Stock MarketOn Wednesday, Eastern U.S. time, influenced by the latest resolution announced by the Federal Reserve and the news that the United States is considering revoking the export restrictions on AI chips imposed during the Biden administration, the three major indexes collectively closed higher amidst intense fluctuations.
As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.70% to 41,113.97 points; the S&P 500 Index rose 0.43% to 5,631.28 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.27% to 17,738.16 points.
The increase in the Dow was mainly due to Disney's share price surging nearly 11%. Previously, the company's earnings in the second fiscal quarter exceeded expectations, and the number of streaming subscribers increased unexpectedly.$DIS
Key Events
- The Federal Reserve remained on hold as expected and emphasized the rising risks of uncertainty and stagflation: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve released its latest interest rate decision. In line with market expectations, it maintained the target range of the federal funds rate at 4.25%-4.5%, marking the third consecutive meeting without any changes.
- Powell said the Federal Reserve is not in a hurry to cut interest rates, the economy is resilient, and Trump's pressure has no impact: On Wednesday, Eastern U.S. time (May 7), Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference after the interest rate meeting that the Federal Reserve does not need to be in a hurry to adjust interest rates. The current policy is moderately restrictive, and the call for rate cuts by U.S. President Donald Trump will not affect the work of the Federal Reserve.
- Putin: The "Victory Day Ceasefire" has come into effect: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 8th, local time, that the "Victory Day Ceasefire" has come into effect at 0:00 Moscow time on the same day.
- Apple is pushing Safari to shift to AI search, and Google's share price once plunged by more than 9%: According to media reports, Apple Inc. is actively studying ways to improve the Safari browser and hopes to shift it to an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven search engine. This means that the long-term partnership between Apple and search engine giant Google may come to an end. Affected by this news, Google's share price plunged by more than 9% on Wednesday, and Apple's share price also fell by nearly 3%.
- Disney's seventh theme park will be located in Abu Dhabi, and the company's share price soared by more than 10%: On Wednesday, local time, Walt Disney announced that it will cooperate with Middle Eastern developer Miral to open a Disney theme park in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This will be the company's first large-scale new theme park in nearly a decade and its first theme park in the Middle East.
Forex & Commodities
The settlement price of COMEX gold futures fell by $30.90, a decrease of 0.90%, to $3,391.90 per ounce.
The price of light crude oil futures for delivery in June on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $1.02 to close at $58.07 per barrel, a decrease of 1.73%; the price of London Brent crude oil futures for delivery in July fell by $1.03 to close at $61.12 per barrel, a decrease of 1.66%.
On May 7, local time, at the New York close, the U.S. dollar index rose 0.64% to 99.90, and most non-U.S. currencies declined.
Key Events
Ukraine is considering using the euro instead of the U.S. dollar as the reference currency: Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyi said that Ukraine is starting to consider giving up the U.S. dollar and may switch to using the euro as the reference currency. Pyshnyi said that Ukraine may join the European Union, and "the enhanced role of the EU in safeguarding our defense capabilities, the more turbulent global market, and the possible fragmentation of global trade" have prompted the National Bank of Ukraine to reconsider whether the euro should be used instead of the U.S. dollar as the reference currency for the Ukrainian hryvnia.
Cryptocurrency
Major digital assets showed a mixed performance late on Wednesday.
Bitcoin was up 1.2% at $96,292, and the 24-hour trading volume of the cryptocurrency surged 71.3% to $40.64 billion.#btc
Ethereum (ETH-USD) was up 0.3% to $1,795.
XRP (XRP-USD) lost 1.3%, BNB (BNB-USD) dipped 0.1%, and Solana (SOL-USD) rose 0.6%. Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) rose 0.4%, and Cardano (ADA-USD) fell 0.8%.
The total market value of the cryptocurrency industry rose 0.9% in the past 24 hours to $2.98 trillion, with trading volume up 30.9% to $88.76 billion.
Key Events
- The first in the United States! New Hampshire will establish a Bitcoin reserve and allow 5% of public funds to be invested in Bitcoin: On Tuesday, Eastern U.S. time, lawmakers in New Hampshire voted to pass a bill, making the state the first in the United States to establish a cryptocurrency reserve.
Market Events and Most Anticipated Earnings Releases
