Overnight US stocks | The day after the rate cut, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hit historic highs, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 4.15%.

Thursday, the three major indexes rose, with the Dow Jones breaking through the 42,000-point mark for the first time and the S&P 500 closing above 5,700 points for the first time, both reaching historical highs. During the trading session, the Dow rose to a high of 42,160.91 points, while the S&P 500 reached a high of 5,733.57 points. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point rate cut and hinted at further rate cuts before the end of the year, boosting the stock market and metal markets. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 522.09 points, or 1.26%, to 42,025.19 points; the Nasdaq rose 440.68 points, or 2.51%, to 18,013.98 points; the S&P 500 rose 95.38 points, or 1.70%, to 5,713.64 points. Tech stocks performed well, with Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) up 7%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) up 4%, and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) up 3.7%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index closed up 4.1%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) up nearly 5%, and JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (JD.US) up 6.7%. [European Stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 290.00 points, or 1.55%, to 19,010.15 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 77.76 points, or 0.94%, to 8,331.44 points; the French CAC40 index rose 170.51 points, or 2.29%, to 7,615.41 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 108.45 points, or 2.24%, to 4,943.75 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose 93.46 points, or 0.80%, to 11,778.16 points; and the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 364.51 points, or 1.08%, to 34,020.00 points. [Asia-Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 index rose by more than 2%, the Indonesian Jakarta Composite index rose by 0.97%, and the Vietnamese VN30 index rose by 0.57%. [Gold] COMEX December gold futures rose 0.5% at the close, trading at $2,611.5 per ounce. Gold prices rebounded on Thursday, with Allegiance Gold's Chief Operating Officer Alex Ebkarian stating that the market is considering larger and more rate cuts because of the U.S. fiscal and trade deficits, which will further weaken the overall value of the dollar. The combination of political risks from GEO Group Inc, the current fiscal deficit, low interest rate environment, and a weaker dollar are all factors contributing to the rise in gold prices. In our view, this upward trend may go further. Our target is to reach $2,700 per ounce by mid-2025. Apart from short-term risk drivers, we expect increased demand for gold ETFs in the coming months. [Cryptocurrency] On Thursday, cryptocurrency prices rose after the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in over four years, as part of a general market rebound. Bitcoin rose by over 1.8% to $62,995. [Crude Oil] New York Mercantile Exchange WTI crude oil futures for October delivery rose $1.04, or about 1.47%, to close at $71.95 per barrel. Brent crude oil futures for November rose $1.23, or about 1.67%, to $74.88 per barrel. [Metals] London metals rose, with nickel up 0.62%, copper up 1.21%, zinc up over 1.52%, and aluminum up 0.22%. [Macro News] US weekly initial jobless claims unexpectedly drop; September job growth may accelerate. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly decreased last week, indicating that job growth may be picking up in September. Previous data showed a significant cooling in the U.S. labor market, with fewer job openings and hirings, raising concerns about a deteriorating environment that could disrupt economic expansion. However, today's data shows that layoffs remain low. The claims report showed a seasonally adjusted decrease of 14,000 to 1.829 million in the week ending on September 7, down from a more than two-and-a-half-year high reached in July. This was mainly due to a policy change in Minnesota that allowed non-teaching staff in the state to apply for unemployment benefits during summer break. Next week's continuation of initial jobless claims data may provide more clues about the health of the September job market. US existing home sales in August fall more than expected; supply and demand dynamics under Fed rate cuts. Existing home sales in the US in August fell more than expected, as high home prices persist despite continued improvement in supply. The Federal Reserve lowered rates by 50 basis points for the first time since 2020, which could further push down mortgage rates that have already fallen to a year-and-a-half low. Lower mortgage rates may attract more homeowners to put their homes on the market, potentially increasing supply. Most homeowners have mortgage rates below 4%, and the so-called "rate lock" situation in the market has led to a shortage of supply in the used home market. However, lower borrowing costs may stimulate demand, potentially exceeding supply and keeping home prices high. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors, stated that August home sales were disappointing again, but the recent drop in mortgage rates combined with an increase in inventory is a strong combination for sales growth in the coming months. Bank of England keeps rates unchanged as expected; experts expect BOE to start cutting rates from November. After August inflation data remained unchanged, the Bank of England on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged, with increasing expectations in the market for another rate cut before the year's end. The Bank of England cut rates by 25 basis points last month. Inflation in the UK has gradually declined since the beginning of the year, from 4% in January to 2.2% in August, slightly up from the low point of 2% in May and June. However, as flight prices tend to drop more in September and with unemployment starting to take off, today's decision may pave the way for reducing heating gas prices. Unemployment benefits will be cut back even more which will be a sugar-coated tablet for the coming months when selling will be the talk of the town in the labour market.The rise has offset the impact of the decrease in fuel and dining prices, keeping last month's inflation rate on par with July. The inflation rate in the UK's service sector has been consistently high, which is one of the key concerns of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. James Smith, a UK economist at ING Groep NV Sponsored ADR group, says that the continued decrease in expected and actual wage and price growth in recent months signals further interest rate cuts in the future. Along with a cooling job market, we believe there will be a broad consensus at the Bank of England to support a faster pace of interest rate cuts throughout the winter. We expect consecutive interest rate cuts starting in November, with the bank rate reaching 3.25% by next summer.UBS Group AG strategists predict that the Federal Reserve's final interest rate cut may exceed market expectations, leading to a stock market bubble. UBS Group AG strategists believe