The endless rise of the previous 3 quarters seems to be continuing at the start of the second half of 2024 (for a 4th consecutive quarter) with a new shower of closing records and absolute records equaled.
The Nasdaq had opened the ball the day before with a closing record of 17,880 and here it is doing it again with redoubled enthusiasm: +0.84% to 18,030 points, which brings its annual gain to +20%.
The Nasdaq-100 (+1%) also broke a record at 20,012 points (first closing in history above 20,000), in the wake of the usual stars (GAFA + Tesla, + semiconductors, with Tesla +10.2% (quarterly sales higher than expected), On Semiconductors +5.4%, AMD +4.2%, ARM +2.9%, NXP +2.4%, Apple +1.6%, Alphabet +1.2% (the annual score flirts with +19%).
The S&P-500 (+0.62%) closed for the first time in its history above 5,500 points, at 5,509 (compared to 5,487 on June 18, i.e. +15.5% annually).
The Dow Jones continues to struggle to reach 40,000, but is getting a little closer with +0.4% at 39,331 points.
The macro agenda was virtually empty, apart from the JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report, which came out a little stronger than expected.
Wall Street seemed to appreciate the words of Jerome Powell, the head of the Fed, who is participating with Christine Lagarde in the annual ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal (the European equivalent of the Jackson Hole meeting held every year at the end of August in the United States).
Powell reiterated that while inflation had made “some progress,” its decline should be allowed to continue in order to “give more confidence in the slowdown in price increases before we begin to ease monetary policy.”
The head of the FED confirms that he is torn between the fear of reducing rates too quickly and that of waiting too long.
The yield on the 10-year T-Bond eased this evening by -2.3 points to 4.438% after having fluctuated weakly this Tuesday between 4.4600 and 4.4100%.
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.
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