S&P 500 has risen for six consecutive days, Chinese concept stocks have outperformed the market again, the European Central Bank hinted at further rate hikes, the euro has risen, and the renminbi has rebounded strongly.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve suspended interest rate hikes as expected by the market. The interest rate expectations announced after the meeting suggested that there may be two more rate hikes this year, but Federal Reserve Chairman Powell did not commit to restarting rate hikes in July. On Thursday, US retail sales unexpectedly increased in May, showing resilience in consumer demand under the pressure of Federal Reserve tightening and rising prices, with two consecutive months of MoM growth.

Clarida, former second-in-command of the Federal Reserve and vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Thursday that the timing of the suspension of interest rate hikes was awkward. If the data is closer to market expectations rather than the Federal Reserve's expectations, the Federal Reserve may make its last rate hike of this cycle in July, ending the rate hike cycle. Nick Timiraos, a journalist known as the "New Federal Reserve News Agency," wrote on the same day that analysts believe, based on Powell's statement at Wednesday's press conference, that it is more likely that there will be a rate hike in July, and economic data also supports a rate hike in July.

Some commentators believe that investors are betting that the Federal Reserve will end rate hikes as soon as possible to avoid an economic recession, which supports the rise of US stocks. US Treasury prices rose and yields fell accordingly. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury and 2-year US Treasury both fell more than 10 basis points from their intraday highs. In addition, the expectation of more growth-stabilizing policies in China and good news in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have boosted US stocks. Optimistic expectations that generative AI capabilities will stimulate demand for its software have led Adobe to raise its sales forecast. Microsoft announced that it will cooperate with Mercedes-Benz to conduct in-car ChatGPT testing. Several AI concept stocks rebounded strongly on Thursday.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points as scheduled on Thursday. After the meeting, ECB President Lagarde said that it is "very likely" that interest rates will continue to rise in July. Currency market traders increased their bets on the ECB's recent interest rate hikes, and it is expected that interest rates will rise to 4% by October, equivalent to another 50 basis points on the current level. During Lagarde's speech, European stocks fell, European bond yields and the euro rose intraday, and the euro hit a one-month high against the US dollar. The yield on two-year German bonds, which is sensitive to interest rate prospects, rose by more than 10 basis points. The yield on two-year UK bonds rose by more than 10 basis points intraday, hitting a new high since 2008 after unexpectedly falling unemployment rates and the fastest wage growth in 20 years on Tuesday.

The strength of the euro has put pressure on the US dollar, and the US dollar index plunged intraday, hitting a new low in nearly a month and the largest daily decline in four months. Supported by the weak US dollar, it rebounded strongly, and offshore it once recovered to 7.12 during US stock trading, rising more than 700 points from its intraday low. The yen rebounded in the short term, and there is still a risk of approaching a six-month low before the Bank of Japan announces its monetary policy decision on Friday. Boosted by the decline of the US dollar, commodities rose overall. International crude oil rebounded strongly to a one-week high, rising nearly 4% at one point, partly due to Chinese data. China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that processed crude oil production in May increased by 15.4% YoY, maintaining the momentum of double-digit growth in April, while imported crude oil increased by 12.3% YoY after a 1.4% decline in April. Gold jumped in intraday trading as the US dollar turned lower, erasing a 1.7% intraday decline. The media reported that after the Netherlands closes Europe's largest natural gas field in October this year, the benchmark Dutch natural gas futures on the European continent soared more than 30% at one point before giving back most of the gains during the day.

The three major US stock indexes rose more than 1%, with Microsoft and Apple hitting new highs, while Tesla fell for two consecutive days and chip stocks fell back. Nvidia temporarily bid farewell to its historical high.

The three major US stock indexes opened low and rose high, with all of them turning positive in early trading. At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had fallen more than 33 points in early trading, rose nearly 510 points, or about 1.5%, while the S&P 500, which had fallen more than 0.2% in early trading, rose more than 1.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index, which had fallen nearly 0.5% in early trading, rose nearly 1.5%.

In the end, all three indexes closed higher, with all of them rising more than 1% in a single day for the first time since the US non-farm payroll report was released on June 2. The S&P 500 rose 1.22% to 4,425.84 points, and the Nasdaq rose 1.15% to 13,782.82 points, both hitting new highs since April last year and rising for six consecutive days. The Dow, which ended its six-day winning streak on Wednesday, rose 428.73 points, or 1.26%, and both the Dow and the S&P recorded their largest gains since June 2, reaching 34,408.06 points, a new high since December last year.

The Nasdaq 100, which is dominated by technology stocks, rose 1.2%, rising for six consecutive days and hitting a new high since January last year for three consecutive days, while the Nasdaq rose the most since June 1. The Russell 2000, which is dominated by value stocks, rose 0.81%, erasing more than half of the losses from Wednesday's decline, approaching the high since March 6 that was set after two consecutive days of gains, but lagging behind the broader market for two consecutive days.

