According to Cailian Press, on Thursday local time, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that because the recent performance of the US economy is "very strong", the Federal Reserve does not need to be "rushed" to lower interest rates and will observe carefully to ensure that certain inflation indicators remain within an acceptable range.
Powell hints at no rate cut in December
"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower interest rates, and the strength of the economy we are seeing right now gives us the ability to act cautiously," Powell said.
He added that inflation is gradually approaching the Fed's 2% target, although it will experience some volatility at times. He reiterated the theme of "patience," saying, "If the data allows us to slow down the pace of rate cuts a little bit, that would seem to be a wise thing to do."
Powell reiterated that the Fed's policy rate path will depend on incoming data and the evolution of the economic outlook. The Fed will closely monitor core measures of inflation for goods and services excluding housing, which have been declining over the past two years.
Fed Governor Kugler said earlier that policymakers must focus on both the Fed's inflation and employment goals. She said, "If there is any risk of impeding progress or re-accelerating inflation, it would be appropriate to pause rate cuts. But if the labor market slows down abruptly, the policy rate should continue to be gradually lowered."
After Powell made these "hawkish" remarks, the US dollar index rose 30 points in the short term, approaching the 107 mark again. The short-term decline of spot gold widened to US$10, and risky assets including US stocks and Bitcoin fell across the board.
The United States released important data
On the evening of November 14, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that 217,000 people applied for unemployment benefits for the first time in the week of November 9, lower than the expected 220,000 and lower than the previous value of 221,000. The four-week average of the number of people who continued to apply for unemployment benefits fell to 1.87 million.
After the data was released, the US dollar rose slightly in the short term and then fluctuated downward. US Treasury bonds rose in the short term and then fell again. The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds once rose to near the historical high of 4.478%, and then quickly fell and turned from rising to falling.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. PPI rose 0.2% month-on-month in October after seasonal adjustment, continuing to rise after increases of 0.1% and 0.2% in September and August respectively. Without seasonal adjustment, the PPI rose 2.4% year-on-year.
The report shows that the growth of PPI in October was mainly driven by the increase in prices of final demand services. Final demand PPI increased by 2.4% year-on-year, and the estimated increase was 2.3%; final demand PPI excluding food and energy increased by 3.1% year-on-year, and the estimated increase was 3%; final demand PPI excluding food and energy increased by 0.3% month-on-month, and the estimated increase was 0.2%; final demand PPI excluding food, energy and trade services increased by 0.3% month-on-month, and increased by 3.5% year-on-year.
U.S. stocks fell across the board, with Tesla falling more than 5%
Most Chinese stocks fell
On Thursday, November 14, local time, all three major U.S. stock indexes fell. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 207.33 points, or 0.47%, to 43,750.86 points; the Nasdaq fell 123.07 points, or 0.64%, to 19,107.65 points; and the S&P 500 fell 36.21 points, or 0.60%, to 5,949.17 points.
In terms of sectors, 9 of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 index fell and 2 rose. The industrial sector, medical sector and consumer discretionary sector led the decline with declines of 1.69%, 1.54% and 1.54% respectively, while the energy sector and technology sector rose by 0.14% and 0.05% respectively.
Popular technology stocks rose and fell, with ASML up nearly 3%, Qualcomm up more than 2%, Apple up more than 1%, TSMC, ARM, Netflix, Microsoft, Intel, and Nvidia up slightly; AMD fell more than 11%, Tesla fell more than 5%, Cisco fell more than 2%, Google-A and Amazon fell more than 1%, and Micron Technology, Meta, and AMD fell slightly.
Tesla closed down 5.77%, and its total market value fell back below $1 trillion. Its market value evaporated by $61.2 billion (about RMB 442.4 billion) overnight. As part of the broader tax reform legislation, the Trump transition team is planning to cancel the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, and Tesla representatives also support the termination of subsidies.
Nvidia closed up 0.33%. Nvidia will release its earnings report on November 20. Susquehanna raised its target price for Nvidia from $160 to $180; HSBC raised its target price for Nvidia from $145 to $200.
Most of the popular Chinese stocks fell, and the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed down 1.81%. Bilibili fell more than 12%, JD.com and Miniso fell more than 6%, Xpeng Motors fell more than 5%, NIO, Ctrip, and Dingdong Maicai fell more than 3%, Futu Holdings and Zhihu fell more than 2%, and Alibaba fell more than 1%; NetEase and SoYoung rose more than 10%, and iQiyi and NetEase Youdao rose more than 2%.