giants report, other market participants can be expected to follow the leaders. "The probability of a decline in tech earnings this quarter is p

The Dow rose 100 points Wednesday, its eighth straight day of gains, its longest winning streak in nearly four years. Apple closed above $195 a share on rumors of a ChatGPt-like service (Apple GPT), pushing the stock to a new all-time high.Goldman Sachs rose 1 percent as the bank was optimistic about a recovery in its banking business despite weaker-than-expected earnings. Western Alliance's earnings report showed signs of deposit stability, boosting confidence in regional bank stocks.Netflix reported mixed results in the second quarter, but subscriber numbers beat market expectations. Tesla posted record revenue in the second quarter, but its gross margin missed expectations.The Federal Reserve meets on July 25 and July 26, and a Reuters poll of 106 economists showed most believe the July

The government shutdown crisis was temporarily resolved, and the 10-year U.S. bond rate rose to its highest since 2007, Apple rose about 1.5 percent, and TSMC rose nearly 1 percent. The focus will be on Friday's non-farm payrolls data, with Wall Street estimating a gain of 163,000 jobs, down from 187,000 in August.Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the U.S. economy is still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, labor shortages in the health care sector, continued difficulties in child care services, and a deepening health crisis. Powell did not comment on current monetary policy or the economic outlook.The government shutdown crisis temporarily stopped the bleeding, the US Congress finally reached a consensus before the deadline, with 335 votes to 91 votes, through the short-term sp

The Federal Reserve released a signal that it will again "pause interest rate hike" next month, and as the war between Israel and Hamas continued, safe-haven buying increased, restraining the rise in U.S. bond interest rates, U.S. stocks continued to close higher on Tuesday (10). PepsiCo (PEP) earnings and forecasts boosted consumer goods stocks. The 2-year Treasury yield fell 7 basis points to 4.99 percent, while the 10-year yield fell 12 basis points to 4.66 percent.Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Tuesday said the central bank is committed to its mandate of bringing inflation down to its 2% target, without taking a clear stance on monetary policy or the state of the economy.Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said on Monday that the recent spike in U.S. bond rates could mean there is les

The United States in August unseasonally adjusted CPI annual rate of 3.7%, a new high since May this year, has risen for the second time in a row; The United States in August unseasonally adjusted core CPI annual rate of 4.3%, the lowest since September 2021, has declined for six consecutive months; The United States in August seasonally adjusted CPI rate recorded 0.6%, the highest since June 2022.Yesterday Oracle fell by more than 13% due to the cold earnings report, Apple's share price fell after the autumn speech, and the three major indexes of the US stock market closed down on Monday (11).Before the end of the Apple options big order conference, it was mainly bullish, and after the end of the conference at 2 o 'clock, it was mainly bearish:buy

The surprisingly cooler U.S. April jobs report stoked hopes for an earlier start to Fed rate cuts, sending the VIX fear gauge to a one-month low and pushing Treasury yields lower. Apple rallied nearly 6%, leading tech stocks higher.Options market data suggested expectations for reduced volatility in the S&P 500 near-term, with a sideways bias this week and potential for the index to finish Friday below 509. QQQ saw continued buying of longer-dated downside protection. For small-caps, Russell 2000 options positioned for a range-bound move, with expectations for the index to trade between 194-210 into June.Details:The $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ options overall reflected a bullish trading sentiment, with sellers of put options dominating. O

Friday was "Four Dark Days", when a large number of derivatives contracts linked to stocks, index options and futures expired, forcing traders to roll over existing positions en masse or start new ones. This time, the four Witch days coincided with a rebalancing of benchmarks such as the S&P 500, which was another catalyst for more stock trading.SoftBank's chip design company Arm went to the United States to welcome the honeymoon market on the first day of listing, the market value exceeded 65 billion US dollars, the largest IPO in the United States this year, but also wake up the long-dormant US IPO market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 300 points on Thursday (14th), its strongest one-day performance since early August, and its third consecutive day of gains.On the d

The market is watching Fed officials talk for insight into the outlook for interest rate policy. Netflix, Tesla will report earnings after the bell.The Fed will release the latest edition of the Beige Book on the economy on Thursday (19th), assessing current economic conditions, followed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Economic Club of New York on Friday (20th), and the market is waiting with bated breath for important clues about the dynamics of interest rates in Powell's remarks.In addition to Powell, Fed officials including second-in-charge Jeffrey Jefferson, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who is a voting member this year, Dallas Fed President Richard Logan and New York Fed President John Williams will also speak, along with Fed governors Tim Cook and Charles W

As the effects of the Fed's dovish turn last week continued to reverberate, U.S. stocks extended their rally, with the S&P 500 now only about 0.7 percent away from a new closing high and about 1.2 percent away from matching the intraday record set in January 2022.Pharmacy chain $Walgreens Boots Alliance(WBA)$ was the best-performing component of the Dow Jones average, rising 4.20 percent. Solar stocks $Enphase Energy(ENPH)$ and $First Solar(FSLR)$ were the best performers in the S&P 500, rising 9.10 percent and 4.05 percent, respectively. Energy stocks also outperformed the broader market, with the S&P 500 energy sector up 1.22 percent.On the economic