that there is a clear risk of the final US interest rate cut being greater than currently priced in by the market, which could inflate a stock market bubble. The UBS Group AG team, led by Andrew Garthwaite, stated that since 1981, every 50 basis point easing cycle by the Federal Reserve has been accompanied by an economic recession, but this time they believe it is a sign of Fed being aggressive rather than an economic recession. Garthwaite pointed out that the market is pricing in rates bottoming out at around 2.8%, a level that is the neutral rate level previously hinted at by the Federal Reserve, "thus there is a clear risk of the rate cut exceeding expectations." The UBS Group AG team believes that a steepening yield curve dominated by short-term bonds favors defensive stocks and the consumer goods sector, excluding luxury goods. They expect small caps to outperform as their floating rate debt is three times that of large caps. Bank of America: Federal Reserve's 50 basis point rate cut is positive for investment grade credit. Bank of America Corp analyst Seelig stated in a report that the Federal Reserve's 50 basis point rate cut is positive for investment grade credit. He mentioned that demand for long-term bonds has been strong as the market expects an upcoming rate cut cycle by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve recently confirmed that a relatively fast rate cut cycle is on the way. Seelig added that a significant rate cut should alleviate concerns about US economic growth. He stated: "Finally, with rising yields and lower foreign investor hedging costs, a bearish steepening of the US Treasury yield curve has supported demand." "Big Short" Eisman withdraws Trump election prediction, now says US presidential election result is unpredictable. Steve Eisman, senior portfolio manager at Lubar, now says he does not know who will win the US presidential election, retracting his previous prediction of Donald Trump winning. "I have withdrawn that prediction," Eisman said in an interview on Thursday, attributing it to current President Joe Biden deciding not to run. In July this year, he had stated that regardless of whether Biden runs or not, Trump will win in November's presidential election. He said if the Democrats win both houses of Congress and the White House, the market will plummet due to expectations of higher taxes. But if Harris takes over the White House and the Democrats do not win big, then the market will be "fine." He also mentioned that if Trump wins, the stock market will rise regardless of the Congress results, as investors will see tax cuts as a given. Eisman stated that a Harris victory will boost CECEP Solar Energy stocks. Eisman reiterated that his portfolio focuses on artificial intelligence, tech stocks, and infrastructure sectors. BlackRock, Inc.: Political stability during Labour rule may help UK stock market rise and offset economic weakness. BlackRock, Inc. strategist Paul stated in a report that the UK stock market may rise due to the prospect of political stability during a Labour government, offsetting the impact of weak economic prospects in the UK. He mentioned that challenges like weak productivity have put pressure on the UK, and the economic growth prospects are not favorable, but the relative political stability brought by a majority Labour government could lower the risk premium on UK assets. "We are overweighting UK stocks in the tactical term of 6-12 months and tend to be positive to seize the investment opportunity in the UK in the best possible way." Stock News Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US) former executive launches Brightband, secures $10 million funding to predict extreme weather with AI. Brightband, a startup founded by a former executive of Alphabet Inc. Class C, aims to improve weather forecasting using artificial intelligence. The company announced on Thursday that it has secured a $10 million Series A funding round led by Prelude Ventures, with participating investors including Future Back Ventures under Bain Capital and Slack co-founder Carl Henderson. The company was launched this summer by former Alphabet Inc. Class C executive Julian Green and three scientists with the goal of developing a paid product and an open-source artificial intelligence prediction model based on original weather observations. Brightband's co-founder, Amy McGovern, a computer science and meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma, stated in an interview that Brightband will initially focus on predicting extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and tropical cyclones, several days in advance, compared to traditional forecasts. United States Steel Corporation (X.US): Despite opposition from US officials, still confident that acquisition plan will be approved. United States Steel Corporation CEO Burritt stated that the company is confident of obtaining regulatory approval for the $14.1 billion acquisition plan of Nippon Steel, despite promises from US political leaders to veto the deal. Burritt mentioned that earlier this quarter, Nippon Steel disclosed additional investment commitments of at least $1 billion for modernizing facilities at a plant in Pennsylvania, and an additional $300 million for refurbishing a blast furnace at a plant in Indiana. He stated that he has seen a significant amount of support from employees and the community towards the deal with Nippon Steel. President Biden had stated that United States Steel Corporation should continue to be owned and operated domestically within the US. Former President Donald Trump pledged to block the deal if he wins the election, and Vice President Kamala Harris echoed Biden's stance earlier this month. Novo Nordisk A/S SponsoredADR Class B (NVO.US) responds to the illegal online sale of Semaglutide: actively supports government regulatory agencies to take effective law enforcement actions. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B states that as of now, the Semaglutide product approved and commercially available in China is Ozempic, approved for adult type 2 diabetes. In China, Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B strictly follows the requirements of laws and regulations for the sales of prescription drugs, and only collaborates with distributors who have pharmaceutical operation qualifications. As of now, Ozempic has not been sold on any online platform (including e-commerce, social platforms, etc.), nor has any third party been authorized or commissioned to sell the drug on online platforms. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B states that the company actively monitors the potential production and sale of counterfeit, infringing, and other illegal drugs in the market, and actively supports government regulatory agencies to take effective law enforcement actions. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B is committed to ensuring patient safety and will continue to support government regulatory agencies in taking legal actions against entities suspected of engaging in similar illegal activities.Barclays: lowered the target price of STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS (STM.US) from 34 euros to 28 euros.