Market Insights: May 14th, 2024

Chinese Stock Market:

• The Chinese stock market performed well today, with both A shares and H shares opening higher. The Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.18%, the Shenzhen Component Index by 0.53%, and the ChiNext Index by 0.22%.
• On the market, the media sector led the gains, followed by electronics, non-ferrous metals, computers, light manufacturing, and power equipment sectors. In contrast, public utilities, environmental protection, pharmaceuticals, household appliances, and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and livestock sectors showed signs of weakness.

Hong Kong Stock Market:

• The Hong Kong stock market showed positive performance, with the Hang Seng Index rising by 0.45% and the Hang Seng Technology Index increasing by 1.63%. Market data indicated that the Hang Seng Index briefly surged above 2% after opening.

the US Stock Market:

• US stocks experienced a slight decline overnight due to the influence of the latest inflation data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but Chinese concept stocks collectively rose. Specifically, companies like JiDU Auto and NIO saw their stock prices increase.

Commodity Market:

• The global commodity market showed a divergent trend, with gold prices falling from the closing high of the past three weeks, dropping nearly 1.4% to mark the largest decline within the month.
• Crude oil prices rebounded, with Brent crude leaving behind the lows of seven weeks and rising more than 1% during the session.
• Copper prices rose more than 1%, reaching a new two-year high, while zinc prices increased by more than 2%, rising for the third consecutive day to reach a new 14-month high.

Economic Data and Inflation Expectations:

• The US market showed concerns about inflation, with a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicating that consumers have raised inflation expectations. This triggered market attention towards the upcoming CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PPI (Producer Price Index) data, dampening market sentiment and ending the Dow Jones Industrial Average's nine-day winning streak. The CPI data is expected to cause significant volatility in the S&P 500 index.
• China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that the CPI for April rose by 0.1% month-on-month and by 0.3% year-on-year, marking the third consecutive month of year-on-year increases.

Foreign Exchange Market:

• The Japanese yen continued to weaken against the US dollar. The Bank of Japan took rare measures, reducing the purchase scale of Japanese government bonds. Specifically, on May 13, the Bank of Japan reduced the purchase amount of Japanese government bonds with 5 to 10 years maturity from 475 billion yen to 425 billion yen, marking the first reduction in government bond purchases since the end of December 2023.

Tesla's Layoff News:

• Tesla has begun to retract job offers from newly recruited full-time employees amid massive layoffs. Reports indicate that Tesla has issued layoff notices to workers for the fifth consecutive week, with more than 3,400 recruitment postings removed in the past month.