Super Central Bank Sunday "raid" only interlude, technology stocks support US stock rebound, Chinese concept stocks soar! Chinese concept index surges 7%

Wallstreetcn
2023.07.28 22:53
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After the GDP, the hope for a soft landing of US data such as PCE inflation increased. The NASDAQ Composite Index rose nearly 2%, marking its largest gain in two months. Meta and Google's earnings reports both increased by over 10% this week. Chip stocks outperformed the market for consecutive days, with Intel rising over 6%. Chinese concept stocks soared for the second day this week, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index recording its second largest daily gain of the year and a 13% increase for the week. Several Chinese concept stocks, including XPeng Motors, NIO, JD.com, and Alibaba, rose by more than 10%, while Alibaba rose by over 5%. The Bank of Japan made a surprise adjustment, causing the yen to surge over 1% before falling back by over 1%. Inflation in Germany and France cooled down, GDP improved, and European bond yields surged before retreating, while the German stock market reached new historical highs. After the release of the PCE data, the 10-year US Treasury yield briefly fell by 10 basis points, but still ended the week with an increase of over 10 basis points. Crude oil rose for the fifth consecutive week, with a nearly 5% increase, marking its largest gain in over three months. Gold bid farewell to its two-week low and continued its upward trend for the third consecutive week. London nickel rose by over 7% in a week.

During the super central bank week when the three major central banks in Europe, the United States, and Japan announced their monetary policy decisions, the impact of the Bank of Japan's unexpected adjustment of its yield policy was not long-lasting. After this "surprise attack" from Japan, the US stocks, supported by positive economic news, quickly rebounded and locked in gains for the entire week. Chinese concept stocks outperformed European and American stock indices, ending the week on a high note.

Following Thursday's GDP and other data, a batch of US data on Friday brought more good news for the Federal Reserve's hopes of a soft landing:

The inflation indicators favored by the Federal Reserve, the PCE Price Index and the core PCE Price Index, both showed a slowdown in growth in June. The PCE Price Index had its lowest year-on-year growth rate since March 2021, and the core PCE Price Index also slowed more than expected to 4.1% year-on-year, its lowest growth rate since September 2021. The labor cost index for the second quarter increased by 1% quarter-on-quarter, its lowest growth rate in two years.

While key indicators showed a continued cooling of inflation, the final value of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for July reached a new high since October 2021, reflecting a continued slowdown in inflation and boosting consumer confidence. The survey showed a decrease in the number of consumers complaining about the impact of inflation on their living standards.

The data has bolstered investors' confidence that the economy is in a state of moderate growth with both resilience and a slowdown in inflation. US stocks shrugged off the impact of the Bank of Japan's "surprise attack" during Friday's Asian session and rebounded across major indices that had turned lower due to media reports of a "surprise attack" in Tokyo on Thursday. Risk appetite rebounded after being hit on Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, supported by tech stocks, managed to escape the danger of two consecutive weeks of decline with a strong rebound on Friday.

The VIX "fear index," which measures stock market volatility, rose more than 9% on Thursday but fell sharply by over 7% on Friday.

Tech stocks played a leading role in the US stock market on Friday, with Meta and Google, which announced positive earnings after Wednesday's market close, gaining momentum, and chip stocks continuing to outperform the broader market. Intel's second-quarter earnings and third-quarter guidance, which were better than expected, may indicate that the long-awaited industry recovery is imminent. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have all signaled a recovery in chip demand in the second half of the year. Chinese concept stocks performed exceptionally well, with the index recording the second-largest daily gain of the year, second only to the beginning of the year, following the meeting on Monday to discuss economic work for the second half of the year. The Bank of Japan "raided" on Friday: announcing that the target range for the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds under the Yield Curve Control (YCC) policy will remain unchanged at ±0.5%, but the wording has been changed to indicate that the upper and lower limits are only for reference and will be controlled more flexibly. In addition, the daily yield level for purchasing 10-year Japanese government bonds has been raised from 0.5% to 1.0%.

The market views this adjustment as a prelude to the Bank of Japan's shift away from years of super loose monetary policy. During the initial trading session in the Asia-Pacific and European stock markets, the global bond market was in turmoil, with benchmark government bond prices plummeting and yields soaring, pushing the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds to a nine-year high. However, the Governor of the Bank of Japan stated that the adjustment does not change the accommodative stance. Some commentators believe that the Bank of Japan's decision does not appear to be as hawkish. In midday trading in European stock markets, the two largest economies in Europe, Germany and France, announced further cooling of inflation and improved GDP, leading to an accelerated decline in European bond yields. US bond yields subsequently declined, with the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield falling 10 basis points from the two-week high reached after the Bank of Japan's "raid".

