ADDX GO Market Morning Wrap - 23rd May

Stock Market  

As the sell-off of U.S. Treasury bonds temporarily eased, the U.S. stock market attempted several rebounds, but closed near flat after a late-day decline.  

 

At the close, the S&P 500 Index fell 0.04% to 5,842.01, marking the third consecutive trading day of decline; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.28% to 18,925.73; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 1.35 points to 41,859.09.  

Although the U.S. Treasury bond storm took a one-day breather, the core issues remain unresolved.  

 

Louis Navellier, Chief Investment Officer of Navellier & Associates, said that while pressure in the Treasury market has eased, the stock market may need a "substantial decline" in bond yields to get the "green light" to return to recent highs.  

 

Most large tech stocks rose: Tesla gained nearly 2%, Google rose over 1%, while Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, and Meta saw gains of less than 1%.  

The cryptocurrency and computer hardware sectors led gains: Quantum (Quanten) surged over 11%, Coinbase rose 5%, Seagate Technology gained over 4%, and Canaan Creative advanced over 2%.  

 

Energy and non-ferrous metal stocks fell sharply: NextEra Energy dropped over 6%, First Solar fell over 4%, and Century Aluminum declined over 2%.  

 

In other markets, in the Asian market, India's Sensex index and NIFTY 50 index fell by 0.79% and 0.82% respectively. Malaysia's KLCI index dropped by 1.15%, Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined by 0.84%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index performed weakly, falling by 1.19%.

Key Events  

• UAE Announces Gigawatt-Scale 'Stargate' Project, to Cover ChatGPT Subscriptions for All Citizens: Just after world's richest man Elon Musk announced plans on Tuesday to build the "world's first gigawatt-scale AI training supercluster," the UAE announced on Thursday a joint project with OpenAI, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank to develop "Stargate UAE," also reaching a scale of 1 gigawatt.  
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Shares Surge on Trump's Privatization Plan Mention: Shares of the two government-regulated institutions soared in the pink sheet market after U.S. President Trump mentioned plans to consider privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on social media after Wednesday's market close. Fannie Mae rose 50.60%, and Freddie Mac gained 41.98%.  
• U.S. Senate Blocks California's 2035 Gas Car Ban: Is Trump beginning the 'Age of Gasoline Vehicles' again? On Thursday, May 22 (local time), the U.S. Senate voted 51-44 to block California's plan to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, sending the bill to Trump for signing.  
• Anthropic Launches Claude 4 Model, Capable of Working Continuously for 7 Hours: On Thursday (local time), AI startup Anthropic unveiled the Claude 4 large model, which can work continuously for 7 hours—equivalent to nearly a full work shift for humans.  
• Manchester United's Stock Plummets After Europa League Final Defeat: Shares of British football club Manchester United fell 8.6% by Thursday's close. The team lost to Tottenham Hotspur in Wednesday night's UEFA Europa League final, meaning the club will have no intercontinental competitions next season. Estimates suggest missing the Champions League could cost the club approximately £100 million in revenue.  
• Solar Sector Plunges Due to the 'Beautiful Big Bill': After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Beautiful Big Bill," which significantly cuts green energy subsidies, U.S. largest rooftop solar company Sunrun fell 37.05% on Thursday; equipment suppliers SolarEdge Technologies dropped 24.67%, Enphase Energy fell 19.63%; Maxeon Solar Technologies declined 9.42%, and NextEra Energy dropped 6.43%.  

Forex & Commodities  

COMEX gold futures settled down $18.50, or 0.56%, at $3,295.00 per ounce.  

 

Light crude oil futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 37 cents to settle at $61.20 per barrel, a decline of 0.60%; London Brent crude oil futures for July delivery fell 47 cents to settle at $64.44 per barrel, a decline of 0.72%.  

 

At the end of trading in New York, the U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.34% to 99.94, with most non-U.S. currencies declining.  

Key Events  

• Trump Economic Adviser Miran Denies Secret Exchange Rate Talks, Vows to Continue Strong Dollar Policy: Stephen Miran, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, denied plotting secret currency agreements to weaken the dollar and praised the benefits of a strong dollar.  
• Investment Company Institute (ICI): U.S. Money Market Fund Assets Reach $6.97 Trillion: Assets hit a record high of over $7 trillion in April.  
• India's Crude Oil Imports from Russia Likely to Reach 10-Month High:  According to ship tracking data, India is expected to import nearly 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian crude in May, the highest level since July 2024. The increase is driven by a surge in purchases of ESPO crude oil. Indian refiners have booked over 10 ESPO crude cargoes for loading in June, indicating strong demand for Russian crude will continue in the coming months.  

Cryptocurrency  

Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $111,180, with 24-hour trading volume falling 0.9% to $749.3 billion.  

Ethereum (ETH-USD) surged 4.9% to $2,633.  

 

XRP (XRP-USD) gained 1.7%, BNB (BNB-USD) rose 1.3%, and Solana (SOL-USD) climbed 4.3%.  

 

Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) was up 4.1%, and Cardano (ADA-USD) surged 5.6%.  

 

The total market value of the cryptocurrency industry rose 3.2% in the past 24 hours to $3.51 trillion, with trading volume up 2.6% to $171.59 billion.  

Key Events  

• Blockchain Enters Wall Street: Crypto Exchange Kraken Creates Tokens for Popular U.S. Stocks: U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken plans to allow non-U.S. customers to trade Apple, Tesla, NVIDIA, and other popular stocks as tokens via digital ledgers on its platform.  
• Trump Policies and Institutional Buying Propel Bitcoin to All-Time High Above $111,000: Investor optimism stems partly from a stablecoin bill advancing in the U.S. Senate, seen as a positive signal that the Trump administration may bring clearer regulatory frameworks to the crypto industry. Trump, previously vocal in supporting cryptocurrencies, is viewed as a "pro-crypto" presidential candidate.  Strategy (MSTR.US), which has accumulated over $60 billion worth of Bitcoin, further boosted the rally by filing plans on Thursday to issue up to $2.1 billion in 10% perpetual preferred stock to buy more Bitcoin. Analysts say this demonstrates institutional confidence in Bitcoin.  

Market Events and Most Anticipated Earnings Releases