Market Insights: April 16th, 2024

Economic Data and Stock Market Trends:

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Data: The GDP for the first quarter was 29,629.9 billion yuan, up 5.3% year-on-year. The growth by sector was as follows: primary industry added a value of 1153.8 billion yuan, up 3.3%; secondary industry added a value of 10,984.6 billion yuan, up 6.0%; and tertiary industry added a value of 17,491.5 billion yuan, up 5.0%.
• A-Share and Hong Kong Stock Market Situations: On Tuesday, the markets opened lower to varying degrees. In the A-share market, the three major indices all opened lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.45%, the Shenzhen Component Index falling 0.61%, and the Growth Enterprise Market Index falling 0.67%. On the market front, the ST sector continued to be hit hard, with tourism and non-ferrous aluminum sectors seeing noticeable declines, while liquid-cooled servers, logistics, and chemical sectors showed weak performance. In contrast, the traditional Chinese medicine sector was strong, gold stocks showed some signs of recovery, and large state-owned enterprises in infrastructure maintained active trading. In the Hong Kong stock market, the Hang Seng Index opened 1.4% lower, with the Hang Seng Technology Index seeing an even larger drop of 1.89%. Automotive stocks generally fell, with NIO’s stock falling close to 7%, and both Li Auto and XPeng's stocks falling more than 3%.
• Central Bank Operations and Currency Fluctuations: The People's Bank of China carried out a 20 billion yuan repurchase operation with a 7-day term at a bid rate of 1.8%, unchanged from previous operations. The offshore yuan fell by about 200 points against the US dollar in short trading, at one point falling below 7.28. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar was set at 7.1028 today, adjusting down by 49 points.
• Global Economy and Stock Market Conditions: Asian markets were generally down, with Japanese stocks falling nearly 2%, South Korean stocks more than 2%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index falling to its lowest point of the year. US retail sales for March showed a month-over-month increase of 0.7%, stronger than expected. However, the market's expectations for the Federal Reserve to not hasten interest rate cuts were reinforced. Overnight US stocks turned lower during the session, with the Nasdaq falling 1.8% and the S&P 500 falling more than 1% for two consecutive days, marking the largest two-day drop since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its losing streak to six sessions.

Tesla Layoffs and Related Stock Trends:

• Tesla Layoffs: Tesla, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, announced a reduction of more than 10% of its workforce, approximately 14,000 employees, with the intensity of layoffs in certain departments nearing 20%. This news sparked investor concerns about Tesla's future, leading to a greater than 5.5% decline in Tesla's stock price overnight on Monday.

Gold, Oil, and Bitcoin Markets:

• Market Volatility: Driven by the situation in the Middle East, gold surged nearly 3% during the session, reaching a new all-time high over three days. Oil prices fell but erased most losses after nearly a 2% drop during the session. Bitcoin plunged, at one point falling more than $4,000 and below $63,000.
• Metal Trading: Sanctions on Russian metal trades by the US and UK propelled London aluminum to rise more than 2%, reaching a 14-month high, and London copper to increase more than 1%, hitting a nearly two-year high.

China Market Conditions:

• Performance of A-Shares Market After the New "National Nine Articles" Release: The three major indices all saw gains of over 1%. However, ST stocks and small-micro cap stocks experienced significant drops, while stocks with “China” in their names and high-dividend concept stocks performed strongly. Chinese concept stocks listed in the US saw gains of over 1% during the session before turning downward, leading the Chinese concept stock index to a two-month low. Among them, NIO’s stock fell by more than 5%, and XPeng’s stock by more than 3%. Additionally, the offshore yuan saw an upward trend during the session, reclaiming the 7.26 level.

IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings:

• International Organization Meetings: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank's Spring Meetings for 2024 were held in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 15. They conducted extensive discussions on topics such as the global economy and Sino-US trade relations.