On March 15th local time, unexpected inflation data continued to suppress the market, and the three major US stock indexes collectively closed lower. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.49%; The S&P 500 index fell 0.65%; The Nasdaq fell 0.96%. This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen by 0.02%, marking the third consecutive week of decline; The Nasdaq has fallen 0.7%, while the S&P 500 index has fallen 0.13%.
NVIDIA fell 0.12% on Friday, with a total market value of $2.2 trillion. The cumulative weekly increase in the share capital is 0.35%, marking the 10th consecutive week of gains and setting a record for the longest period in its history. Nvidia has surged by about 80% in this 10 week long continuous rise, becoming the latest example of investors continuously pushing up the company's stock price in the booming artificial intelligence chip craze.
In addition, on March 15th Beijing time, the topic of # McDonald's Collapse # surged to the hot search, and many netizens reported that McDonald's apps and mini programs were unable to order, menus could not be refreshed, and coupons could not be used. On the afternoon of the 15th, McDonald's official Weibo account released an update stating that the online ordering system of McDonald's has been fully restored. On Friday, McDonald's US stock market fell 0.92%, with a total market value of 2016 billion US dollars.
Collective decline in US stocks
On March 15th local time, unexpected inflation data continued to suppress the market, and the three major US stock indexes collectively closed lower. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 38714.77 points, a decrease of 0.49%; The S&P 500 index closed at 5117.09 points, a decrease of 0.65%; The Nasdaq closed at 15973.17 points, a decrease of 0.96%.
The three major stock indices all recorded a decline this week, with the Dow Jones index falling a cumulative 0.02% this week, marking the third consecutive week of decline recorded; The Nasdaq has fallen 0.7%, while the S&P 500 index has fallen 0.13%.
In terms of economic data, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that the US export price index increased by 0.8% month on month in February, and the import price index increased by 0.3% month on month.
A preliminary report released by the University of Michigan shows that the US consumer confidence index fell to 76.5 in March, slightly lower than February's 76.9. Since January, the expectations of Americans for the future have remained largely unchanged. The current US consumer confidence index is higher than the historical low reached when inflation peaked in June 2022, but lower than the average level before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joanne Hsu, the person in charge of the survey, said that with a significant drop in inflation and a still strong job market, overall market confidence has risen. However, Americans are now waiting for the election to better understand the economic outlook.
Meanwhile, the initial 1-year inflation expectation for consumers at the University of Michigan in the United States in March was 3%, lower than the market expectation of 3.1%, compared to 3% before February; The initial 5-year inflation expectation is 2.9%, which is consistent with market expectations of 2.9% and also unchanged from the previous 2.9% in February. The inflation expectations of Michigan consumers can give the Federal Reserve a little relief.
It is worth mentioning that this week's CPI and PPI data show that inflation pressure in the United States is still heating up, reducing the market's bet on the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut before June.
On Thursday, data released by the US Department of Labor showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.6% month on month in February, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from January, highlighting the still severe inflation situation in the US. In February, the US PPI increased by 1.6% year-on-year, the largest increase since September 2023. After excluding prices of food, energy, and trade services, the core PPI increased by 0.4% month on month and 2.8% year-on-year.
Analysts believe that the PPI index accelerated its rise again in February, indicating sustained inflationary pressure in the United States, and that the Federal Reserve may need to maintain high interest rates for a longer period of time.
Prior to the release of the PPI index, the US Department of Labor also released the February Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Tuesday. The data shows that the US CPI increased by 0.4% month on month and 3.2% year-on-year in February. The year-on-year increase in CPI data exceeded expectations, suppressing the Federal Reserve's expectation of interest rate cuts.
The Federal Reserve will hold a monetary policy meeting from March 19th to 20th. At present, according to general expectations, the institution will maintain interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive time, and the focus of the meeting will be on the "dot matrix" of the Federal Reserve's new interest rate hike path. Last December, the median forecast from policy makers showed that interest rates would be lowered three times in 2024, each time by 25 basis points.
Shannon Saccocia, Chief Investment Officer of NB Private Wealth, said, "Next week's Federal Reserve meeting may be more important or influential than we imagine."
Nvidia rose for the 10th consecutive week
In terms of sectors, the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500 index fell seven times and rose four times. The technology sector and communication services sector led the decline with declines of 1.29% and 1.18% respectively, while the energy sector and utility sector led the rise with gains of 0.23% and 0.12%, respectively.
Most large technology stocks fell, with Amazon and Microsoft falling more than 2%, Google A, Netflix, and Facebook parent company Meta falling more than 1%, and Apple, Intel, and Nvidia falling slightly; Tesla saw a slight increase.
NVIDIA fell 0.12% on Friday, with a total market value of $2.2 trillion. The cumulative weekly increase in the share capital is 0.35%, marking the 10th consecutive week of gains and setting a record for the longest period in its history.
