On March 6th local time, the three major US stock indexes collectively closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, the Nasdaq up 0.58%, and the S&P 500 index up 0.51%.
Lithium batteries, precious metals, and semiconductor sectors saw the highest growth, with Abbott in the United States up over 9%, Sunrise Semiconductor and Century Aluminum up over 5%, Qualcomm up nearly 4%, and NVIDIA up over 3%. Department stores and clothing retail saw the largest decline, with Nordstrom falling over 16%, Buckle falling nearly 5%, and Cole's department store falling over 3%.
The stock price of New York Community Bank (NYCB), a regional bank in the United States, surged. On Wednesday, March 6th local time, it was reported that NYCB is seeking cash injection through the sale of equity to enhance external confidence in the bank. Due to concerns about potential real estate loan losses, weak internal controls, and a significant drop in stock prices, NYCB has dispatched bankers to assess investor interest in purchasing the company's stocks.
After the above news, NYCB's stock price plummeted during the day, rapidly expanding from less than 3% to over 40%, hitting a new low of over 47%. It is expected to rebound by nearly 19% on Tuesday and return to the sharp decline since last Friday's thunderstorm. NYCB suspended trading at least three times during trading.
After the stock price plummeted, NYCB announced on Wednesday afternoon that it had raised over $1 billion through equity investments in an investment company under former US Treasury Secretary Munucci. Afterwards, the stock price continued to rebound, not only smoothing out the decline and turning to an increase in midday trading, but also expanding to over 30% at one point.
As of the close of March 6th local time, Bank New York Community Bank reported a price of $3.48, up 8.07%, with a market value of $2.513 billion.
On the evening of March 6th, the US stock market opened, and the biggest highlight was that JD's stock price surged by 18%, driving Chinese concept stocks to rise together. As of the close, JD.com rose 16.18% to $24.91, with a market value of $39.21 billion. Its market value skyrocketed overnight by 5.4 billion US dollars (approximately 38.9 billion yuan).
On the news front, JD.com released its Q4 and full year performance for 2023, with revenue reaching 306.1 billion yuan (approximately 43.1 billion US dollars) in the Q4, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%; The annual revenue was 1084.7 billion yuan (approximately 152.8 billion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 3.7%; In 2023, the revenue of external customers of JD Logistics services increased by 30.8% year-on-year, with the average revenue of single customers in the integrated supply chain increasing by 15.2% year-on-year.
In addition, in the fourth quarter of 2023, JD Group's net profit attributable to common shareholders of listed companies under non US GAAP accounting standards was RMB 8.4 billion (approximately USD 1.2 billion), reaching RMB 35.2 billion (approximately USD 5 billion) for the entire year, both exceeding market expectations.
On March 6th, JD.com announced simultaneously that the company's board of directors has approved annual cash dividends, with a total dividend amount of approximately $1.2 billion, exceeding the $1 billion in 2023. JD's board of directors has also approved a new share repurchase plan, which, upon the expiration and effectiveness of the existing share repurchase plan, can repurchase shares worth no more than $3 billion within the next 36 months up to March 2027.
In addition, the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 1.96%. IQiyi rose over 8%, Bilibili rose over 6%, Weibo and NIO rose over 5%, Xiaopeng Automobile rose over 4%, Futu Holdings and Alibaba rose over 2%, Tencent Music and Baidu rose over 1%, and Ideal Automobile rose slightly.
On Wednesday, March 6th Eastern Time, the Federal Reserve released the Brown Book, a survey report on the economic situation prepared by 12 local Federal Reserve agencies. Most reports from the 12 regional Federal Reserve in the United States indicate an overall increase in economic activity since the last release of the Brown Book. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to pass on higher costs to customers.
Overall, since early January, US economic activity has slightly increased and expanded at a moderate pace. Eight regions reported slight growth in economic activity, three regions reported no significant changes, and one region reported slight weakness.
Consumer spending, especially on retail goods, has slightly declined in recent weeks. Consumers are more sensitive to rising prices. Enterprises find it more difficult to pass on higher costs to customers as they become increasingly sensitive to price changes.
In addition, many manufacturers and construction companies have seen a decrease in material costs in recent weeks.
There is another heavyweight news for the US stock market. According to China Fund News, on Wednesday local time, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell attended the hearing of the House Financial Services Committee as scheduled.
Investors hope to find clues about the expected speed and timing of interest rate cuts this year, and Powell also accepted questions and questioning from members of Congress at the hearing.
Powell stated that although inflation is still above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, it has significantly slowed down, and while inflation has slowed down, the unemployment rate has not risen significantly. With the easing of labor market tensions and sustained progress in inflation, the risks of achieving employment and inflation targets have tended to be better balanced.
Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve remains highly concerned about inflation risks and keenly aware that high inflation will bring serious difficulties, especially for those who are least able to afford higher prices for essential items such as food, housing, and transportation.
Powell warned that the outlook for the US economy is uncertain and there is no guarantee of sustained progress towards achieving the 2% inflation target. This fact prevents Federal Reserve officials from committing to a timetable or pace of interest rate cuts, and price pressures are easing. However, there are also concerns that the anti inflation process may come to a halt.
Powell stated that our policy interest rates may have already reached their peak during this tightening cycle. If the economic performance generally meets expectations, then it may be appropriate to start lowering interest rates at some point this year. However, the economic outlook is uncertain and there is no guarantee of sustained progress towards achieving the 2% inflation target. Reducing policy restrictions too early or too much may lead to a reversal of our progress in inflation and ultimately require more tightening policies to bring inflation back to 2%.
At the same time, reducing policy restrictions too late or too little may excessively weaken economic activity and employment. When considering any adjustments to the policy interest rate target range, we will carefully evaluate the upcoming data, constantly changing prospects, and risk balance. The committee expects that lowering policy interest rates will not be appropriate until there is greater confidence in a sustainable 2% decline in inflation.
Republican lawmakers also questioned Powell about the final revision of the so-called Basel III capital requirements for banks. Powell stated that the Federal Reserve has received a large number of substantial comments from stakeholders on the proposal, but no decision has been made on the proposal regarding bank capital rules, although significant adjustments are expected to be made to the proposal.
It is worth noting that the revision of bank capital rules is the most frequently asked topic by legislators, and multiple legislators have repeatedly asked about it· Powell said that US regulatory agencies may significantly change their plans to require large banks to hold more capital, which will mark a major victory for Wall Street giants.