US Open: US500 consolidates at the record highs 🔔

• Wall Street records moderate gains
• The dollar continues to decline
• Yields on US bonds continue to decline

US leading benchmarks opened cautiously optimistic on Wednesday, with a slight increase across the US500, US30, and US100. During the last trading days of this year, we might see choppy trading due to low year-end volume. The US500 index is posting moderate gains today, supported by a weakening dollar and falling bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield has slightly decreased, and the 2-year yield has seen a more significant drop. The day's economic agenda is light.

US500

On the main Wall Street index, we are witnessing a continuation of almost euphoric increases. The US500 has gained nearly 17% over the last two months, which is one of the most aggressive increases historically. After breaking through the 4800-4820 point level, around the historical all-time high (ATH), the US500 index is consolidating. In the event of a market correction, the levels to watch are 4800 and 4700-4750 points, where the nearest significant support levels are located. 

Source: xStation 5

USDIDX

The dynamic increases in the indices in recent weeks have been supported by a weakening dollar. On the USDIDX chart, we see that the current downward movement is at a crucial support area around 100 points. These levels have already twice this year marked a local bottom. The 99-100.8 point range is key to determining the future direction of the dollar. 

Source: xStation 5

Company News

Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA.US) shares fall about 22% in pre market trading after the company says the US Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on the IOV-LUN-202 trial on December 22, 2023. This is due to the response to a recently reported Grade 5 (fatal) serious adverse event potentially related to the non-myeloablative lymphodepletion pre-conditioning regimen.

The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft (MSFT.US) and OpenAI, accusing them of using its content without permission to train AI models, seeking compensation for the alleged infringement. The lawsuit, highlighting the substantial investment in journalism by The Times, comes amidst stalled negotiations over the use of The Times' intellectual property in generative AI technology. This legal action follows similar claims by authors against OpenAI for copyright infringement.

Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks are surging, outpacing bitcoin itself, amid investor optimism for a potential SEC approval of a spot bitcoin ETF and expectations of lower US interest rates in 2024. Bitcoin mining stocks like Bit Digital (BTBT.US), Marathon Digital (MARA.US), or Coinbase (Coin.US). The rise comes as the market reacts to Barry Silbert stepping down as chairman of Grayscale Investments, fueling hopes for the approval of Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust conversion into an ETF and other products.

NetEase (NTES.US) dropped almost 5.00% in pre-market trading, continuing a downward trend after a brief recovery. This follows China's commitment to refine draft regulations intended to curb excessive online gaming spending. NetEase's stock had previously plummeted by approximately 15% when these proposed rules, which aim to restrict inductive rewards in online games, were initially announced.