Overnight U.S. Stocks | Dow Jones falls for the 7th consecutive trading day, U.S. dollar rises nearly 1% this week

According to Zhitong Finance, on Friday, the three major indices had mixed results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling for the seventh consecutive trading day, marking the longest losing streak since April. This week, the Dow fell a total of 1.82%, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.64%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.34%.

[U.S. Stocks] At the close, the Dow fell 86.06 points, a decrease of 0.20%, closing at 43,828.06 points; the Nasdaq rose 23.88 points, an increase of 0.12%, closing at 19,926.72 points; the S&P 500 index fell 0.16 points, closing at 6,051.09 points. Tesla (TSLA.US) rose 4.34%, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) fell 2.25%, Broadcom (AVGO.US) rose 24.43%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US) fell 2.83%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX 30 index rose 2.04 points, an increase of 0.01%, closing at 20,430.95 points; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 12.11 points, a decrease of 0.15%, closing at 8,299.65 points; the French CAC 40 index fell 11.37 points, a decrease of 0.15%, closing at 7,409.57 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.92 points, an increase of 0.04%, closing at 4,967.45 points; the Spanish IBEX 35 index fell 12.13 points, a decrease of 0.10%, closing at 11,752.67 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 32.63 points, an increase of 0.09%, closing at 34,890.00 points.

[Asia-Pacific Stock Markets] The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.95%, the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia fell 0.94%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea rose 0.5%.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose over 1.4%, trading at $101,448 per coin.

[Gold] Spot gold fell below $2,660 per ounce, down 0.77% for the day.

[Crude Oil] Brent crude oil futures for February delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange rose by $1.08, an increase of 1.47%, closing at $74.49 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $1.27, an increase of 1.81%, closing at $71.29 per barrel, reaching a new high since November 7. WTI crude oil has risen over 6.08% this week. Analysts point out that on one hand, Iran and Russia may face additional sanctions leading to tight oil supplies. On the other hand, there is also a possibility of oversupply in the international oil market.

[Foreign Exchange] The dollar rose nearly 1% this week, the yen fell towards 154, down over 2% for the week, and the offshore yuan briefly fell below 7.29 yuan.

[Macroeconomic News]

U.S. Import Prices Rise for Second Consecutive Month Due to Rising Fuel Costs. U.S. import prices unexpectedly rose in November, marking the second consecutive month of increases, driven by geopolitical tensions pushing up fuel prices. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Friday that import prices rose 0.1% month-on-month in November, unchanged from the previous month, while economists had expected a decrease of 0.2%. The Department of Labor stated that the main reason for the rise in import prices last month was the increase in fuel prices. Due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, import oil prices rose 0.4% in November, after a cumulative decline of 12% from July to October Data shows that non-oil prices rose by 0.2%.

U.S. polls show half of Americans lack confidence in Trump's ability to nominate qualified cabinet members. A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that half of Americans lack confidence in President-elect Trump's ability to nominate qualified individuals for new cabinet or key executive positions. The survey results indicate that 55% of American respondents have "some confidence" or "no confidence at all" in Trump's ability to select qualified candidates during his second term, while 27% of respondents expressed "great confidence." The poll was conducted from December 5 to 9, with 1,251 American adults surveyed, and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.

Bank of America: Investors flocked to Chinese stocks in the past week. Bank of America strategists stated that investors poured funds into Chinese stocks again in the past week. As of Wednesday, Chinese equity funds received approximately $5.6 billion in capital allocation, marking the largest inflow in nine weeks, according to strategists including Michael Hartnett, citing EPFR Global data. He also believes that the first quarter of next year is a point for entering non-U.S. stocks. Given that investors have already positioned themselves heavily for rising dollar and U.S. Treasury yields, there is a risk of overshooting early next year. He considers bonds, gold, and international stocks attractive under the assumption that persistent inflation will force the Federal Reserve to become more hawkish.

European Central Bank announces changes to the publication of emergency pandemic purchase program (PEPP) data. The European Central Bank stated that on December 5, 2024, the Governing Council approved changes to the publication of monetary policy portfolio data under the emergency pandemic purchase program (PEPP), as the time approaches for the suspension of reinvestments under the PEPP by the end of 2024. For the first time since 2014, the euro system will not purchase bonds under either the asset purchase program or the PEPP. The foreseeable changes will ensure that the level of transparency provided by future published data remains appropriate. It is reported that PEPP data will be published monthly instead of every two months to align with the equivalent asset purchase program data series, and historical monthly data series since the program's inception will be published. The publication system for PEPP and the asset purchase program will be further aligned, including the retrospective and prospective redemption data for PEPP. The changes will take effect from January 8, 2025.

【Individual Stock News】

Broadcom (AVGO.US) stock price surges, market capitalization surpasses $1 trillion. Broadcom, a chip supplier for Apple and other large tech companies, saw its market capitalization soar to $1 trillion for the first time after predicting a surge in demand for its artificial intelligence chips. The company stated in a conference call that sales of AI products are expected to grow by 65% in the first fiscal quarter, far exceeding its overall semiconductor growth of about 10%. The company also forecasts that by fiscal year 2027, the potential market size for its AI components designed for data center operators could reach $90 billion. Like NVIDIA, Broadcom positions itself as a major beneficiary of the AI spending boom Its CEO Hock Tan stated that his company has won two new hyperscale customers - the largest data center operators.

The Trump team plans to abolish the reporting of autonomous driving accidents, and Tesla (TSLA.US) stock price rose over 4%. The Trump transition team has suggested that the incoming government abolish the current general order requiring automakers to report accidents related to autonomous driving systems. Canceling this requirement would benefit Tesla; under this order, Tesla has reported over 1,500 accidents to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the highest number. The suggestion to abolish this regulation comes from a transition team responsible for formulating a 100-day strategy for automotive policy. The team stated that this order is a mandatory "excessive" data collection. As of Friday's close, Tesla rose over 4%.

Investors riding the "Musk trade" wave see substantial returns, with one fund even surging 500%. Whether Wall Street funds or small short-term traders, anyone bold enough to bet heavily on Elon Musk's business empire is likely to end the year with significant profits, as Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election has greatly boosted the wealth of the world's richest man. Musk's support for Trump during the campaign and his appointment to lead the newly established Department of Efficiency have made his companies, including Tesla and the private unicorns SpaceX and xAI, hot assets. These companies have seen their market values soar this year, pushing Musk's personal wealth past $400 billion. The closed-end fund Destiny Tech100 Inc. (DXYZ.US) is one such fund that has benefited from the Musk trade. Since the election on November 5, this fund has surged over 500%. The fund invests in shares of private unicorn companies, and its latest filing shows that as of the end of September, its bet on SpaceX accounted for more than one-third of its holdings. Trump's victory has led to a surge of retail investors flocking to this fund, driving its trading price far above its underlying asset valuation, with the premium level reaching astonishing heights.

Recent research supports Harvard's findings: Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) weight loss drug Ozempic is associated with rare vision loss. Large-scale trial results indicate that Novo Nordisk's weight loss drug Ozempic is associated with rare vision loss, supporting earlier research findings from Harvard University this year. Obese patients using Ozempic are diagnosed with NAION more than twice as often. NAION occurs when reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve. The risk of this eye condition remains low; patients should be vigilant. Novo Nordisk's Danish stock price once fell over 3.3%