All major sectors of the S&P 500 rose, with healthcare, communication services, and industry all rising more than 1.5%, IT and utilities rising more than 1%, energy rising slightly more than 1%, and real estate rising more than 0.3%, the smallest increase.

Most leading technology stocks rose, but Tesla fell more than 3% in early trading before the decline narrowed significantly, closing down nearly 0.4% after a record 13-day winning streak and falling further from its high since the end of September last year.

The main US stock indexes' performance from Wednesday to Thursday. FAANMG's six major technology stocks rose on the second day of co-founder Bill Gates' visit to China. Microsoft rose nearly 3.2%, hitting a new closing high for the fifth consecutive day; Meta, the parent company of Facebook, rose 3.1%, hitting a new high since January last year for the fifth consecutive day; Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which fell on Wednesday, rose nearly 1.2%, approaching the high since April last year set last Tuesday; Apple rose 1.1%, hitting a new closing high for the third consecutive day this week; Netflix rose 1%, rising for seven consecutive days and hitting a high since January last year for the fifth consecutive day; Amazon, which fell on Wednesday, rose nearly 0.6%, hitting a high since September last year.

Overall, chip stocks that rose for five consecutive days and outperformed the market for three consecutive days fell. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 1% in early trading and closed down nearly 0.9%. The semiconductor industry ETF SOXX fell more than 0.8%, falling away from the high since January last year set for three consecutive days. Among individual stocks, Nvidia, which rose for five consecutive days, fell nearly 2% in early trading and closed down 0.8%, temporarily leaving the historical high set on Tuesday, but the market value of the closing for three consecutive days exceeded $1 trillion; AMD fell more than 2%, Micron Technology fell 0.4%, Broadcom fell 0.3%, while Intel rose nearly 0.7% and Qualcomm rose nearly 0.2%.

Several AI concept stocks that fell on Wednesday rose sharply. C3.ai (AI), which fell nearly 0.6% on Wednesday, rose 8.2%, SoundHound.ai (SOUN), which fell more than 4% on Wednesday, rose 11.6%, BigBear.ai (BBAI), which fell 0.4% on Wednesday, rose 11.8%, Palantir (PLTR), which fell nearly 0.6% on Wednesday, rose 4.3%, Guardforce AI (GFAI), which fell more than 2% on Wednesday, rose 2.7%, Adobe (ADBE), which rose 0.1% on Wednesday, rose 2.4%, and Bullfrog AI (BFRGW), which fell nearly 2% on Wednesday, rose 0.1%.

The bank stock index rebounded overall, rising for the second day this week after Tuesday. The banking industry index KBW Bank Index (BKX) rose 1.5%, approaching the high since April 24 set on Tuesday; the regional bank index KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) rose 1.8%, and the regional bank stock ETF SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) rose 1.9%, both of which have left the low since June 5 set on Wednesday.

Among the major US banks, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase rose more than 1%, leading the way. Among the key regional banks, Pacific Western Bank (PACW), which fell more than 6% on Wednesday, rose more than 1%, Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), which fell nearly 6% on Wednesday, rose 0.9%, and Zions Bancorporation (ZION), which fell nearly 6% on Wednesday, rose 0.8%. Stocks that released their financial reports today showed that Lennar Corp. (LEN), a real estate developer that exceeded expectations in both earnings and revenue for the second quarter, delivered over 1,000 more units than expected, and raised its delivery guidance, rose nearly 5% in early trading and closed up 4.4%, leading the S&P 500. Kroger (KR), a supermarket giant that fell nearly 8% in early trading and closed down 2.7%, had lower-than-expected revenue in the first quarter, indicating that sales growth stimulated by the COVID-19 pandemic has cooled down. John Wiley & Sons (WLY), a well-known publisher that exceeded revenue expectations in the fourth quarter but announced a restructuring plan and divestment of non-core education businesses, fell nearly 11.2%.

Among the volatile stocks, Cava Group (CAVA), a chain restaurant, rose to $47 on its first day of trading on the NYSE, up nearly 118% from its issue price of $22, and closed up 99%. After reports that it had begun separate talks with potential acquirer Sheikh Jassim, who offered $6.3 billion, Manchester United (MANU) rose nearly 15% in intraday trading and closed up nearly 6.9%. Domino's Pizza (DPZ) closed up 6.5%, and the company expects delivery sales to stabilize further and takeaway sales to rebound next year, after which Stifel upgraded its rating from hold to buy. After authorizing a $2 billion share buyback, AutoZone (AZO) closed up nearly 4.1%.

