US Stocks Surge, Dow Hits New Record High, Trump's Election Effect Continues

US Stocks Surge, Dow Hits New Record High, Trump's Election Effect ContinuesUS stocks rallied across the board on Monday, as the Trump election effect continued. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 304

US Stocks Surge, Dow Hits New Record High, Trump's Election Effect Continues

US stocks rallied across the board on Monday, as the Trump election effect continued. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 304.14 points, or 0.69%, to 44,293.13, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.06% to 19,298.76, and the S&P 500 index added 0.10% to 6,001.35, all setting new all-time highs. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks small-cap stocks, climbed 1.5% to its highest level since November last year, as small and medium-sized businesses are seen as major beneficiaries of President-elect Trump's proposed tax cuts and looser regulatory environment.

Tech giants were mixed, with Tesla surging over 9% to its biggest five-day gain in four years, its market value at $1.12 trillion surpassing TSMC to become the 7th largest in the US. Google rose 1.2%, while Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta all fell by about 1.0%. The financial sector climbed 1.4% as investors anticipated that the new administration might ease industry regulation, with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo gaining over 2%. Other notable gainers included Cigna, up 7.3%, and Salesforce, up 6.2%. Cryptocurrency stocks surged, with Bitcoin soaring to a record high of $88,000. Coinbase Global rose 20%, while MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms climbed 30% and 17%, respectively.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index gained 0.6%. Alibaba rose 1.3%, JD.com increased 1.8%, while Pinduoduo fell 0.5% and Baidu slipped 0.8%. With the US election concluding and the year-end approaching, investors remain optimistic about the market outlook, buoyed by the flourishing AI sector and the continued easing of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. This week, the market will closely watch the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to be released on Wednesday and the retail sales month-on-month figure on Friday. Morgan Stanley expects the monthly core inflation rate, excluding volatile food and energy components, to accelerate by 0.3%. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, the probability of another 25-basis-point rate cut at the December meeting stands at nearly 65% following the Fed's 25-basis-point cut last week.

International oil prices were under pressure as investors weighed demand and supply prospects. WTI crude for December delivery fell 3.32% to $68.04 per barrel, while Brent crude for December delivery declined 2.76% to $71.83 per barrel. Gold prices plummeted, weighed down by a stronger dollar and increased risk appetite. Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.84% to $2,611.20 an ounce.

Today's Highlights

Bitcoin Breaks $88,000

On November 12, Bitcoin surged past $88,000, setting a new all-time high, gaining over $7,500 or 9.5% within 24 hours. Its total market cap exceeded $1.72 trillion.

Lei Jun Responds to "Being Asked to Screw"

On November 11, Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing posted on Weibo, saying, "Today I went to Xiaomi's Changping smartphone smart factory to visit the frontline production team. The delivery of Xiaomi 15 is very good, and I also ask the factory to speed up production of the out-of-stock versions." A netizen commented, "The custom color has been out for ten days and still hasn't shipped. Let Lei Jun go screw." Lei Jun forwarded the comment and responded, "I'll go urge them right away."

Financial News

Recently, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, presented a report on financial work since October 2023 to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at its 12th meeting of the 14th session, on behalf of the State Council. Looking ahead, Pan Gongsheng emphasized that they will strengthen countercyclical adjustments in monetary policy to create a favorable monetary and financial environment for stable economic growth and high-quality development. He also discussed topics such as opening up to the outside world and risk prevention, sending out numerous policy signals.

On November 11, the People's Bank of China released financial data for October. An analysis of the data reveals several key points: firstly, the growth rate of M2 rebounded while the growth rate of M1, after dropping for six consecutive months, saw its first rebound. Secondly, credit structure showed several bright spots, particularly with personal housing loans exhibiting some improvement in growth. Thirdly, the total social financing scale saw steady growth. The market generally agrees that the supportive monetary policy stance will not change in the short term, and monetary policy is expected to continue at a relatively strong level next year. Furthermore, achieving the annual economic growth target requires a greater role from fiscal policy. Insufficient fiscal strength will become a constraint on stabilizing growth.

The Ministry of Natural Resources issued a notice on the use of local government special bond funds to reclaim and repurchase existing idle land. It states that using special bond funds to reclaim and repurchase existing idle land is a crucial measure to reduce the scale of idle land in the market, improve the supply and demand relationship of land, enhance the liquidity of local governments and enterprises, and promote the stabilization and recovery of the real estate market.

The Ministry of Commerce issued a supplementary announcement on imposing provisional anti-dumping measures on relevant brandies imported from the EU. According to the "Anti-dumping Regulations of the People's Republic of China" and relevant investigation findings, on August 29, the Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 35 of 2024, preliminarily determining that relevant brandies imported from the EU are being dumped, and the domestic relevant brandy industry is threatened with substantial injury, and there is a causal relationship between dumping and the threat of substantial injury. From November 15th onwards, when importing the investigated products, import operators should provide the General Administration of Customs with corresponding security deposits or guarantees according to the security deposit ratios determined for each company in this announcement.

On November 11, officials from relevant departments of the Ministry of Education answered questions from reporters regarding the "Pre-School Education Law of the People's Republic of China." Officials stated that in terms of restrictions on running institutions, the law stipulates that no unit or individual may use fiscal funds, state-owned assets, collective assets, or donated assets to run or participate in running for-profit private kindergartens. Public kindergartens cannot be converted into private kindergartens. Social capital cannot control public kindergartens or non-profit private kindergartens through mergers, acquisitions, or other means, and kindergartens cannot be listed as enterprise assets in China or abroad.

On November 11, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released data on China's auto production and sales for October 2024. The data showed that car sales grew both month-on-month and year-on-year in October. Among them, the monthly production and sales of new energy vehicles reached a new high. Data showed that in October, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.463 million units and 1.43 million units respectively, up 48% and 49.6% year-on-year. New energy vehicle sales accounted for 46.8% of total new car sales.

On November 11, reporters learned that the State Administration for Market Regulation approved the establishment of the National Satellite Navigation Product Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Hubei), the f