The never-ending rise of the previous three quarters seems to be continuing as we enter the second half of 2024 (for a fourth consecutive quarter), with a new shower of closing records and absolute records equalled.

The Nasdaq Composite had opened the ball the previous day with a closing record of 17,880, and here it is again with redoubled enthusiasm: +0.84% to almost 18,029, taking its annual gain to +20%.

The Nasdaq-100 (+1%) also broke a record at 20,012 (first ever close above 20,000), in the wake of the usual stars with Tesla +10.2% (quarterly sales ahead of expectations), On Semiconductors +5.4%, AMD +4.2%, ARM +2.9%, NXP +2.4%, Apple +1.6%, Alphabet +1.2% (annual score flirting with +19%).

The S&P500 (+0.62%) closed above the 5,500 mark for the first time in its history, at 5,509 (compared with 5,487 on June 18, i.e. +15.5% for the year). The Dow Jones continues to struggle to find its way back to 40,000, but is getting a little closer with +0.41% at nearly 39,332.

The "macro" agenda was virtually empty, apart from the JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), which came out a little stronger than expected.

Wall Street seemed to appreciate the words of Fed boss Jerome Powell, who was taking part in the ECB's annual forum in Sintra, Portugal (the European counterpart to the Jackson Hole meeting held every year at the end of August in the USA).

He reaffirmed that while inflation had made "progress", its decline needed to be confirmed in order to "give more confidence that price rises are slowing before we start easing monetary policy". He confirmed that he was torn between the fear of cutting rates too quickly and the fear of waiting too long.

The yield on the 10-year T-Bond eased this evening by -2.3 basis points to 4.438%, after oscillating limply on Tuesday between 4.46 and 4.41%. Despite the recent rise in yields from 4.25% on June 25 to 4.50% on Monday morning, investors believe there is a nearly 70% chance of a Fed rate cut in September.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.