US Stocks Mixed; Dow Hits Record Close; Qualcomm in Talks to Buy Intel
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a new high at the close.
The Dow rose by 38.17 points, or 0.09%, to close at 42,063.36; the Nasdaq fell by 65.66 points, or 0.36%, to close at 17,948.32; the S&P 500 index fell by 11.09 points, or 0.19%, to close at 5,702.55.
For the week, U.S. stocks ended higher across the board, with the S&P 500 index up 1.36%, marking the fifth increase in the past six weeks, the Dow up 1.62%, and the Nasdaq up 1.49%.
Among Chinese concept stocks, the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index closed down by 0.60%.
XPeng Motors rose by 2.24%, Li Auto rose by 1.27%, New Oriental rose by 0.71%, Bilibili rose by 0.76%, while贝壳 fell by 5.58%, and NIO fell by 2.22%.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that due to inflation falling faster than expected, he supports the Fed's decision to cut rates by 50 basis points this week.
He stated that future rate cuts could take various forms, depending on the performance of economic data.
In August, both the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.2% month-on-month.
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Waller said that the latest data indicates a clearer downward trend in inflation, providing the Fed with more room for easing and shifting focus to supporting the labor market.
Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said that due to concerns that a large rate cut could drive up prices, she prefers the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points this week, not 50.
She said that although significant progress has been made in reducing inflation, core inflation remains at or above the 2.5% level, and the committee's significant policy actions could be interpreted as prematurely declaring victory in stabilizing prices.
Since 2005, Bowman is the first Federal Reserve Governor to cast a dissenting vote on an FOMC meeting statement.
Despite the Fed's announcement of a 50 basis point rate cut this week, mortgage rates have risen instead of falling.
According to Mortgage News Daily data, after the Fed's rate cut announcement, on Wednesday, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose by 4 basis points to 6.15%, and on Thursday it rose by another 2 basis points to 6.17%.
However, this contrasts with Freddie Mac's report measuring the weekly average of 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates.
The latter's report shows that mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in two years on Thursday.
Some market views believe that the rise in lending rates is only temporary, and it is expected that the 30-year mortgage rate will stabilize below 6% in the next one or two months.
In addition, Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist of the real estate website Redfin, said that this is based on the Fed's hints about future actions.
Mortgages are usually for several decades, so the Fed's statements about the future are more important than its current actions.
It is reported that Qualcomm has approached Intel to discuss acquisition matters.
Qualcomm's stock price once rose by more than 7% during the trading session, closing up 3.31%, at $21.84 per share.
If the deal is reached, it would become one of the largest technology mergers and acquisitions in history.
Intel's market value is about $93 billion.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued three major U.S. health companies responsible for negotiating insulin prices.
The FTC believes that these pharmaceutical intermediaries are increasing profits by "artificially" raising patient costs.
The lawsuit targets three major companies, including Optum Rx owned by UnitedHealth Group, Caremark owned by CVS Health, and Express Scripts owned by Cigna.
According to FTC data, these companies are all owned by or associated with health insurance companies and manage about 80% of prescription drugs in the United States.
The FTC may also recommend suing insulin manufacturers Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk in the future, as these companies are also related to raising the listed prices of insulin products.
Nike's stock rose by 6.84%, closing at $86.52 per share.
The company said that former executive Elliott Hill will return to the company to replace John Donahoe as CEO, effective from October 14, 2024.
Donahoe will retire on October 13.
Recently, Nike's sales and first-quarter performance expectations have not met expectations, causing analysts to worry about consumer demand in North America, macro factors, and competitive impacts.
FedEx's stock fell by 15.23%, closing at $254.64 per share.
It recorded the largest single-day drop in two years.
As consumers continue to shift from fast, expensive delivery options to cheaper and slower alternatives, the company's first-quarter performance did not meet expectations and lowered its full-year revenue forecast.
FedEx's competitor, United Parcel Service (UPS), saw its stock under pressure, falling by 2.67%, closing at $128.60 per share.
U.S. WTI crude oil closed essentially flat in the commodity market.
The October delivery of WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by 0.04%, closing at $71.92 per barrel.
WTI crude oil rose by 4.76% this week.
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