U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell made his latest comments last night. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of the decline in inflation over the past year, but still emphasized that he hopes to see more progress (economic data confirms that inflation is slowing), Only then will there be more confidence to initiate interest rate cuts.
Both the latest data and the previous one suggest we are back on the path to cooling inflation. We would like to be more confident and see inflation continue to fall to 2% before we start cutting rates.
In addition, Ball acknowledged that risks to the inflation and employment targets "have become more balanced," indicating that the U.S. economy may be approaching a turning point where further inflationary progress will involve a trade-off of rising unemployment.
In fact, in addition to the United States, various countries are now showing signs of slowing inflation, and some central institutions, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada, have also begun to slowly cut interest rates.
U.S. stocks surge
Inspired by Ball's dovish remarks, the four major U.S. stock indexes all closed higher today (3rd). The S&P 500 Index closed above 5,500 points for the first time, and both the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Index hit new record highs.
- The U.S. Dow Jones rose 162.33 points, or 0.41%, to close at 39,331.85 points.
- The S&P 500 rose 33.92 points, or 0.62%, to close at 5,509.01 points. (The historical high has been rewritten for the 32nd time this year)
- Nasdaq rose 149.46 points, or 0.84%, to close at 18,028.76 points. (The historical high has been rewritten for the 22nd time this year)
- Philadelphia Semiconductor rose 67.85 points or 1.24% to close at 5,544.99 points.
Encouraged by the U.S. stock market's continued record highs, the Nikkei Index, which has reached the 40,000 mark, also opened higher today. The Nikkei closed temporarily at 40,425.37 points, up 350 points (0.88%), and the Topix closed at 2,862.38 points, up 0.2%. It is expected to rise for four consecutive trading days.
Bitcoin drops below $61,000
But back to the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin not only failed to receive incentives, but continued to decline at 9 o'clock this morning. It once reached $60,608 before noon, and all the gains that started last weekend have been given back.
Ethereum also reached a low of $3,331 at about the same time. This has poured cold water on the market's original desire for a new rebound in July.
Since nothing major happened in the market this morning that would obviously lead to volatility, some community members judged: “All the money in the crypto market has been sucked away by the stock market. The US stock S&P 500 has hit a 32nd new high this year, and Japanese stocks have reached a new high. Above the 40,000 mark..., Bitcoin is attracting money.”
TSMC and Hon Hai outperform Bitcoin this year
In addition, looking at Taiwan stocks, in the first half of this year, TSMC, the "sacred mountain that protects the country," has risen by 64%, and Hon Hai, driven by the AI server supply chain, has risen by as much as 105%. In comparison, Bitcoin only rose 48.75% in the first half of this year, which is rare in a bull market and far behind Taiwanese stocks. It can only be said that the influence of AI is really very powerful.