Overall, popular Chinese concept stocks continued to rise, outperforming the broader market for three consecutive days. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) closed up 2.1%. The Chinese concept ETFs KWEB and CQQQ closed up 1.9% and 2%, respectively. Among individual stocks, JinkoSolar rose by about 11.8%, EHang Intelligent, Thunder, NIO, and Xiaopeng Motors rose by more than 9%, Bilibili rose by about 4%, Alibaba, JD, and New Oriental rose by more than 3%, Pinduoduo rose by more than 2%, Ideal Motors rose by nearly 2%, Tencent Music and Vipshop rose by more than 1%, Baidu rose by 1%, while Kingsoft Cloud fell by more than 3% and NetEase fell by 0.5%.

In Europe, after the European Central Bank raised interest rates and continued to act hawkishly, the pan-European stock index, which had risen for three consecutive days, fell back. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell from its closing high on May 23, which it had set for two consecutive days. Most major European stock indices fell. The German, French, and Italian stock indices, which had risen for three consecutive days, and the Spanish stock index, which rebounded on Wednesday, all fell, while the British stock index rose for two consecutive days.

In the various sectors of the Stoxx 600, property, which is sensitive to interest rates, fell by about 0.9%, leading the decline, and technology fell by about 0.6%. Among individual stocks, ASOS, a British online fashion retailer that surged 14.8% after announcing that its new strategy was beginning to take effect and that it was returning to profitability, and H&M, a Swedish fast-fashion giant that had a good start in June, rose 3.7%, supporting the retail sector to close up 0.3% against the market trend.

Euro hits one-month high, US dollar index plunges in intraday trading, hitting the largest drop in four months, offshore once rose more than 700 points

After the European Central Bank announced its decision and during President Lagarde's press conference, the euro against the US dollar rapidly expanded its gains. The US stock market once rose above 1.0950 at noon, refreshing its high since May 11, with an increase of more than 1% during the day, the largest increase since early February. The pound against the US dollar once rose above 1.2780 at noon, refreshing its high since April last year, with an increase of more than 0.9% during the day.

The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the exchange rates of a basket of six major currencies including the US dollar against the euro, approached 103.40 when it refreshed its daily high before the European stock market opened, with an increase of more than 0.4% during the day. After the European Central Bank announced its decision, it quickly fell below 103.00 and turned down. The US stock market once fell below 102.10, refreshing its intraday low since May 12, with a drop of more than 0.8% during the day.

By the close of the US stock market on Thursday, the US dollar index was below 102.20, with a drop of about 0.8% during the day; the US dollar spot index, which tracks the US dollar against ten other currencies, fell by about 0.7%, refreshing its low since May 10, and both the US dollar index and the spot index fell for three consecutive days, with the largest drop since early February.

The US dollar spot index fell to a five-week low

Before the Bank of Japan announced its monetary policy decision on Friday, the yen was close to a six-month low during Thursday's intraday trading. The US dollar against the yen once rose above 141.00 in the early European market, approaching its low since nearly half a year ago in November last year. After the European Central Bank meeting, it accelerated its decline and turned down once, and the US stock market once fell below 140.00, with a drop of about 0.1% during the day, and then quickly rebounded. According to a media survey, most economists expect that if the US dollar against the yen rises above 145, the Japanese government may intervene in the foreign exchange market as it did last year.

Offshore (CNH) against the US dollar once fell to 7.1922 in the early Asian market on Thursday, and after hitting a new intraday low since November 30 last year on Monday, it has continuously refreshed its low since November 29 last year for three consecutive days. After that, it continued to rebound, turned up before the European stock market opened, accelerated its rise after the European Central Bank meeting, and the US stock market once rose above 7.12 to 7.1180 at noon, rising 742 points from its intraday low. At 4:59 am Beijing time on June 16, offshore against the US dollar reported 7.1201 yuan, up 539 points from the New York closing on Wednesday, and rose for two consecutive days after three consecutive declines.

Onshore also rebounded greatly during Thursday's intraday trading

High-risk cryptocurrencies followed the rebound of the US stock market. Bitcoin (BTC) once fell below $24,900 during the European stock market and before the European Central Bank raised interest rates, approaching its low in the past three months. After the US stock market closed, it rose above $25,600, rising nearly $800 from its low during the day, an increase of more than 3%, and rose nearly 3% in the past 24 hours. BlackRock has applied to regulators to launch its first Bitcoin spot ETF, with Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, as its custodian, boosting the market sentiment for cryptocurrencies.

Two-year German bond yields rise more than 10 basis points, US bond yields fall more than 10 basis points from the daily high

European government bond prices fell overall, with yields generally hitting daily highs after the European Central Bank meeting. The benchmark 10-year German bond yield closed at 2.50%, up 5 basis points on the day, and had approached 2.55% after the ECB announced a rate hike, hitting a high since May 26 during intraday trading. The two-year German bond yield closed at 3.10%, up 11 basis points on the day, and had risen above 3.16% after the ECB rate hike, hitting a high since March 19.

