To The Moon

U.S. Markets Rise as Investors Digest Inflation Data; Asian Markets Decline Due to U.S. Tariff Threats

🇺🇸 S&P 500 Index: +1.04% 📈

🇺🇸 Nasdaq Index: +1.51% 📈

🇪🇺 EURO STOXX 600 Index: +1.11% 📈

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: +1.28% 📈

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: -0.20% 📉

🇨🇳 CSI 300 Index: -0.38% 📉

🇸🇬 Straits Times Index (STI): +0.29% 📈

U.S. markets broadly rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.0% and 1.5%, respectively. The rally was driven by gains in Nvidia $NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$ , Apple $Apple(AAPL)$ , and Tesla $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ after Donald Trump unveiled a plan for reciprocal tariffs on trade partners.

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% month-over-month, exceeding the market expectation of 0.3%. However, core PPI met expectations, indicating continued inflationary pressure.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell to 213,000, below the expected 217,000, signaling a stable labor market in early February.

EU industrial production declined by 1.1% in December, worse than market expectations.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell, with the Hang Seng Index and CSI 300 Index dropping 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, as investors reduced bets due to the Federal Reserve's hawkish rate outlook.

Upcoming Events: 💡

This weekend, the EU's quarterly GDP estimate, U.S. retail sales and core retail sales data, and U.S. industrial production figures will be released.

Things to Know: 💡

1. Nissan and Honda have canceled their $60 billion merger talks, increasing uncertainty for Nissan and highlighting pressure from Chinese competitors.

Merger failure

2. Hong Kong regulators pledged to ease listing requirements for mainland Chinese firms to strengthen its position as a global financial hub.

HKEX

3. Alibaba $Alibaba(09988)$ will collaborate with Apple to support iPhone AI services in China, potentially helping Apple counter declining smartphone sales in the Chinese market.

Alibaba collaborates with Apple

5. Trump stated that Taiwan has taken away America's semiconductor industry and expressed his desire to bring it back to the U.S. $Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing(TSM)$  

TSMC

✅ Key Takeaway:

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) rose in January, but core elements of the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index remained moderate or declined, supporting stock market gains.

@Daily_Discussion  @TigerStars  @Tiger_comments  @TigerGPT