The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds reaches a new high since 2014

The Bank of Japan's actions also shook the yen. After the central bank announced the adjustment to the flexibility of the YCC, the yen surged more than 1% during the Asian trading session, but the rally was not sustained and the yen continued to fall. Despite the slowdown in US PCE inflation, the US dollar index failed to rebound after the data was released, continuing to fall from the two-week high reached earlier on Friday after the Bank of Japan's market-shaking move. While non-US currencies rebounded, the yen continued to decline after the release of the PCE data, with the yen against the US dollar falling more than 1% from the high of the day.

Commentators believe that the decline in the US dollar is due to investors' relative indifference to new data showing a continued slowdown in inflation. They are still digesting the decisions of central banks in Europe, the US, and Japan this week to assess the outlook for monetary policy. A few months ago, even a slightly lower-than-expected inflation rate could have roiled the market, but now the market has largely shrugged off the impact of inflation, as Friday's reaction shows that the foreign exchange market is not concerned about inflation.

In the commodity market, supported by the decline in the US dollar and US bond yields, precious metals such as gold and silver rebounded. However, gold experienced its first weekly decline in a month after diving during intraday trading following positive US economic data released on Thursday. Various base metals, including copper, rebounded this week due to positive economic news in China, such as support for the real estate market. Nickel, driven by demand for new energy vehicles, surged more than 7%.

International crude oil experienced a safe and sound intraday rebound on Friday, continuing its upward trend for a month and reaching a new high since April, surpassing the largest weekly increase in three months recorded in the first week of July when Saudi Arabia and Russia announced new supply reduction measures. Crude oil surged this week thanks to the strong summer demand, as Saudi Arabia and Russia implemented additional production cuts. At the same time, the possibility of a US recession was reduced, and China introduced favorable policies, all of which have made the oil market more optimistic about future demand.

The Nasdaq achieved its largest two-month increase, with Meta and Google's earnings report leading to a weekly increase of over 10%. Chip stocks have outperformed the market for consecutive days, and the China concept index has seen its second largest daily increase this year.

The three major US stock indices opened high and continued to rise in the morning session, but the momentum slowed in the afternoon. At the end of the morning session, the Nasdaq Composite Index, which rose more than 1% at the opening, increased by nearly 2.1%, the S&P 500 Index rose by nearly 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by more than 230 points or 0.8%. In the end, all three major US stock indices closed higher for the third consecutive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had a 13-day winning streak, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which had fallen for two consecutive days, all successfully rebounded.

The Nasdaq rose by 1.9%, achieving its largest increase since May 26, reaching 14,316.66 points, rebounding to a high since July 19. The S&P 500 rose by 0.99% to 4,582.23 points, setting a new closing high since April last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 176.57 points, or 0.5%, to 35,459.29 points, approaching the high since February 9 last year.

E-mini S&P 500 futures plunged after the news of the Bank of Japan's adjustment on Thursday, but rebounded on Friday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index rose by 1.85%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, which is dominated by value stocks, rose by 1.36%, both reaching highs since July 19.

The major US stock indices have all recorded cumulative gains this week. The Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100, which surged on Friday, have accumulated gains of 1.6% and 2.11% respectively, erasing the previous week's decline. During this week, which saw the longest consecutive daily gains since June 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.66%, failing to exceed 2% like the previous two weeks, due to a one-day drop of over 200 points on Thursday, the largest decline since July 6. The S&P 500 rose by 1.01%, the Russell 2000 rose by 1.29%, and both the Dow Jones and the Russell 2000 have seen three consecutive weeks of gains.

Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, only utilities and financials declined by nearly 0.3% on Friday, while the communication services sector, which includes Meta and Google, rose by over 2%, performing the best for the second consecutive day. Non-essential consumer goods, which include Tesla, rose by nearly 1.9%, and the IT sector, which includes chip stocks, rose by nearly 1.5%, highlighting the strength of tech stocks in supporting the market. Other sectors did not rise by more than 1%.

