New York Stock Market S&P500 Attempts to Break Through 6,700 Points

Gold tops 3780 dollars per ounce, setting new highs for consecutive days

The New York market again challenged record highs on the 23rd (local time) without any particular positive news.

The S&P500, which hit a new high of 6,699 points in early trading that day, was trading flat around 10:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.2%.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 2 basis points (1bp=0.01%) to 4.13%. Gold, which has been setting new highs day after day, again broke a record as spot gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at 3,781.52 dollars per ounce, up 0.9%.

The cryptocurrency market, which had plunged the previous day due to the liquidation of large options trades, stabilized.

Bitcoin was almost unchanged at 112,960 dollars, while Ether rose 0.3% to 4,198 dollars.

Micron Technology (MU), which will report earnings after the close, was trading at 168 dollars, up 2.5% on the day.

NVIDIA, which had risen the previous day on a partnership announcement to invest 100 billion dollars in OpenAI over the long term, fell about 2% on the day.

While most of the Magnificent 7 stocks fell, Apple rose slightly on expectations for iPhone 17 sales, and Tesla also showed a slight gain.

The Dow's rise was largely influenced by Boeing (BA) jumping 2.8% after news of Boeing aircraft purchases by Uzbekistan and China.

Among the four members of the Board of Governors and regional Fed presidents who spoke the previous day, three, excluding Steven Myron, continued to cite inflationary pressures, and traders are awaiting a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell pointed out last week that signs of weakness in the labor market were growing as the reason for deciding to cut rates. According to the median of the projections released after the meeting, Fed policymakers expect two more 0.25%-point rate cuts this year.

Oscar Munoz of TD Securities said, "This week's FOMC remarks will show that views within the Fed are broadly dispersed," and predicted, "Chair Powell will not change his tone."

Powell is scheduled to speak at 12:35 p.m. New York time (1:35 a.m. Korea time on the 24th).

Some policymakers expressed concern that risks to the labor market could increase, while other policymakers remain primarily concerned that tariffs and other policies could raise inflation above targets.

On the day, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said, "We must be resolute in cutting rates as the labor market weakens." On the other hand, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee emphasized in an interview with CNBC, "Inflation is still on an upward trajectory," and "the Fed should be cautious."

Jeong-a Kim, guest reporter kja@hankyung.com