Overnight US stocks | The three major indices closed up, CoreWeave (CRWV.US) rose more than 24%, spot gold fell below the $4,000 mark
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Wednesday, boosted by CoreWeave's earnings data, the AI sector rebounded sharply, and the three major indices closed higher. Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic said in an updated SEC filing that it will issue 825 million shares in an initial public offering scheduled for next week, which could value the five-year-old company as high as $1.4 trillion.
[US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones index rose 254.60 points, or 0.49%, to 52486.49 points; the S&P 500 rose 98.48 points, or 1.31%, to 7619.41 points; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 400.31 points, or 1.60%, to 25466.19 points. CoreWeave (CRWV.US) rose more than 24%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) rose 13%, Micron Technology (MU.US) rose 11.8%, Intel (INTC.US) rose more than 7%, SK Hynix (SKHY.US) rose 9.7%, and Nvidia (NVDA.US) rose 2.8%. Apple (AAPL.US) rose 2% to a new high. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed down 0.8%, while IQ.US (IQ.US) rose 9%.
[European stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 279.34 points, or 1.06%, to 26669.56 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 83.46 points, or 0.78%, to 10835.05 points; the French CAC40 index rose 54.28 points, or 0.66%, to 8332.87 points; the European Stoxx 50 index rose 68.58 points, or 1.08%, to 6396.45 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose 62.02 points, or 0.31%, 20021.92 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 199.42 points, or 0.39%, to 51954.50 points.
[Foreign Exchange] The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against the six major currencies, rose 0.66% on the same day and closed at 102.908 at the end of the foreign exchange market. As of the end of the exchange market in New York, 1 euro was worth 1.1091 US dollars, lower than 1.1166 US dollars on the previous trading day; 1 pound was worth 1.3278 US dollars, lower than 1.3348 US dollars on the previous trading day. 1 US dollar was worth 159.86 yen, up from 158.78 yen on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 0.8831 Swiss franc, higher than 0.8250 Swiss franc on the previous trading day; 1 US dollar was worth 1.4248 Canadian dollars, higher than 1.4182 Canadian dollars on the previous trading day; and 1 US dollar was worth 9.9770 SEK, up from 9.8742 on the previous trading day.
[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rebounded above the $74,000 mark to $74,309.35; Ethereum rose 0.86% to $2068.07.
[Precious Metals] Affected by higher-than-expected US inflation data and hawkish statements from Federal Reserve officials, the market further strengthened expectations for the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike in December, and spot gold fell below the $4,000 mark. At the close, spot gold fell 1.12% to $3987.89; spot silver rose 0.25% to $51.674 per ounce.
[Crude oil] Light crude oil futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 49 cents, or 0.57%, to close at $86.53 a barrel; London Brent crude oil futures for January delivery rose $1.27, to close at $92.76 a barrel, or 1.39%.
[Macro News]
Media: Vance's quest for face-to-face talks with Rezai has been authorized by Trump. According to media reports citing US and Middle Eastern officials, Trump is open to Vice President Vance restarting negotiations with Iraq and authorized him to take responsibility for negotiations. Vance is considering direct talks with Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rezai and former Revolutionary Guard Commander Rezai. No dates have yet been set; Doha is considered a potential location for talks. US officials stressed that discussions on sending Vance to meet directly with Iranian officials are still in the preliminary stages. Vance's recent role in Iraq's diplomacy has surpassed that of special envoys Witkov and Kushner. The report pointed out that leading the negotiations is a political risk for Vance: if the negotiations fail, he may become a representative of diplomatic setbacks; if the war ends successfully, he may obtain political capital. Trump had previously privately questioned the June memorandum of understanding that Vance participated in, believing that the agreement gave Iran time to reorganize its strength; the White House denied this claim. The differences between the two sides still focus on issues such as lifting the maritime blockade, releasing frozen assets, and easing oil sanctions. Currently, Iranian diplomats and some Middle Eastern mediators are skeptical about the prospects for negotiations. Trump previously said that the US will maintain the blockade and deploy additional aircraft carriers to the region; Secretary of State Rubio said that there is currently no need to launch large-scale military operations, and economic pressure is working.
LME aluminum's spot rise to a new high of more than 30 years, and inventory fell to its lowest level since 1990. According to media reports, the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminum spot price once had a premium of 147 US dollars/ton over three-month futures on Wednesday, the highest in more than 30 years; LME warehouse inventory fell to its lowest level since 1990, and the spot lift structure (backwardation) reached its worst level since the late 1980s. According to exchange data, as of Monday, long positions in warehouse receipts and spot contracts held by the two trading entities were equivalent to 60% to 80% of the inventory available in the LME storage network, further exacerbating the problem of concentrated supply. Meanwhile, the Tom/Next price spread, which reflects delayed delivery costs, once rose to $31.73 per ton, the highest since 2021, indicating increased pressure on the market to compete for existing inventory. The Middle East conflict has disrupted aluminum exports in the Gulf region, rising transportation costs and risks, and some smelters are still repairing damaged facilities. At the same time, trade barriers limit supply in the European and American markets. Although additional production capacity is being released in Indonesia, its aluminum products are not yet eligible for LME delivery, making it difficult to ease inventory shortages in the short term. LME said it will prevent the market from being overcontrolled through large account position management rules. The futures price curve shows that supply pressure has extended to 2028.
[Individual Stock News]
Microsoft promised to bear its own power supply costs for AI computing power expansion. Noel Walsh, head of Microsoft's (MSFT.US) cloud operations and innovation department, said that the company will bear its own electricity costs due to data center expansion, will not rely on government subsidies, and will not pass on the costs to other electricity consumers. Microsoft plans to invest 117 billion US dollars to build computing power for AI and cloud services this year. The company is cooperating with Chevron (CVX.N) and investment agency EngineNo.1 to advance Project Kilby, a large-scale data center and supporting power project in western Texas. Although the project was previously affected by the suspension of local data center approval measures, it is still planning to start construction in 2028 and be fully put into operation in 2031. Chevron said that the project will create local jobs and stabilize tax revenue, while Microsoft emphasized that data center construction must bring net benefits to the local community, otherwise it will be difficult to continue.
Google connected Gemini voice assistants to Apple CarPlay to expand into the field of in-vehicle AI. Google (GOOG.US) announced that the Gemini AI application will be connected to Apple (AAPL.O) CarPlay. iOS users around the world can use Gemini voice mode on the car screen one after another to enable hands-free conversations, support all languages that have already launched voice mode, and chat records will also be synchronized with the Gemini app on the iPhone. Users can voice search for restaurants along the route, summarize unread emails, and draft responses. Previously, Apple had gradually opened up CarPlay voice functionality to third-party AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity. Gemini voice mode was connected to Google's Android Auto and cars with built-in Google services last month.