On Friday, only two sectors of the S&P 500 declined, while the sector where Meta is located led the gains. This week, seven sectors saw cumulative gains, with the communication services sector rising by nearly 6.9%. Other sectors saw gains of less than 2%, while materials, energy, and IT rose by over 1%. Among the four sectors that saw cumulative declines, utilities fell by over 2%, real estate fell by 1.8%, healthcare fell by nearly 0.9%, and finance fell by over 0.2%.

On Friday, leading technology stocks across the board saw gains. Tesla rose by 4.2%, breaking away from the three-day consecutive decline since June 28 and achieving a cumulative gain of nearly 2.5% for the week due to a strong rebound on Friday.

Among the six major FAANMG technology stocks, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, rose by 4.4%, matching the largest closing gain in the past three months set on Thursday. It has risen by over 4% for two consecutive days after the earnings report was released, reaching a high not seen since January last year. Amazon rose by nearly 3%, reaching a high not seen since July 19 after two consecutive days of gains. Netflix rose slightly by over 3%, recovering from the low point since June 8 after three consecutive days of decline. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, rose by nearly 2.5%, continuing its six-day rally and reaching a new high since April last year. Microsoft, which fell for two consecutive days to a low point since June 26, rose by 2.3%. It is expected to see its first increase after the announcement of a slowdown in second-quarter cloud business and no new performance growth from AI. Apple, which fell on Thursday, rose by nearly 1.4%, refreshing the closing historical high set last Wednesday.

Most of these technology stocks saw cumulative gains this week, with Meta and Alphabet continuing to rise after the earnings report, both up by over 10% for the week, with cumulative gains of approximately 10.6% and 10.5% respectively. Apple rose by approximately 2%, and Amazon rose by 1.7%. However, Microsoft, which also released its earnings report this week, fell by nearly 1.6%, and Netflix fell by 0.4%.

Overall, chip stocks outperformed the broader market for two consecutive days, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Semiconductor Industry ETF SOXX both rising by approximately 2.2%. They saw cumulative gains of 3.7% and 4.4% respectively for the week. Among individual stocks, Intel, which announced better-than-expected quarterly performance after the market closed on Thursday, rose by 6.6% and led the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Applied Materials rose by nearly 4%, Qualcomm rose by nearly 2.9%, Lam Research (LRCX), which rose by over 9% after announcing better-than-expected quarterly performance and guidance on Thursday, rose by 2.8%. Nvidia rose by nearly 1.9%, AMD rose by 1.7%, Broadcom rose by 0.7%, and Micron Technology rose by 0.2%.

AI concept stocks rebounded together and outperformed the broader market. At the close, Palantir (PLTR) rose by 10.3%, SoundHound.ai (SOUN) rose by over 8%, BigBear.ai (BBAI) rose by nearly 7%, C3.ai (AI) rose by over 4%, and Adobe (ADBE) rose by 2.9%.

Following Monday, popular Chinese concept stocks soared for the second day this week. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC), which rose by over 4% on Monday, surged by over 7% at midday and closed with a gain of nearly 7%, marking the largest increase in nearly seven months since January 4. It saw a cumulative gain of 13.3% for the week. Among the constituent stocks of HXC at the close, GenScript Biotech rose by nearly 25%, TAL Education rose by 24%, Tiger Brokers rose by nearly 20%, and XPeng, NIO, Bilibili, Wondershare, Dada, Kingsoft Cloud, Gaotu Education, and iQiyi all rose by over 10%. Li Auto rose by over 9%, and Ideal Auto rose by over 9%. JD.com rose more than 6%, Tencent Fan Dan rose nearly 6%, Alibaba and Pinduoduo rose more than 5%, and Baidu rose nearly 5%.

Banking stocks rebounded collectively and continued to rise this week. The banking industry index KBW Bank Index (BKX) closed up 0.8%, with a cumulative increase of 1.2% this week; the regional bank index KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) closed up 1.3%, refreshing the high since March 9th created on Wednesday, with a rise of nearly 4.8% this week; the regional bank stock ETF SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) rose more than 1.4%, and both KRE and BKX are approaching the high since March 10th refreshed on Wednesday, with a rise of more than 5% this week.

