To The Moon

Last Week's Recap

The US Market - The tech stocks led to rebound

• The Nasdaq led a strong rebound, but all the major indexes reclaimed their 50-day lines as Treasury yields fell sharply. However, all three major indexes closed at negative territories in August.

• The Dow and the Nasdaq added 1.4% and about 3.3% for the week, respectively, notching their best performances since July. The S&P 500 gained 2.5% to register its best week since June.

• The Fed's primary measure of core inflation, the core PCE price index, rose just 0.2% in July. The annual rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%, but the three-month annualized pace cooled to 2.9%.

• The latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.8% in August, reaching its highest level in more than a year. Economists had expected it to remain at 3.5%. August payrolls grew at a faster-than-expected pace, with 187,000 being added. However, job numbers first reported for June and July were revised down by a combined 110,000. The average gain over the past three months has slowed to 150,000.

• Following the release, the CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed traders have priced in a 93% chance of the central bank holding rates at current levels at its policy meeting later this month.

The US Sectors & Stocks - Apple will launch new iPhone series on Sept. 12

• The technology sector and communication services sector led the S&P 500 sectors to rise, as big tech stocks logged a strong rebound. AAPL、AMZN、META、TSLA、MSFT、NVDA、GOOGL, so called “Magnificent Seven” were up 1.76% to 6% for the week.

• Apple (AAPL) has officially announced the date of its fall event, on 12 September we'll set eyes on the iPhone 15 line up. Apple shares rose five days in a row.

• Tesla (TSLA) unveiled a revamped Model 3 with a longer range and raised the price on the electric vehicle by about 12%. The car was unveiled In China, where the vehicle first went on sale Friday. Tesla also cut prices on its expensive Model S and Model X cars, which start at about $100,000. Shares of Tesla fell 5% on Friday's news, but still rose 2.6% for the week.

• Chinese electric-vehicle makers Li Auto (LI), NIO ( NIO ), and XPeng (XPEV) reported delivery numbers on Friday. Li Auto delivered a record 34,914 vehicles, up 2.3% vs. July's 34,134 and 664% vs. a year earlier. Nio deliveries came in at 19,329, down 5.5% from July's record 20,462 but up 81% vs. a year earlier. XPeng deliveries hit 13,690, the highest since June 2022. U.S.-listed shares of LI rose 1.6%, NIO was up 7.1%, and XPeng gained 5.2% on Friday .

• Salesforce (CRM) topped second-quarter estimates as cost cutting spurred by activist investors improved margins. Salesforce earnings jumped 78% to $2.12 per share, with revenue up 11% to $8.6 billion. A key financial metric, current remaining performance obligations, known as CRPO bookings, slightly topped views with a 12% rise to $24.1 billion. The shares was up 5.76% for the week.

• Vietnamese EV startup VinFast Auto (VFS) plunged hard after a run-up to $90-level at the start of the week, to close out of $30-level. Analysts have been calling out the stock’s strength as irrational exuberance and warned of a collapse in stock price. It already tumbled 70% from its high.

• Bitcoin, cryptocurrency prices and related stocks jumped Tuesday after a federal appeals court ruled the SEC must review its 2021 decision on Grayscale Investments' bid to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF. The SEC is mulling nine applications for a spot bitcoin ETF. But after bitcoin, GBTC and other related names soared Tuesday, they pared weekly gains significantly.

Hong Kong Market - Hong Kong stocks registered 2.37% up

• The Hang Seng Index rose 2.37% for the shortened trading week, while the Tech Index gained 2.97%. Hong Kong setting up a task force to improve its capital market and China cutting stamp duty and margin requirements to spur stock trading.

• The Hang Seng Index has lost 7.5% in August, set for this first monthly decline since May. The benchmark has slipped 6 per cent this year, the worst performer among major world indices, wiping out US$387 billion in market capitalisation.

• Some 70 of the Hang Seng Index’s 80 members have released their latest results so far, registering an average 1.1%decline in earnings, according to Bloomberg data. The index members posted an average 5.5% increase in 2022.

Singapore Market - Tharman Shanmugaratnam elected as Singapore’s 9th president

• Singapore shares ended a shortened trading week with gains on Thursday (Aug 31), ahead of a public holiday for the presidential election on Friday. The Straits Times Index (STI) advanced 1.3% to finish the week at 3,233.30.

• Tharman Shanmugaratnam elected as Singapore’s 9th president by a resounding margin. He received 1,746,427 votes, 70.4% of the more than 2.48 million valid votes cast on Friday (Sep 1), the Elections Department (ELD) announced at 12.22 am on Saturday.

Australian Market - Australia’s monthly CPI rose 4.9% in July

• The S&P/ASX 200 Index ended the week 2.3% higher to close at7278.3, following two weeks of losses.

• Qantas came under renewed pressure, after the competition regulator on Thursday alleged that the airline breached consumer law.

• According to the latest data published by ABS, Australia’s monthly CPI rose 4.9% in the year to July 2023, as against the annual increase of 5.4% seen in June.

• The market had expected an increase of 5.2% in the reported period. The selling pressure in the AUD/USD pair gathered steam on cooling Australian inflation, which douses expectations of any more rate hikes by RBA.

The Week Ahead

Macro Factors - Technical bullish signals in historically weak month

• U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday for Labor Day. The major indexes broke above their respective 50-day moving averages this past week — a sign of improving short-term momentum.

• Investors will digest major inflation data ahead of the Fed’s September policy meeting. Central bank policymakers convene for a two-day meeting starting Sept. 19 and announce their interest rate decision Sept. 20.

• However, there is still a raft of economic reports investors will have to watch before the Fed meeting, including inflation data. The August consumer price index is set to release Sep. 13, while the producer price index for last month is expected to release Sept. 14.

• September is also considered historically the weakest month for equities. Since 1945, the S&P 500 notched its worst average return in September, making it the only month the broader index declined more frequently in price than it rose, according to a note from CFRA.

• The economic-data highlight of the week will be the Institute for Supply Management’s Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for August on Wednesday. That’s expected to come in roughly even with July’s reading and remain in expansionary territory. Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release its beige book report on current economic conditions across the U.S.

• Q2 earnings season for is essentially done and so far, 58% of the S&P 500 companies have beat on the revenue side and 79% have beat on the bottom line. This compares to the respective 67% and 78% in the prior quarter.

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