I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US dollars) Data source: Bloomberg, compiled by Tiger Brokers II. Key Market Themes i. US stocks have entered the Q2 earnings season, with Wall Street expectations on the rise. Will the market continue to buy in? As of last Friday, about 14% of the S&P 500 constituents have released their latest earnings reports, with 80% of companies beating earnings expectations, higher than the historical average. However, the magnitude of beating expectations is far lower than the historical average. Among them, the financial sector has the largest margin of beating expectations, while the energy sector is relatively weaker. The year-over-year growth in overall earnings of US stocks has increased compared to the end of June. Overall, Wall Street's earning

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices(in US Dollar) Source: Bloomberg, Tiger Brokers Key Highlights ◼ Last week, U.S. equities extended their strength under the dual boost of macro data and the AI narrative. While inflation showed resilience, it was broadly in line with expectations; employment data came in weak but not recessionary. This reinforced market confidence in a modest 25bp rate cut at this week’s FOMC meeting. A surprise 50bp cut, however, would imply a sharper-than-expected deterioration in employment, potentially triggering recession fears. At the sector level, Oracle’s earnings report reignited enthusiasm for the AI space. We believe general-purpose AI is now moving from its early stage to a critical growth phase, with hardware and infrastructure demand continuing to far ex

I. Performance and Valuation of Global Equity Indices Data Source: Bloomberg, Complied by Tiger Brokers II. Key Market Themes i. U.S. Inflation Cools Surprisingly, Market Concerns Ease Slightly, Opportunities Remain Last week, U.S. December inflation data was released, showing a slight cooling compared to previously strong economic indicators. Specifically, headline CPI rose 2.9% year-over-year, higher than the prior figure but in line with expectations. Notably, the increase was primarily driven by energy prices, which are subject to short-term volatility and lack long-term persistence. Meanwhile, core CPI increased 3.2% year-over-year, exceeding the prior figure but slightly below expectations. Core goods prices continued to cool, while core services remained resilient, particularly

I. Performance and Valuation of Global Equity Indices Data Source: Bloomberg, compiled by Tiger Brokers II. Key Market Themes i. U.S. Economic Data Released Intensively: Is the Fed "All in Control"? Last week, the U.S. released its November manufacturing and services PMI. Unlike the past few months, manufacturing PMI saw a significant improvement over previous readings and exceeded market expectations, though it remained below the neutral 50 threshold. In contrast, services PMI sharply declined, falling below expectations but stayed above the 50 line. In other words, manufacturing is warming up, though not sufficiently, while services are weakening, but not alarmingly so. Additionally, November employment data was released last Friday. Non-farm payroll additions, based on corporate su

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US dollars) Data source: Bloomberg, compiled by Tiger Brokers II. Key Market Themes i. Review: US Inflation and Economic Outlook Improve, Recession Sentiment Reverses, Market Rebounds Recently, US July inflation data was released, with both CPI and PPI beating market expectations. CPI rose by 2.9% year-over-year, lower than the expected 3%, marking the lowest increase in nearly three years. In detail, core goods continued to decline, while core services remained stubborn, with higher increases in housing and transportation. On the other hand, recent US economic data has also improved. Retail sales in July increased by 1% month-over-month, significantly exceeding the market expectation of 0.3%! Even considering the -0.2% downward revision of June

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US dollars) Data source: Bloomberg, 2024/09/15-2024/09/19, compiled by Tiger Brokers II. Our View This week, the Federal Reserve's FOMC decided to cut interest rates by 50bps, officially opening the door to rate cuts. Contrary to the previous expectations of mainstream institutions, the Fed did not adopt the "25bps cut + dovish statement" approach, but instead used a "50bps cut + hawkish statement" to continue balancing expectations. The market had already anticipated the start of the rate cut cycle with a 50bps reduction. Given that the current Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate is significantly higher than the neutral rate (around 2.5%-3%), the initial 50bps cut demonstrates the Fed's determination to prevent an economic recession, mitig

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US dollars) Data source: Bloomberg, compiled by Tiger Brokers II. Key Market Themes i. U.S. inflation cools down across the board, benefiting small-cap stocks while big tech are facing pullback risks? As we anticipated in our previous report, the U.S. June CPI data indeed delivered a "surprise," with figures falling significantly below market expectations. The nominal CPI month-over-month growth was -0.1%, not only well below the expected 0.1%, but also marking the first decline since the pandemic. Consequently, the Fed's rate cut in September is now a certainty. Interestingly, while inflation has cooled more than expected, big tech saw significant pullbacks, with major U.S. tech giants like Microsoft $微软(MS

I. Performance and Valuation of Global Equity Indices Data Sources: Bloomberg, Tiger Asset Management Key Highlights ◼ Last week, influenced by geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, global capital markets experienced a pattern of rising and then falling, with overall continued volatility. The major U.S. stock indices, including the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell, saw mixed movements, with weekly returns close to 0. In contrast, European and Hong Kong markets, as well as other non-U.S. developed markets, were relatively weaker, with the Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng Tech Index both dropping by more than 1%. ◼ In the U.S., macroeconomic data last week did not present any surprises. Although May retail sales were below expectations, this was primarily due to declines in automobile

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US Dollar) Source: Bloomberg, Tiger Brokers Key Highlights ◼ Last week, Chair Powell openly noted that U.S. equity valuations appear stretched, triggering a short-term pullback. Nonetheless, macro fundamentals and earnings continue to provide a floor. Q2 GDP was revised up to 3.8%, while August core PCE came in at 2.9% YoY—evidence of economic resilience and contained inflation. Labor market cooling has had limited impact in the context of a rate-cutting cycle, allowing the “Goldilocks” narrative to persist. Consumption remains broadly stable but increasingly reliant on high-income households, with weak sentiment among low-income families posing medium-term risks. On the earnings side, demand from AI continues to drive recovery, with S&P 500

I. Performance of Global Equity Indices (in US dollars) Source:Bloomberg,2024/06/10-2024/06/16 II. Key Market Themes i. "Big Three" Continue to Surge, Mid- and Downstream Actively Narrate: How Should AI Be Positioned? Recently, AI concept stocks have continued to be hot. The AI "Big Three" composed of Microsoft $微软(MSFT)$ , Apple $苹果(AAPL)$ , and NVIDIA $英伟达(NVDA)$ have, as previously expected, moved forward in tandem. NVIDIA has hit consecutive new highs after its stock split; after the WWDC conference, although Apple's products weren't very "wow," it hasn't stopped the tech giant from continuing to soar. Interestingly, recently released financial reports from m