Several major banks fell against the market, with Morgan Stanley falling more than 1%, Citigroup falling nearly 1%, Goldman Sachs falling nearly 0.4%, Bank of America falling more than 0.1%, while Wells Fargo rose 0.8% and JPMorgan Chase rose nearly 0.6%. Among regional banks, New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) rose 5% after JPMorgan Chase upgraded its rating from neutral to overweight and called it a company with a large market share in the short to medium term. PacWest Bancorp (PACW), Keycorp (KEY), and Zions Bancorporation (ZION) rose more than 2%, and Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL) rose nearly 2%.

Among the stocks that announced their earnings reports, Roku, a streaming media company, rose 31.4% with lower-than-expected losses and higher-than-expected revenue for the second quarter; Procter & Gamble (PG) rose 2.8% with higher-than-expected quarterly revenue, second only to Intel among the Dow components; Boston Beer (SAM), a liquor company with higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, rose 16.8%; Ford Motor (F), which expects slower-than-expected progress in electric vehicle applications and a projected loss of $4.5 billion in its electric vehicle business this year, fell 3.4%; ExxonMobil (XOM), which announced higher-than-expected second-quarter revenue but lower-than-expected profits, fell 1.2%; Enphase Energy (ENPH), a photovoltaic stock that announced lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue and was downgraded by Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, and Roth MKM, fell 7.5%.

In Europe, the pan-European stock index fell after the European Central Bank hinted at a possible pause in rate hikes in September following a strong rebound, but the blue-chip index maintained its upward trend. The STOXX Europe 600 index fell from the closing high since February last year on Thursday. The blue-chip index, STOXX Europe 50, hit a new high since December 2007 for two consecutive days.

Most major European country stock indexes continued to rise on Friday, with the German stock index hitting a new closing high for two consecutive days, and the French and British stock indexes rising for two consecutive days. The Italian stock index, which rose for eight consecutive days, fell from its highest level since mid-2008, and the Spanish stock index, which rose for two consecutive days, also fell. In each sector, the chemical industry led the gains with a rise of over 1%, while the automotive sector rose by 0.9%. On the other hand, the media, basic resources, and utilities sectors all fell by over 1%. The technology sector, which surged more than 4% on Thursday, experienced a decline of nearly 0.5%.

The STOXX 600 index rose by over 1% this week, marking its third consecutive week of gains. However, the increase was still far below the nearly 3% surge seen two weeks ago. Stock indices in various countries have been on the rise for three consecutive weeks, with Italian stocks leading the way with a gain of over 2%. British stocks, which had the highest increase of over 3% last week, had the lowest increase this week.

Despite a slight decline this week, the technology sector performed well throughout the week, accumulating a gain of over 3%. This offset the majority of the decline seen last week, which was led by a 4.6% drop in the mining sector. The basic resources sector, where mining stocks with the highest decline last week are located, also rebounded strongly with a gain of over 2%, erasing most of last week's losses. The real estate sector, which had the highest increase of over 4% last week, experienced a slight decline of about 0.5% this week, while the oil and gas sector, which rose by 3.8% last week, fell by nearly 0.8%.

The Japanese yen experienced a sudden surge of over 1% during trading hours after the surprise move by the Bank of Japan, but it later retreated by over 1%. The US dollar index reached a new two-week high before reversing its gains.

The ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the exchange rates of the US dollar against six major currencies including the euro, fluctuated multiple times in the Asian session. The European stock market briefly rose above 102.00, breaking through the intraday high since July 10 for the first time since the previous Monday. It rose by nearly 0.3% during the day. However, the European stock market started to decline after the opening and failed to rebound. It fell below 101.40, hitting a new daily low and dropping by over 0.4% during the day. After the release of US PCE data, it briefly erased most of the intraday losses, but the decline expanded after the US stock market opened.

By the end of Friday's US stock market session, the US dollar index was below 101.70, down by about 0.1% during the day. It accumulated a gain of over 0.5% this week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US dollar against ten other currencies, fell by about 0.1% and had a gain of less than 0.1% this week. Both the US dollar index and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index experienced a slight decline after a rebound on Thursday and have been rising for two consecutive weeks after two weeks of decline.

