To The Moon

* Caution returns as investors stay on the sidelines ahead of Fed's Powell speech; Hang Seng soars to 9-month high on earnings optimism

🇺🇸 S&P 500: -0.02% 📉

🇺🇸 Nasdaq: 0.29% 📈

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600: 0.09% 📈

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: -0.13% 📉

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: 0.81% 📈

🇨🇳 CSI 300 Index: -0.04% 📉

* U.S. stocks were mixed, with the S&P 500 -0.02% edging lower and the Nasdaq Composite inching up 0.3% as caution grew ahead of key inflation data and earnings reports.

* Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 0.8% to close above 19,000, while China's CSI 300 -0.04% edged lower as markets were optimistic about an earnings recovery and hoped policy support would replace the weekend Released on pessimistic credit expansion. The Nikkei 225 briefly fell -0.1% ahead of quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) growth data due out this week, with annual growth expected at 1.5%.

💡 Future events: 💡

* Japan PPI year-on-year, US core PPI monthly, PPI monthly and Fed Chairman Powell's speech will be released on Tuesday.

* European Union industrial production monthly, U.S. core CPI monthly, core retail sales monthly, CPI monthly and CPI year-on-year and retail sales monthly will be released on Wednesday.

* Japan's preliminary quarterly GDP growth, Australia's unemployment rate, U.S. jobless claims and monthly industrial production were on investors' radar Thursday

💡 Things you need to know today: 💡

1. Apple $Apple(AAPL)$  rose 1.8% overnight on news that the company has reached an agreement with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to apply the technology to the iPhone. This is a new AI model capable of simulated voice conversations and the ability to Text and images interact.

Apple

2. Cocoa futures prices post their biggest ever drop, down around -19%, as better rainfall boosts crop yields, low public interest in the cocoa market is amplifying price movements, small changes in West Africa weather forecast or demand Signs of disruption can effectively trigger prices.

Cocoa

3. The rally in meme stocks is reminiscent of a turbocharged run about three years ago that was sparked by a tweet on X.com by“Roaring Kitty,”a former marketer for an insurance company. Before the rebound of Meme stocks in 2021, he had been silent for three years. Some popular stocks like video game retailer GameStop $GameStop(GME)$   jumped 74%.

Roaring Kitty

4. Even though AMC $AMC Entertainment(AMC)$  is a struggling theater chain, the company soared 78% overnight on the meme stock craze. Its financing transactions, called mark-to-market offerings, allow it to create and sell new shares. It's part of AMC's long-term plan to raise the capital it needs to turn a profit, even if it dilutes by investors looking to cash in on short-term gains.

AMC

5. China will launch a 1 trillion yuan stimulus bond issuance in the form of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, announced earlier in the two sessions, to support the implementation of major national strategies and the construction of security capabilities in key areas.

✅ KEY TAKEAWAYS:

A recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that Americans expect inflation to rise to 3.3% in one year from 3% in March, while they expect inflation to be 2.8% in three years . At the same time, the earnings of consumer brands such as Home Depot and Walmart will also come under scrutiny to more fully reflect consumers' spending power.

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