On Thursday Eastern Time, the three major US stock indexes collectively closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.54%, the Nasdaq up 1.35%, the S&P 500 up 0.88%, popular technology stocks up generally, Qualcomm up more than 4%, Apple up more than 3%, marking the largest daily increase since May, and the Meta up more than 2%. The semiconductor and airline sectors were among the top performers, with JetBlue Airlines up over 7%, American Airlines up nearly 7%, AstraZeneca, Kolei, Kexiu Semiconductor, and Sunrise Semiconductor up over 4%, AMD, Intel, and Ansemy Semiconductor up over 1%, with AMD reaching a new closing high. The lithium battery and utility sectors fell, with Yabao and Century Aluminum in the United States falling more than 2%, and US electricity falling nearly 2%.
Most popular Chinese concept stocks fell, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling 0.23%. IQiyi fell more than 6%, Vipshop fell more than 4%, Xiaopeng Automobile fell more than 2%, JD.com, Alibaba, and Bilibili fell more than 1%, while Ideal Automobile, Futu Holdings, Weibo, NIO, and Pinduoduo slightly declined. Baidu and NetEase rose by over 1%, while Tencent Music and Manbang saw a slight increase.
Global News
The IEA has raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2024, stating that the market supply is quite sufficient
The International Energy Agency (IEA) further raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2024 on Thursday, but its forecast is still far below OPEC's expected level.
Foreign investors are buying recklessly, Japanese retail investors are selling recklessly! Japanese retail investors set a record for net sales after 2013
According to statistics released by the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, as the Nikkei Index surged 6% last Sunday and continued to hit a new high since 1990, a large number of Japanese retail investors faced a surge of foreign investment and chose to surrender their chips.
Saudi Aramco's venture capital fund has received a $4 billion injection, and Chinese companies are expected to receive more Middle Eastern hot money?
One of the world's leading integrated energy and chemical companies, Saudi Aramco, announced on Wednesday (January 17) an additional $4 billion allocation to its global venture capital division, Aramco Ventures. This means that Saudi Aramco will more than double its funds allocated to Aramco Ventures, increasing its total investment in the fund from $3 billion to $7 billion. This will bring Saudi Aramco's total venture capital allocation to $7.5 billion, with an additional $500 million belonging to another venture capital fund, Wa'ed Ventures, which focuses on the start-up ecosystem within Saudi Arabia.
The Panama Canal's drought losses will exceed expectations. Authorities have reduced ship traffic by 36%
As one of the world's most important trade routes, the Panama Canal has seen a 36% decrease in the number of vessel crossings compared to last year's normal level. The severe drought that began last year forced the Panamanian authorities to restrict the flow of the canal.
Company News
Developers are in tears! Apple allows American applications to switch to external payment channels and still needs to pay commission
Compared to the original 30% commission and 15% commission for small businesses, under the new policy, even if developers switch to third-party payment channels, they still have to pay 27% and 12% commission; This is also an improvement measure taken by technology giants after Epic Games v. Apple's App Store monopoly case; Epic Games has criticized Apple for "maliciously fulfilling its judgment" and will challenge the court.
The layoff storm in Silicon Valley is not limited to Google CEO: they will continue to "slim down" this year
Google CEO Sandal Pichai recently warned employees that as the company continues to shift investments towards areas such as artificial intelligence, there will be more layoffs this year.
Apple Vision Pro media review: Immersed in tears but not worth $3499
Recently, Apple invited numerous media outlets to New York to conduct a comprehensive review of this new product, priced at up to $3499, before its official release. Overall, media reporters have given positive feedback on the overall experience of Vision Pro. One reviewer even praised that among all the VR, AR, and MR headsets she had tried, "Apple Vision Pro is undoubtedly the best and most thoughtful product." However, most reviewers were also hesitant about the pricing of $3499. So, what is the user experience of this new product? The evaluation reporters provided the most authentic description.
TSMC has received positive feedback from Wall Street analysts: low valuation, good prospects, and strong demand for AI
As the market's optimism about artificial intelligence resurfaces, TSMC's stock price may be further boosted. Investors are betting that the global chip industry is about to recover after more than a year of inventory adjustments. Based on this expectation, the stock price of the world's largest wafer foundry company has rebounded 12% from its low point in September last year, with a market value increase of $59 billion. Although TSMC's stock price is still 15% lower than the record level set two years ago, the daily call option trading volume of its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) has been increasing recently.