The yield on the UK's 10-year benchmark government bond closed at 4.38%, down 1 basis point on the day, but had risen above 4.46% after the ECB rate hike, hitting a high since October last year on Tuesday. The two-year UK bond yield closed at 4.88%, up 8 basis points on the day, and had approached 4.95% after the ECB rate hike, hitting a high since 2008 for the second day this week.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US government bond rose above 3.84% in early European trading, hitting a daily high, and rose nearly 6 basis points on the day, approaching a high since May 26, which was refreshed on Wednesday. After the ECB meeting, it plunged, quickly falling below 3.80%, and the US stock market approached 3.70% in early trading, hitting a daily low, falling nearly 14 basis points from the daily high, and falling nearly 7 basis points on the day by the end of the bond market.

The two-year US bond yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate prospects, approached a daily high of 4.78% in European and US stock trading before the release of US retail sales data, rising more than 9 basis points on the day, and also fell sharply after the ECB meeting, quickly falling below 4.70%. The US stock market fell below 4.63% at noon, falling nearly 16 basis points from the daily high, far from the high of about three months ago, which was refreshed on Wednesday, and fell nearly 5 basis points on the day by the end of the bond market, reversing the trend of two consecutive days of gains.

Yield trends for various maturities of US bonds from Wednesday to Thursday

Crude oil rises more than 3% to a one-week high, European natural gas rises more than 30% during intraday trading and gives up most of its gains

International crude oil futures maintained their upward trend during European and American trading hours, accelerating their rise after the ECB rate hike. US WTI crude oil returned to the $70 level at the end of early US stock trading, rising to $70.96 when US stocks hit a daily high, up more than 3.9% on the day, while Brent crude oil rose to $75.97, up nearly 3.8% on the day.

In the end, crude oil erased Wednesday's decline, rising for the second day this week and the second day this week with a single-day increase of more than 3% after Tuesday, and rose nearly 3% intraday. WTI crude oil futures for July rose by $2.35, or 3.44%, to $70.62 per barrel, moving away from the closing low of $67 on March 17, which was close to Monday. Brent crude oil futures for August rose by $2.37, or 3.37%, to $75.67 per barrel, and both US and Brent crude oil futures hit their highest closing levels since June 8, moving away from the closing low of $72 on Monday, which was the lowest since December 20, 2021.

US WTI crude oil trend since early June

After the news that the Netherlands will close Europe's largest natural gas field, European natural gas prices surged during the day, but the gains were not sustained and gradually gave up most of the gains. The closing gains for three consecutive days were far less than those on Tuesday, when the power outage at Norwegian gas fields was extended.

UK natural gas futures, which rose 21.27% on Tuesday, rose 7.84% to 103 pence/calorie, hitting their highest closing level since April 5, with an intraday rise of about 29.8%. European TTF benchmark Dutch natural gas futures, which rose about 16.2% on Tuesday, rose about 7.4% to 41.145 euros/MWh, hitting their highest closing level since April 18, with an intraday rise to 49.95 euros, up about 30.4% on the day, and European stock futures rose 35.4% from their intraday lows.

US gasoline and natural gas futures rose together. NYMEX July gasoline futures, which fell slightly on Wednesday, rose 3.4% to $2.6417 per gallon, hitting their highest level since May 23; NYMEX July natural gas futures rose 8.2% to $2.5330 per million British thermal units, rising for four consecutive days and hitting a new closing high since May 19, partly due to the US Energy Information Administration's announcement that last week's natural gas inventory increase was lower than expected.

LME Copper, Lead and Nickel Hit Five-Week Highs, Gold Falls 1.7% and Rebounds in Intraday Trading

Most London base metal futures rose on Thursday after the unexpected interest rate cut by the People's Bank of China on Tuesday. Leading the gains, LME tin rose 1.7%, closing above the $27,000 mark for the first time since late April, and LME copper and nickel rose for three consecutive days. LME lead rose for six consecutive days, and LME copper and nickel hit five-week highs for two consecutive days. LME zinc and LME aluminum, which rose for two consecutive days, fell slightly, with LME zinc temporarily leaving its five-week high set on Wednesday and LME aluminum failing to approach its one-week high set last Friday.

New York gold futures fell for most of Thursday, hitting a low of $1,936.1 before the ECB announced its decision, down nearly 1.7% on the day. After the ECB meeting, gold rebounded quickly, and US stocks turned up in early trading, completely shaking off the downward trend at noon.

Finally, COMEX August gold futures rose 0.09% to $1,970.70 per ounce, rising for two consecutive days after falling for three consecutive days, and did not approach the low of $1,958.4 per ounce set on May 26, which was the lowest since May 5.

New York gold futures rebounded in a V-shape during Thursday's intraday trading.