Nvidia has surged by about 80% in this 10 week long continuous rise, becoming the latest example of investors continuously pushing up the company's stock price in the booming artificial intelligence chip craze.
It is understood that the annual global top AI conference - NVIDIA GTC is about to open. At 1:00 pm on March 18th (4:00 am Beijing time on March 19th), NVIDIA CEO Huang Renxun will give a keynote speech. As one of NVIDIA's most important release platforms every year, GTC has become a recognized "AI barometer". This year's GTC is also the first offline event held in five years. According to NVIDIA, Huang Renxun will release the latest breakthrough achievements in the fields of accelerated computing, generative AI, and robotics.
Apple fell 0.22%, with a total market value of $2.67 trillion. Apple has reached a $490 million settlement agreement with a group of investors who accused CEO Cook of making false and misleading statements about the company's sales prospects in 2018.
Tesla rose 0.66%, with a total market value of $520.9 billion. Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets reiterated Tesla's rating as "buy", with a target price of $298. Analyst Tom Narayan remains optimistic about Tesla's long-term prospects. He said that Tesla is currently in between two waves, with Model 3 and Model Y basically saturated, and is waiting for the next major push from its affordable model, which is expected to be priced below $30000. It is expected that this new car will be put into production in the second half of next year.
On Monday of this week, Wells Fargo lowered its Tesla target price from $200 to $120, which is currently one of the lowest target prices offered by Wall Street for Tesla. The bank describes Tesla as a "growth company without growth" and expects its earnings per share to be 32% lower than expected this year.
VinFast rose 2.66%, with a total market value of 11.74 billion US dollars. On the news, Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast announced on March 15th that the company has signed a distribution agreement with the African multi industry conglomerate Jospong Group. According to the agreement, Jospong will distribute VinFast cars in Ghana and West Africa, and plans to deploy public charging infrastructure. In addition, VinFast's parent company Vingroup has signed a memorandum of understanding with Jospong to jointly explore business opportunities, including electric vehicle business.
New York Community Bank rose 4%, with a total market value of $3.112 billion. Moody's Investor Services has raised the credit rating of New York Community Bank, after the struggling bank received funding from a consortium led by Munuchin. However, the bank's rating is still considered junk. Moody's has raised the long-term issuer rating of the bank from B3 to B2, still five levels lower than investment grade. The credit rating company also mentioned in its reasons for the increase that the bank's annual report contains an unqualified audit opinion, which means that auditors believe that the company's financial statements achieve a fair presentation. Moody's downgraded the bank's rating to junk in February, and further downgraded it earlier this month.
Popular Chinese concept stocks have fluctuated, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling 0.41% and a cumulative increase of 3.83% this week. Weibo rose by over 4%, Xiaopeng Motors and Ideal Motors rose by over 2.5%, JD.com and Bilibili rose by over 1%, Pinduoduo and Alibaba slightly rose; Futu Holdings fell nearly 4%, Manbang fell nearly 3%, New Oriental, Tencent Music, and Ctrip fell more than 1%, while Baidu, NetEase, and Vipshop saw a slight decline.
McDonald's is experiencing a widespread system malfunction
On March 15th, Beijing time, the topic of # McDonald's Collapse # surged to the hot search, and many netizens reported that McDonald's apps and mini programs were unable to order, menus could not be refreshed, and coupons could not be used. On the afternoon of the 15th, McDonald's official Weibo account released an update stating that the online ordering system of McDonald's has been fully restored.
On Friday, McDonald's US stock market fell 0.92%, with a total market value of 2016 billion US dollars.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters on the 15th, McDonald's system malfunctioned and many stores in Japan, Australia, and other places suspended operations. According to reports, McDonald's announced on the 15th that many of its stores in Japan have ceased operations due to system disruptions. In addition, some other global stores, including Australia, are also facing technological disruptions.
The report also mentioned that McDonald's Australia spokesperson stated that they are also aware of the impact of technological disruptions on restaurants across Australia and are working to address this issue.
McDonald's official website shows that it operates nearly 3000 stores in Japan and approximately 1000 stores in Australia.
In addition, some McDonald's stores in New Zealand have also reported power outages. A company spokesperson told The New Zealand Herald, "The restaurant has encountered IT issues that have affected their ability to process orders."
It is understood that this is the second time McDonald's system has malfunctioned in three months. On January 24th, according to media reports, multiple netizens posted claiming that McDonald's had "collapsed" and that the mini program and app could not be refreshed, resulting in the inability to order. During the payment process, any item in multiple stores will be displayed as sold out. The topic of the day # McDonald's Collapse # topped the trending list on Weibo.
According to the financial report, McDonald's recorded a revenue of 25.494 billion US dollars in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 10%; Net profit was 8.469 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 37%. According to data, McDonald's added a net 1547 stores globally in 2023, of which 925 were located in China, accounting for 59.8% of the total.