The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest CPI (Consumer Price Index) report at 20:30 yesterday (12th) night: CPI in May increased by 3.3% year-on-year, which was lower than the 0.1% monthly growth rate and annual growth rate estimated by economists respectively. The rate is 3.4%.
At the same time, core CPI, excluding food and energy costs, increased by 3.4% year-on-year in May, lower than the expected 3.5% and the previous value of 3.6%, hitting the lowest level in more than three years, indicating that US inflation continues to cool.
However, the US Federal Reserve announced at 02:00 this morning that interest rates will remain unchanged at a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the seventh consecutive freeze. While in line with market expectations, the latest interest rate dot plot shows that Fed officials predict only one rate cut (one yard) this year, well below the previously expected three rate cuts (three yards).
The three major U.S. stock indexes hit new highs
After the release of CPI data, the market's expectations for the Fed's interest rate cut have greatly improved. The four major U.S. stock indexes showed an upward trend at the opening last night. Although the Fed released some hawkish signals during the session, U.S. stocks remained strong, including the Nasdaq, The S&P 500 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit another record high last night:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09% to close at 38,712.21 points.
- The Nasdaq rose 1.53% to close at 17,608.44 points, setting a record closing high.
- The S&P 500 index rose 0.85% to close at 5,421.03 points, setting a new all-time closing high.
- The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.9% to close at 5,520.87 points, setting a record closing high.
Apple's intraday market capitalization once reached its peak
It is worth mentioning that Apple (AAPL-US), the second largest company in the US stock market by market value, surged 4% during trading yesterday, and its market value once surpassed the largest company Microsoft. However, the gains converged to 2.86% at the close, leaving Apple's market value at $3.267 trillion. On the other hand, the share price of Microsoft (MSFT-US) rose 1.94% at the close of the US stock market, with a market value of US$3.278 trillion, retaining its number one position in market value.
In addition, the share prices of the top four companies in the US stock market by market capitalization - Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia and Google - all exceeded historical highs during yesterday's session. These four companies all have one thing in common, which is that they have caught up with the AI boom in recent years.
Apple launches personal AI system Apple Intelligence
According to previous reports from Dongzhong, Apple announced the launch of the AI technology platform "Apple Intelligence" at the Worldwide Developers Conference held on Tuesday (11), which is a personal AI system specially built for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
The main functions of Apple Intelligence include identifying and selecting important notifications, generating text (answering questions, summaries, and assisting in writing), supporting text generation for pictures (providing three styles of sketch, illustration, and animation), and can operate across apps, etc. In addition, with the power of Apple Intelligence, Siri, the smart assistant, will become more natural, contextual and personal, while also having the ability to streamline and speed up daily tasks.
In addition, Apple has also cooperated with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the experience of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, allowing users to use ChatGPT’s professional technology and image and document understanding capabilities.
