Overnight US stocks | The three major indices recorded gains for the sixth consecutive week, and Netflix (NFLX.US) rose more than 11%

Zhitong Finance learned that on Friday, the three major indices closed higher. The three major US stock indexes all recorded gains for the sixth week. The Dow rose 0.96% this week, the S&P 500 index rose 0.85%, and the NASDAQ rose 0.8%.

[US stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 36.86 points, or 0.09%, to 43275.91 points; the NASDAQ rose 115.94 points, or 0.63%, to 18489.55 points; the S&P 500 rose 23.20 points, or 0.40%, to 5864.67 points. Netflix (NFLX.US) closed up more than 11%, the biggest one-day gain in a year. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed up 3.03%, Shell (BEKE.NUS) rose 8.37%, and Ideal Auto (LI.US) rose 6.3%.

[European stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 65.56 points, or 0.33%, to 19653.75 points; the British FTSE 100 index fell 26.51 points, or 0.32%, to 8358.62 points; the French CAC40 index rose 29.32 points, or 0.39%, to 7613.05 points; the European Stoxx 50 index rose 38.15 points, or 0.77%, to 4985.45 points; Spain's IBEX35 index rose 18.50 points, or 0.16%, to report 11923.00 points; Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 164.27 points, or 0.47%, to 35203.00 points.

[Asia Pacific Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.18%, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.32%, and Vietnam's VN30 Index fell 0.01%.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin rose more than 1.2% to 68218.46 US dollars/coin; Ethereum rose more than 1.2% to 2636.32 US dollars/unit.

[Gold] COMEX gold futures rose 0.41% to $2689.90 per ounce; spot gold rose 0.42% to $2673.75 per ounce.

[Crude oil] The price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.45, or 2.05%, to close at $69.22 a barrel on Friday, approaching the closing level of $68.17 on September 30 and $65.14 on September 10. US WTI crude oil futures fell 8.39% this week, the biggest weekly decline since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) simultaneously lowered their forecasts for global oil demand for 2024 and 2025 on September 2. Brent crude oil futures for December delivery on the European Intercontinental Exchange fell $1.39, or 1.87%, to close at $73.06 a barrel on Friday. The futures have fallen by more than 7% cumulatively this week.

[Metals] Most metals in London rose, with nickel down 0.31%; copper rose by more than 1.2%, zinc rose 0.49 by more than 1.3%, and aluminum rose more than 2%.

[Macro News]

Federal Reserve Bostic: Slowing down the pace can achieve a dual goal. Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Bostic said that the Federal Reserve should patiently gradually lower its policy interest rate. In this way, it can not only reduce the inflation rate to the target level of 2%, but also keep the US economy from falling into recession. At an American business economic education forum held in Mississippi on the same day, Bostic stated, “I'm not in a hurry to adjust interest rates to a neutral level; we must restore the inflation rate to the target level of 2%; I don't want progress in fighting inflation to stagnate because our restrictive measures have not been implemented for long enough, so I will be patient.” Furthermore, Bostic indicated that he expects the Federal Reserve to cut the benchmark interest rate further. “If the economy continues to follow current trends, if inflation continues to fall, the labor market remains strong, and we still see positive production, then we will be able to continue on the path back to neutral interest rates.” Bostic predicts that by the end of 2025, the US inflation rate may fall to the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve, and interest rates should also be adjusted to a neutral level at that time.

Federal Reserve Kashkari: Private credit may reduce systemic risk. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Chairman Kashkari said that although the US government lacks the will to raise banks' capital requirements, the rise of the private credit market may reduce systemic risks in the US financial system. Kashkari said, “This is scary to a certain extent because it is rapidly growing to a market size of more than a trillion dollars. But according to my research, today a bank in the US — a large bank — has a leverage ratio of about 10 to 1, 10 times its share capital assets. The leverage ratio of these private credit instruments is usually 1 to 1, so the leverage ratio is much lower.” Private credit — generally referred to as loans from non-bank institutions — has been soaring over the past few years. In an environment of rising interest rates, private credit offers investors more attractive returns compared to other fixed income products. It has become an alternative source of funding for borrowers, eliminating many of the more stringent requirements typical of bank loans. Kashkari said private credit instruments may also present less risk because private credit instruments usually lock in capital for a longer period of time compared to banks that need to provide overnight liquidity. He added, “So where does the systemic risk come from? The intersection between leverage and term conversion. Therefore, from these two aspects, these private credit instruments appear to be much less risky than banks.” “Although I would like us to have stricter regulation of banks, in reality I am cautiously optimistic that some developments in the market may reduce the risk of the financial system, or at least reduce systemic risk.”

BlackRock ETF Director: 75% of Bitcoin buyers are new to cryptocurrencies. A year ago, Samara Cohen, the chief investment officer of BlackRock Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and index investing, had so much pent-up demand for Bitcoin that she and her team at BlackRock launched one of the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products ever in the US. Investors are now flocking in, and many of them are Wall Street cryptocurrency enthusiasts. BlackRock now believes that market demand is a better way to obtain Bitcoin, “this is for ETF packaging.” Part of the strategy to attract clients to invest in their funds is to introduce crypto investors to the benefits of exchange-traded products (ETPs).

[Individual Stock News]

The world's largest oilfield services company warns that oil exploration companies' spending growth has slowed. Schlumberger (SLB.US), the world's largest oil field service provider, warned that oil exploration companies' spending growth has slowed over the past few months as customers take a cautious approach as commodity prices fall. The company also told investors in a statement on Friday that it expects shareholder returns to exceed its $3 billion target this year as most of its clients' projects are underway. Olivier Le Peuch, CEO of the company, said: “Although some customers are more cautious about recent capital expenditure and discretionary spending amid falling commodity prices, most projects are progressing according to plan. Although the growth rate of upstream investment has slowed in the past few months due to the impact of the macro environment, we still expect upstream investment to remain at a sustained level in the next few years.” Schlumberger is often a weather vane for the oil and gas industry, and its global operations provide a perspective on the financial health of the energy industry.

OpenAI and Microsoft (MSFT.US) have hired investment banks to begin negotiations on equity conversion issues. OpenAI and Microsoft are embarking on a high-risk negotiation on an unprecedented question: How should the nearly $14 billion investment in a non-profit organization be converted into equity in a for-profit company? OpenAI recently completed a round of financing, valued at $157 billion, and is transforming from a non-profit organization to a for-profit company. When it becomes a for-profit company, how to distribute equity is one of the biggest challenges it faces. As OpenAI's biggest investor, Microsoft is likely to own a large share of the company's shares. Given the importance of the negotiation results to Microsoft and OpenAI, both companies have hired investors to provide consulting services for them. Microsoft collaborated with Morgan Stanley, while OpenAI chose Goldman Sachs. In addition to determining how many shares Microsoft holds after the restructuring, it is also necessary to clarify what kind of governance rights Microsoft will have.

[Major Bank Ratings]

Bank of America Global Research: Raising Nvidia (NVDA.US) Price Target from $165 to $190

UBS: Raise the target price of Uber (UBER.US) from $102 to $114; raise the target price of Netflix (NFLX.US) from $750 to $825

Keybanc: Raising Microsoft (MSFT.US) Price Target from $490 to $505