Breakfast | S&P 500 hits a new high, Intel surges 16%, joint interview of Trump and Musk is about to air

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S&P 500 Hits New High, Intel Surges 16%, Baidu Drops 7.5% After Earnings

The S&P 500 index broke through the 6100-point mark, hitting a new high, closing at 6129.58 points, up 0.24%. The Dow Jones rose 0.02%, the Nasdaq increased by 0.07%, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.23%.

The energy sector was the standout performer, rising 1.9%. Most chip stocks rose, with Intel closing up 16.06%, marking its largest single-day gain since 2020, and rising about 40% over the past two weeks, the largest two-week gain in history. Reports suggest that Intel may be split up, with TSMC and Broadcom considering taking over. Recent media reports indicate that Silver Lake is close to reaching an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Intel's programmable chip division, Altera.

Meta fell 2.76%, ending a twenty-day winning streak. Amazon dropped 0.89%, and Google A fell 0.79%. Tesla decreased by 0.49%, Apple fell 0.05%, Microsoft rose 0.3%, and Nvidia increased by 0.4%. Wolfspeed surged 8.74%, and Micron Technology rose 7.31%, while Qualcomm gained 0.82%.

Most AI concept stocks rose. AMD increased by 16.47%, and Dell Technologies rose 5.21%. Oracle gained 3.24%, SoundHound AI, backed by Nvidia, rose 4.33%, while BullFrog AI fell 6.98%, Serve Robotics dropped 14.66%, and AppLovin decreased by 2.77%.

Most Chinese concept stocks fell. The Direxion FTSE China Bull 3X ETF (YINN) closed up 1.89%, and the Roundhill China Dragons ETF (DRAG) closed up 1.21%. WeRide rose 28%, while Fangdd fell about 9%. Baidu dropped 7.8%, JD.com and Bilibili fell at least 5.4%, New Oriental dropped 2.9%, Nio fell 1.9%, Li Auto decreased by 0.8%, while NetEase rose 1.2%, Alibaba increased by 1.6%, Pinduoduo rose 3.4%, Tencent Holdings gained 4.4%, XPeng rose 5%, and Xiaomi Group ADR surged 8.86%.

Trump and Musk's Joint Interview to Air This Morning

On the one-month anniversary of Trump's presidency, his joint interview with Musk will air on FOX News. This pre-recorded interview will be featured on "Hannity" on Tuesday evening Eastern Time (10 AM Hong Kong Time on the 19th), focusing on the first 100 days of the Trump administration and Musk's role in the Efficiency Department.

Trump: Auto Tariffs Will Be Around 25%, More Information to Be Announced on April 2

Trump also stated on Tuesday that tariffs of 25% may also be imposed on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips in April, with at least some tariffs expected to increase within the year.

Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng: The Chinese Government Will Implement More Aggressive Fiscal Policies and Moderately Loose Monetary Policies

Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated that macroeconomic policies will be strengthened for counter-cyclical adjustments, continuously promoting the transformation of China's economic growth model and consolidating and enhancing the momentum of economic recovery

Bank of America Survey: Global Funds Turn Bullish on China, International Investors' Confidence in Hong Kong Stocks Matches Nasdaq

Bank of America Securities' monthly survey shows that global funds' confidence in the Hong Kong stock market has significantly increased, reaching the same level as the Nasdaq Composite Index. 18% of respondents in the February survey predicted that the Hang Seng Index would be the best-performing globally by 2025, ranking second alongside the Nasdaq. 22% of respondents chose the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, ranking first, marking the first time the Hang Seng Index has entered the top three since this question was first posed in November.

Bank of America Survey: Nearly 90% of Investors Believe U.S. Stocks Are Overvalued

In Bank of America's February global fund manager survey, 89% of surveyed investors believe U.S. stocks are overvalued. The survey found this to be the highest level since at least April 2001. Over the past decade, an average of 81% of surveyed fund manager investors have consistently believed that U.S. stocks are overvalued.

DeepSeek Launches NSA for Ultra-Fast Long Text Training and Inference

OpenAI Plans Open Source, CEO Seeks Proposals Online

In Response to Musk's Hostile Takeover, OpenAI Considers Special Voting Rights

To counter Musk's $97.4 billion acquisition offer, OpenAI is considering granting special voting rights to its nonprofit board to ensure that the nonprofit can maintain control after its transition to a for-profit entity and can overturn decisions made by other investors, including existing investors like Microsoft and SoftBank. Additionally, special voting rights will help OpenAI fend off hostile takeovers from external parties like Musk.

Tesla's new Model Y officially begins mass production at the Shanghai Gigafactory, with deliveries starting in late February.

Meta will hold its developer conference LlamaCon on April 29.

Faraday Future (FFIE.O): Plans to change its Nasdaq stock code to "FFAI" on March 10.

Strategy (MSTR.O): Plans to issue $2 billion in convertible preferred notes maturing in 2030, with an option to purchase an additional $300 million in notes.

Coinbase Q4 Performance Shines, Net Revenue Soars 80%, Total Trading Volume Surges 185%

Coinbase reported impressive performance for Q4 2024: net revenue of $1.3 billion, up from $273 million in the same period last year, representing an 80% year-over-year increase; revenue of $2.27 billion, significantly exceeding the expected $1.88 billion; earnings per share of $4.68, far above the expected $1.81; total trading volume of $439 billion, up 185% year-over-year; consumer trading volume increased by 224%, and institutional trading volume rose by 176%.

HSBC Plans to Cut Nearly 40 Investment Bankers in Hong Kong? HSBC Responds: No Comment

Media reports indicate that HSBC Holdings plans to lay off staff in Hong Kong. HSBC Holdings is set to announce its full-year results for 2024 on February 19, which may disclose the latest news on the group's comprehensive restructuring plan. Additionally, HSBC Holdings investors support the reduction of investment banking operations, focusing on the Asian market to address global trade challenges

JD.com tests the ride-hailing market, integrating with multiple ride-hailing platforms