Among non-US currencies, the Japanese yen experienced the largest volatility on Friday. It initially rose sharply but then fell significantly, failing to rise for the fifth consecutive day. In the Asian session, the USD/JPY briefly rose above 141.00, hitting a new daily high. However, after the Bank of Japan announced adjustments to its Yield Curve Control (YCC) policy, it quickly fell below 140.00 and even dropped to 138.70, hitting a new low since July 18 and experiencing a decline of over 1% during the day. It then rebounded continuously, with the European stock market turning positive several times. After the release of US economic data before the US stock market opened, it rose back above 140.00 and maintained an upward trend. In the final trading hours of the US stock market, it rose above 141.10, with an increase of over 1% during the day and a rebound of over 1% from the daily low. The US dollar against the Japanese yen plummeted after media reports on Thursday revealed that the Bank of Japan was considering adjustments. After the Bank of Japan's adjustment was implemented on Friday, the exchange rate initially dropped and then steadily rebounded.

The euro against the US dollar fell below 1.0950 during early European stock trading, hitting a low not seen since July 10th. However, it subsequently rebounded and reached a high of nearly 1.1050 during early US stock trading, recording an intraday increase of nearly 0.7%. The British pound against the US dollar fell below 1.2770 during the Asian session, also hitting a low not seen since July 10th. It reached a high of nearly 1.2890 during US stock trading, recording an intraday increase of over 0.7%.

The offshore Chinese yuan (CNH) against the US dollar hit a daily low of 7.1778 during early Asian trading, but quickly rebounded. After the US stock market opened, the yuan rose further and reached a daily high of 7.1444 during the midday session, recording a gain of 261 points. However, it is still far from the high of 7.12 reached on June 16th. At 4:59 am Beijing time on July 29th, the offshore yuan against the US dollar was quoted at 7.1526 yuan, an increase of 179 points compared to the New York closing price on Thursday. This reversed the two-day decline and resulted in a cumulative increase of 355 points for the week, completely offsetting the previous week's two-week decline.

High-risk cryptocurrencies followed the rebound in the US stock market. Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $29,200 during early European stock trading, hitting a daily low. However, it rebounded to over $29,500 during early US stock trading, rising by about $400 and more than 1% from the low point. It did not continue to approach the low of $29,000 reached on June 21st. At the close of the US stock market, it remained above $29,300, with a slight increase of about 0.6% in the past 24 hours and a decrease of nearly 2% over the past seven days.

European bond yields initially rose and then fell back. After the release of the PCE data, the 10-year US Treasury yield briefly fell by 10 basis points, but still rose by more than 10 basis points for the whole week.

European government bond prices showed mixed performance on Friday. Overall, yields initially rose due to the Bank of Japan's surprise adjustment to YCC, but then steadily declined. During mid-European and pre-US stock trading, yields hit a daily low following the release of inflation slowdown and improved GDP data for Germany and France.

At the end of the bond market session, the yield on the UK 10-year benchmark government bond closed at 4.32%, up 1 basis point intraday. It briefly tested 4.39% during early European stock trading, reaching a high not seen since July 18th. The yield on the 2-year UK bond closed at 4.92%, down 6 basis points intraday. It briefly reached 5.10% during early European stock trading, also hitting a high not seen since July 18th. The yield on the 10-year German government bond closed at 2.49%, up 2 basis points intraday. It approached 2.59% during early European trading, reaching a high not seen since July 13th. The yield on the 2-year German bond closed at 3.04%, roughly unchanged from Thursday's level. It briefly rose to 3.1% during the opening of European stock trading, reaching a daily high. The prices of European bonds fell this week amid increasing risk appetite. Despite the dovish stance of the European Central Bank and the cooling of inflation in Germany and France, the yields of some European bonds rebounded, ending a two-week decline. The 10-year UK bond yield, which dropped by about 18 basis points last week, increased by about 6 basis points cumulatively, while the 2-year UK bond yield, which dropped by about 29 basis points last week, increased by about 4 basis points. The 10-year German bond yield, which dropped by about 5 basis points last week, increased by about 3 basis points, while the 2-year German bond yield, which dropped by about 10 basis points last week, continued to decline this week, dropping by about 4 basis points.

Compared to the retracement of European bond yields, the US bond yields experienced a larger decline after the slowdown in US PCE inflation, and the impact of the surprise move by the Bank of Japan was short-lived.

The yield of the 10-year US benchmark Treasury bond quickly approached 4.04% after the Bank of Japan announced adjustments, reaching a new high since July 10th for two consecutive days. It increased by nearly 4 basis points during the day and then fluctuated downward. In the European stock market, it fell below 4.0%. After the release of US PCE data, it fell below 3.94%, reaching a daily low. It decreased by more than 6 basis points during the day, slightly more than 10 basis points from the daily high, and was about 3.95% at the end of the bond market. It decreased by about 5 basis points during the day and a total of about 12 basis points this week, resuming the downward trend after a significant decline last week.

