Nvidia Takes the Crown as Global Market Leader, Leading US Stocks to New Highs

The four major US stock indexes closed higher on June 18th, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow hitting new highs. AI chip giant Nvidia surpassed Microsoft to become the world's most valuable company. While the stock market continues to set new records, the cryptocurrency market did not experience significant gains. In the absence of speculative themes and capital inflows, Bitcoin fell by 1.01% yesterday, while Ethereum saw a slight increase of 0.64%.

Retail Sales Below Expectations, Rate Cut Expectations Slightly Increased

U.S. retail sales growth was at 0.1% as announced yesterday, far below the 0.3% predicted by economists.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams stated that interest rates will gradually decrease over time, but he refused to disclose the timing of starting to ease monetary policy.

According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, investors' expectations for a rate cut have slightly increased. Although the dot plot released by the Federal Reserve last week indicated a higher possibility of only one 0.25% rate cut this year, investors generally believe that the Fed may restart the rate-cutting cycle in September and cut rates by another 0.25% in December.

Nvidia Surpasses Microsoft to Become the Global Market Value Leader

AI chip giant Nvidia, after officially splitting its stock last week, continued to rise, surging by 3.51% yesterday, bringing its market value to $3.335 trillion, surpassing Microsoft to claim the top spot in global market value. Other chip stocks also continued their recent upward trend, driving the Nasdaq to hit a new high again, closing up 1.35% at 5,765.12 points. The S&P 500 index also set a new closing high for the 31st time this year, while the Nasdaq index achieved its seventh consecutive closing record.

Funds Flocking to AI, BTC/ETH Consolidating

While the stock market continues to reach new highs, cryptocurrencies have not surged accordingly. With a lack of speculative themes and capital inflows, Bitcoin fell by 1.01% yesterday, while Ethereum rose slightly by 0.64%.

Chief Economist at BIT Mining, Youwei Yang, also believes that now the stock market views every AI news as positive, and due to the resulting FOMO, cryptocurrencies have lost their appeal.