Market overview
The news that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was fully approved boosted the US stock market, and the Nasdaq hit a record closing high, up more than 1.5%. The strong rebound of crude oil led to the collective rise of energy industry stocks and vaccine technology energy industry stocks, with Tesla up 3.83%, Google up 1.90%, Sunrun up 5.86%, Alcoa up 9.02% and BioNTech up 9.58%.
Chinese Stocks continued its upward trend. JD.COM released its quarterly report for the second quarter, with nearly 400,000 employees, and Alibaba released its organizational adjustment. JD.COM rose by 3.32%, Alibaba by 1.96%, Tencent Music by 8.31%, and Canaan Inc. by 13.77%.
The vaccine was fully approved to boost US stocks
The FDA has fully approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for vaccination, and this rule applies to people over 16 years old. This is the first time that the FDA has fully approved COVID-19 vaccine. In his speech this afternoon, President Biden called on more companies in the private sector to strengthen the demand for vaccines, which will benefit millions of people, and called on people to actively vaccinate. Following the FDA's broad action Monday, the Pentagon said it would require all military personnel to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine, after Defense Secretary Austin asked all military personnel to start vaccination from mid-September. Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that all public officials would be required to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine, and New Jersey Governor Murphy said that school employees would be forced to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was first approved by the FDA for emergency authorized use in December and was authorized for 12-year-olds in May. The vaccine is widely used in the United States because of its high effectiveness in preventing severe epidemic and infection in COVID-19. The vaccine uses mRNA technology, and vaccines using mRNA technology also include COVID-19 vaccine of Moderna Company.
The Biden administration said last Wednesday that in order to take measures to combat the rising cases of COVID-19, it called for the third shot for all adults who have been vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine from September. At the same time, the Biden administration also indicated that it would require nursing homes to vaccinate their employees with COVID-19 vaccine, otherwise they would lose medical insurance and Medicaid funds.
At present, there are 149,675 newly diagnosed cases in the United States in a single day, an increase of 36% over the average value 14 days ago; 1,008 new deaths were added in a single day, an increase of 95% compared with the average value 14 days ago; The number of new inpatients in a single day was 92,482, an increase of 43% compared with the average value 14 days ago. The overall COVID-19 pandemic trend is still on the rise. The following figure shows the schematic diagram of confirmed cases in COVID-19, a hot spot in the United States.
At present, 51.5% of the population in the United States has been fully vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and 81.2% of them over 65 years old have been fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccines. According to reports, the breakthrough cases in the United States are mostly among people over 65 years old. In these breakthrough cases, 413 people need hospitalization and 58 people die. According to CDC data, more than 74% of breakthrough cases occurred in people aged 65 and above, and more than 75% occurred in people aged 60 and above. The following figure shows the infection rates of vaccinated (black line) and unvaccinated in Oregon, and the number of people infected after vaccination (black line)/deaths (yellow line)/hospitalizations (blue line).
Dallas Fed Chairman Kaplan said on Friday that if Delta COVID-19 variant strain continues to drag down economic growth, he may reconsider his previous call to reduce the scale of bond purchase as soon as possible. Amato, a chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman, said that many people believe that the full approval of vaccines will create greater motivation for vaccine injection, especially in those backward States and people in the United States. Bragar, managing director of Aspiriant, said that the market does not want to fall and the market wants to keep up with the trend, which is very good and exciting; But what is a little worrying is that from our point of view, the market has gone further than the economy.
At the close, the Dow Jones index rose 0.61% to 35,335.71 points; The S&P 500 index rose 0.85% to 4479.53 points; Nasdaq index rose 1.55% to 14,942.65 points.
$300 benefits are about to stop
According to reports, President Biden extended the weekly unemployment benefits of $300 until September 6, and the Biden administration Officials confirmed last Thursday that there would be no extension of the benefits. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Labor Secretary Walsh said in a letter to the Senate and House of Representatives that the weekly relief of $300 will expire on September 6, and this stimulus subsidy is temporary, so it is appropriate not to extend it.