The yield of the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to a high level for more than two weeks after the Bank of Japan announced adjustments, and then fell significantly, falling below 4.0%.

The 2-year US Treasury bond yield, which is more sensitive to interest rate prospects, rose above 4.94% during the Asian session, approaching the high since July 10th when it rose above 4.95%. Before the US stock market opened, it fell below 4.88%, reaching a daily low, and was about 4.87% at the end of the bond market. It decreased by nearly 6 basis points during the day and increased by about 3 basis points this week, ending a two-week decline.

Crude oil rises for the fifth consecutive week, with a weekly increase of nearly 5%, the largest in over three months

International crude oil futures turned higher multiple times during the European and early US stock market sessions. When the US stock market initially hit a daily low, US WTI crude oil fell below the $80 mark to $79.07, a decrease of nearly 1.3%, while Brent crude oil fell to $83.22, a decrease of 1.2%. After the US stock market rebounded, the upward momentum was maintained.

In the end, crude oil closed higher for the second consecutive day and the fourth day of the week, with all four days of gains reaching new highs in at least three months. September WTI crude oil futures rose by 0.61% to $80.58 per barrel, setting a new closing high since April 18th for two consecutive days. September Brent crude oil futures rose by 0.89% to $84.99 per barrel, setting a new closing high since April 14th after reaching new highs on Tuesday and Thursday since April 18th. This week, US crude oil rose by 4.55%, while Brent crude oil rose by 4.84%, marking the fifth consecutive week of gains and achieving the largest weekly increase since April 6, surpassing the previous record set on July 7. Following the week of July 7, prices rose by more than 4% once again.

Brent crude oil surged to its highest level since mid-April, putting pressure on many short positions that were hedging against a decline.

Gasoline and natural gas futures in the United States both rose. NYMEX August gasoline futures closed up 0.18% at $2.9558 per gallon, continuing to reach the highest closing level since October last year. After five consecutive weeks of gains, prices have risen by approximately 5.5% this week, marking the fifth consecutive week of gains. NYMEX September natural gas futures rose by 1.66% to $2.6380 per million British thermal units, rebounding from the low point since July 19, which saw a decline of more than 3% on Thursday. This week, natural gas prices fell by 3.4% after three consecutive weeks of declines last week.

Nickel in London rose by nearly 3%, marking two consecutive weeks of gains and a total increase of more than 7%. Gold bid farewell to its two-week low and continued its three-week rally.

London base metal futures rose on Friday. Nickel led the gains with an increase of nearly 2.9%, rising for two consecutive days and closing above $22,000, approaching the late June high reached when prices broke through $22,300 on Tuesday. Lead in London barely closed with two consecutive gains, slightly approaching the high point since the end of January set on Tuesday. Copper, aluminum, and zinc in London rebounded after two days of declines, with copper and aluminum approaching the high point of more than a week set on Tuesday, and zinc reaching a high point of more than two months set on Tuesday. Tin in London, which stopped its four-week rally on Thursday, also rebounded and approached the high point of the past two weeks set on Wednesday.

Base metals have risen across the board this week. Nickel, which fell by about 4% last week, rose by more than 7%, performing the best. Zinc rose by more than 5%, copper rose by more than 2%, tin rose by nearly 0.9%, and aluminum rose by over 0.8%. All of them rebounded after last week's decline. Lead rose by more than 0.8% and has risen for three consecutive weeks.

New York gold and silver futures, which plunged during Thursday's trading session, rebounded slightly. COMEX August gold futures closed up 0.75% at $1960.40 per ounce, bidding farewell to the closing low since July 11, which was set on the previous Tuesday at $1937.1 per ounce.

Gold has fallen by 0.31% this period, falling after three consecutive weeks of gains, mainly due to a decline of more than 1.2% on Thursday, marking the largest drop since June 2.

New York silver futures rebounded slightly. COMEX September silver futures closed up 0.52% at $24.495 per ounce, moving away from the closing low since July 12, which saw a decline of more than 2% on Thursday. Silver has fallen by 1.45% this week, declining for two consecutive weeks, with each week seeing a decline of more than 1%.