U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday (16th) as investors waited for more information from the minutes of the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting as investors waited for more information from the minutes of the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 200 points, or 0.5%, the Nasdaq Composite was down more than 1%, the S&P 500 was down 0.7%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was up 1.55%.
The secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said on Wednesday morning that Russia still has military deployments on the Ukrainian border and that the veracity of Russia’s previous withdrawal statement remains to be clarified. For the United States, the main concern is that in the event of a war, sanctions on Russia could limit global commodity supplies, which could push up oil prices and put pressure on consumers.
On the energy front, oil prices rebounded higher after the latest uncertainty after the cooling of the conflict between the two countries in the previous day sent oil prices sharply lower, with West Texas crude oil rising 1.43% to $93.39 a barrel and Brent crude oil rising 1.63% to per barrel. $94.80 a barrel. Energy analysts said that Brent crude above $100 a barrel is almost a foregone conclusion, but some market participants now predict that oil prices may exceed $125 a barrel, or even higher.
U.S. Treasury yields were mixed as investors remained focused on geopolitical tensions and the release of economic data, with the 10-year yield falling to 2.0210 percent by press time.
Part of the reason why the Russia-Ukraine conflict has become the focus of the market is that the market has already digested the news that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may raise interest rates significantly. Now that the inflation index is still high, the market expects the Fed to raise interest rates in March. 2 yards instead of 1. Traders are awaiting minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, due later, to see how quickly the Fed will raise interest rates and shrink its balance sheet in the coming months.
In addition, U.S. retail sales rose 3.8% in January, rebounding sharply from a 1.9% decline in December last year, much higher than the market’s 2% forecast and hitting a new high since October.
Before the deadline at 22:00 on Wednesday (16th) Taipei time:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 189.42 points, or 0.54%, to 34,799.42
- The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 179.98 points, or 1.28%, to temporarily close at 13,953,87 points
- The S&P 500 fell 32.86 points, or 0.73%, to end at 4,438.21
- Feihan fell 55.04 points or 1.55% to 3,499.41
- TSMC ADR fell 2.21% to $121.77 per share
- 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 2.0260%
- NY Light crude rose 1.73% to $93.66 a barrel
- Brent crude rose 1.83% to $94.99 a barrel
- Gold rose 0.48% to $1,865.20 an ounce
- U.S. dollar index fell to 9.5845
Stocks in focus:
Shopify (SHOP-US) fell 15.09% to $753.67 a share in early trade.
Despite the stellar fourth-quarter financial report for fiscal 2021, Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify said it expects revenue growth this year to be lower than last year’s 57%, as the boom during the pandemic fades and coupled with the impact of high inflation.
Shopify’s fourth-quarter (as of 12/31) revenue rose 41% year-on-year to $1.38 billion, and earnings per share excluding some items were reported at $1.36, both beating analysts’ estimates of $1.34 billion and $1.26. In addition, Shopify platform site transaction value (GMV) increased 32% year-on-year to $54.1 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $52.6 billion.
Airbnb (ABNB-US) rose 2.17% to $184.06 a share in early trade.
As the new crown epidemic continued to ease, Airbnb delivered a dazzling report card in the fourth quarter, with revenue increasing by 78% to $1.53 billion, and earnings per share at $0.08, both beating market estimates of $1.46 billion and $0.03.
Airbnb predicts that the number of nights booked in the first quarter of 2022 will significantly exceed the level of the first quarter of 2019. Revenue was estimated between $1.41 billion and $1.48 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.24 billion.
Roblox (RBLX-US) fell 20.36% to $58.18 a share in early trade.
Online gaming platform Roblox reported poor fourth-quarter earnings, although revenue rose 83% to $568 million, and deferred revenue rose 20% to $770 million, but the latter fell short of the $772 million expected by Wall Street analysts , a loss of $0.25 per share last quarter, also higher than the consensus loss of $0.13. Deferred revenue refers to Robux (in-game currency) that players have purchased but not yet used.
Key Economic Data:
- U.S. retail sales in January increased by 3.8% month-on-month, the estimated value was 2%, and the previous value was -1.9%
- The US import price index in January increased by 2% month-on-month, the estimated value was 1.2%, and the previous value was -0.2%
- The U.S. industrial production index in January increased by 1.4% month-on-month, the expected value was 0.5%, and the previous value was -0.1%
Wall Street Analysis:
UBS financial adviser Brenda O’Connor Juanas said volatility and uncertainty in the market will increase as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains unclear, coupled with stubbornly high U.S. inflation.
Michael Cembales, chairman of markets and investment strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management, said the latest inflation data shattered the theory that “inflation is purely temporary”, after the market believed the Fed raised interest rates less than once last September, market watchers estimated There will be 6 to 7 rate hikes this year, with some arguing for 2 instead of 1.
Ben Gutteridge, director of model portfolio services at Invesco Investment Management, said the Fed is concerned about long-term inflation, which still appears to be fairly benign, at least from a bond market perspective, and doesn’t see the need to raise rates six or seven times. Although the market has already recognized this.
Looking ahead, the U.S. dollar is a more preferred safe-haven asset than gold among core investors, and could fall on a further easing in the Ukraine crisis, which will prompt a rally in gold, and vice versa, said Michael Langford, director of corporate consultancy AirGuide. Of course.
