Stocks Hit Record New Highs

Summary of content for the week of Aug 27:

1. Week 34 major indexes performance;

2. Week 34 US sector indexes performance;

3. Major indexes weekly charts of support and resistance levels;

U.S

For the week ended Aug 27, U.S stocks finished higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index outperformed the broad market SPX and the large-cap DJI indexes. Refer to major indexes’ weekly performance table below.

Major events:

1.    Monday’s news about the Full FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine boosted sentiment early in the week.

2.    Thursday, stocks fell as an attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan amid U.S military’s withdrawal from the country resulted 13 U.S. soldiers death and at least 18 others troops were wounded

3.    Three Fed presidents expressing support for a faster start to tapering bond purchases weighed on sentiment.

 4.    On Friday, Fed Chair’s Jackson Hole speech turns out to be nonevent, as Powell did not signal any deviation from the central bank’s recent assessment of economic conditions or outlook for removing policy accommodation.

5.    The week’s economic data releases were generally positive. Jul’s existing home sales rose 2%.

 Among 11 major SPX sectors, Energy(XLE) jumped higher as crude oil prices gained about 10% for the week. Utilities(XLU) lagged. Refer to SPX sector indexes weekly performance below.

Technically, the three major indexes weekly charts remain in uptrend.

DJI weekly chart

SPX weekly chart

Nasdaq weekly chart

China/HK

Chinese stocks continued to recover from their late-July lows. The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE index weekly chart) rose 2.8%.

1.      Early in the week, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) met with leading financial institutions to urge them to strengthen credit support to the economy.

2.   2.     In regulatory news, the China Securities Regulatory Commission pledged to cooperate with their U.S. counterparts regarding the auditing of Chinese companies that trade in the U.S.

3.   3.    Separately, China sought to clarify misconceptions over the term “common prosperity,” a slogan recently emphasized by President Xi Jinping amid a crackdown on the technology sector. The term refers to a long-term goal that involves economic growth, wages, taxation, and income distribution and is not aimed at privately owned internet platform companies, according to a senior Communist Party official.

4    4.    On the coronavirus front, China’s daily cases dropped to single-digit levels following tough measures in recent weeks.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index(HSI weekly chart) bounced back 2.3% after dipping into bear’s territory last week as it lost more than 20% from its peak earlier this year. Immediate key level to watch is 25000.

Singapore

STI index fell for 3^rd week consecutively, it appears bearishness sign on its daily chart, expected it will bounce following Wall Street’s strong lead on Friday, if not, further downside support at 3040-200dma level.

STI weekly chart.