U.S. stocks closed in a state of shock on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued its seven-day rise, hitting a new all-time high. However, the trend of innovative high-school concept stocks diverged, with Xpeng falling more than 7% and New Oriental falling more than 9%.
The day was marked by an announcement from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell on Wednesday stating that an interest rate cut is on the horizon. However, an important Fed member refuted his view on Friday, saying that he has not considered cutting interest rates yet and will have to raise interest rates again if necessary.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 60 points, setting a new all-time high, while the Nasdaq rose more than 50 points to hit a new high in over two years. The S&P 500, on the other hand, saw a slight dip by 0.01%. The three major stock indexes all recorded gains for the seventh consecutive week, with technology stocks generally rising.
Popular Chinese concept stocks experienced mixed gains and losses during the day, with JD.com rising by more than 4%, and New Oriental and Xpeng both falling by more than 9%. The market has been closely watching the Fed’s policy outlook, as it remains uncertain amidst conflicting statements by Powell and other Fed officials. Concerns have also been raised about the U.S. economic outlook as U.S. Treasury yields fell sharply this week.
Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at iCapital, emphasized that the Fed’s stance on interest rates should depend on economic indicators, and that the market’s reaction to the news has been significant. The day saw a sharp fall in the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, prompting “Bond King” Gundlach to warn that the U.S. economic outlook is not good.
For the full details of the day’s events and ongoing market fluctuations, investors, economists, and market analysts will continue to closely monitor financial news in the coming days.