According to economists, from the 26 states that recently eliminated all or part of $300 unemployment benefits, the employment growth rate of the states that eliminated unemployment benefits was almost the same as that of the states that did not eliminate unemployment benefits. At the same time, in industries with the highest unemployment rate affected by the epidemic, such as leisure and entertainment, the number of re-employed people did not get more employees due to the cancellation of unemployment benefits. The picture below shows that all States in the United States have abolished unemployment benefits so far.
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said earlier that with the reopening of schools, vaccination has reduced people's aversion to the risk of infection, and unemployment benefits expire, more workers will return to the labor market, which will help alleviate the price pressure which was brought from wage growth. He said Americans want to work and will find the way they want to work, but it may take some time. Rosengren, chairman of Boston Federal Reserve, said that if the epidemic lasts longer, employees in the high-density contact service industry may demand higher wages, which will cause upward tilt in wages and prices.
China Stocks Extended Last Friday's Rise
Today, JD.COM released its second-quarter financial report before the market, which was better than the market expectation. Revenue in the second quarter was $253.8 billion, compared with $201.05 billion in the same period last year; Earnings per share was $2.90, compared with $3.51 in the same period last year. At the same time, the financial report shows that as of June 30, 2021, there were nearly 400,000 employees in listed companies and non-listed companies in JD.COM system, an increase of nearly 120,000 compared with the same period of last year, and the salary and welfare of employees increased steadily. As of June 30, 2021, the number of active buyers in JD.COM in the past 12 months reached 532 million, a net increase of 150 million compared with the same period of last year, and an increase of 32 million in a single quarter, the highest growth in history. More than 70% of the goods purchased by active users are sent to third-to sixth-tier cities. JD.COM rose 3.32% today.
Alibaba published a letter from all employees of organizational restructuring, and Yu Yongfu will serve as the CEO of the local life company, in charge of the life service sector including local life, Gaode and flying pigs; At the same time, he will also serve as the president of the reorganized retail business group in the same city and report to Zhang Yong. Dai Shan, Ali Partner, President of B2B Business Group and MMC Business Group, will no longer be in charge of Box Horse Business Group on behalf of the Group, and Hou Yi, President of Box Horse Business Group, will report directly to Zhang Yong. Wu Minzhi, a partner, will go to Ant Group, but the specific position has not been disclosed. Wu Minzhi was replaced by Liu Fei as the head of the general affairs line of the Group and reported to Zhang Yong. Alibaba rose 1.96% today.
On Monday, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $50,000 for the first time since May, after reaching a peak of $64,000 in mid-April and then falling together with other cryptocurrencies. Global regulators, including China, the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, etc., have clearly stated that they will implement prohibition and supervision measures on cryptocurrency, but some financial institutions have recently launched financial products related to cryptocurrency. According to CNBC, Bitcoin surpassed funds, ETFs, real estate and bonds, and became the investment product second only to stocks for new investors entering the market last year; According to statistics, one in every 10 people in the United States claims to own Bitcoin, and the number of men owning Bitcoin is twice that of women. Nearly half of the holders say Bitcoin is high-risk, and people over 35 years old regard Bitcoin as a more dangerous financial product. Today, Canaan Inc. rose by 13.77%.
Hot spots of Market
The Kansas Federal Reserve announced on Friday that the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting will be held online instead. In view of the recent increase in risk level in Wyoming COVID-19 pandemic, the annual seminar originally scheduled for August 26-28 was changed from offline to online. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will deliver a speech on the economic prospects at 10 am on the 27th. At the same time, it is reported that US Treasury Secretary Yellen expressed her support for Powell's re-election as Fed Chairman in February next year last Saturday. At present, Biden has not expressed his position on Powell's re-election. It is reported that Biden is expected to express his views after Labor Day in early September.