Daily Digest: Tuesday 28th May
USA
As US traders returned to their desks following Memorial Day, equity index signals were mixed. The Nasdaq 100 ($NDX) closed 61.09 points (0.32%) higher at 18,869.44, while S&P 500 gains were weaker ($SPX) rising 1.32 points (0.02%) to 5,306.04. The Dow ($INDU) was the only of the three major indexes to close lower falling 216.73 points (0.55%) to 38,852.86.
The tech sector was a key area of interest for traders as they returned to their desks on Tuesday. US smartphone and consumer technology giant Apple’s ($AAPL) shares rose upon news of soaring device sales in key Asian markets, notably China. Chinese sale figures indicate a 52% increase in purchases across China signalling to investors that the companies recent price cuts targeting foreign market share have been successful in increasing consumer demand. Apple shares rose some 0.01% to $189.99 per share, with prices now trading around their January 2024 levels.
The US semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia ($NVDA) also saw its shares rise to new all time highs, following their recent Q1 24 earnings call, and the announcement of a 10-1 stock split. Stock splits are a form of financial engineering allowing publicly listed firms to artificially reduce the price of their shares making price more attractive to shareholders and prospective investors increasing capital raised by the firm. On Tuesday, share prices rose 6.98% to $1,139.01 per share.
Europe
UK traders returned to their desks on Tuesday morning following Yesterday’s bank holiday. The FTSE 100 (FTSE), the UK’s benchmark equity index slid 63.41 points (0.76%) from Friday’s close to 8,254.18. 37 of the indexes constituents closed higher whilst 63 closed lower, and 1 was a non mover. Mainland European equity markets emulated this direction. The Pan-European STOXX 600 (€SXXP) fell 3.13 points (0.60%) to 519.08, whilst the French CAC (€FCHI) fell 74.69 points (0.92%) to 8,057.80, and the German DAX (€GDAXI) fell 96.84 points (0.52%) to 18,677.87.
Rest of the World
Japanese equity markets experienced slight sell-offs through Tuesday as Nikkei 225 (¥N225) prices fell 44.65 points (0.11%) to 38,855.37. Despite the index moving lower through the session, traders exercised significant support at the 38,780 level after prices were rejected at the 38,982 level. Once again the USDJPY pair has seen relatively little movement with the Yen remaining weak against the USD, trading at 156.69 as of 13:51 GMT with the Yen marginally stronger than the levels traded at yesterday. As noted yesterday, the BOJ’s Core CPI print fell this morning with figures coming in at 1.8% YoY, 0.4 percentage points lower than analyst expectations of 2.2%indicating a slowdown in inflation and potential success of short-term monetary policy adjustments.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (¥SSE) also experienced a slight consolidation following yesterday’s move to the upside as prices fell 14.47 points (0.46%) to 3,109.57. Meanwhile, the Indian Nifty 50 (₹NSEI) extended Monday’s declines falling a further 44.30 points (0.19%) to 22,888.15 with the index trading 112.25 points off of its all-time highs.
Commodities
WTI Crude prices jumped 3.2% through Tuesday as geopolitical tensions across the Middle East continue to fuel uncertainty across financial markets, notably hard fuels. As of 21:00 GMT, WTI prices were $80.21 per barrel up from $78.55.
Gold prices rose for a third consecutive session as traders extended gains by 1.07% to $2,359.50 per ounce. This rally was in part driven by rising investor uncertainty, as participants remove capital from risk assets in favour of ‘safe havens’ to protect investments.
What to Watch Tomorrow
US Earnings
Salesforce ($CRM)
Sources:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/world-indices/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/commodities
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/bitcoin
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/ethereum
https://qontigo.com/index/sxxp/
Stock Market Activity Today & Latest Stock Market Trends | Nasdaq
https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/#market-cap
https://www.forexfactory.com
Definitions:
YoY - Year on Year, or, Year over Year
MoM - Month on Month, or, Month over Month
QoQ - Quarter on Quarter, or, Quarter over Quarter
ECB - European Central Bank
BOJ - Bank of Japan
Fed - Federal Reserve
BOE - Bank of England
SNB - Swiss National Bank
DOJ - Department of Justice