Earlier this week, Nvidia Technology Inc. became the first trillion-dollar company. Its market capitalization has now overtaken that of Microsoft for the first time since January. Nvidia’s stock rose almost 3%, adding to enormous gains earlier in the week. Nvidia’s stock continued to support the booming U.S. market momentum. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shot up 0.81% and finished at 19,398.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 214.16 points (0.51%), to close at 42,519.64. At the same time, the commonly cited S&P 500 stock index rose by 0.58%, finishing at 5,970.37.
South Korea’s financial markets skyrocketed upon opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung’s election victory in the presidential election. This victory prompted the most impressive wave of global market advancements and reforms. His victory had an immediate calming effect on investor sentiment, helping to balance investor pessimism and driving a wave of buying across South Korean stocks. Consumer price index (CPI) inflation decreased slightly in May by 0.1% from April. At the same time, year-over-year inflation dropped back down to 1.9%. These positive economic indicators point to a stabilizing economy, providing even more of an impetus to build investor confidence.
Asian markets were encouraged by the direction of these trends across the board. Employing inflation-friendly policies at the market open, the CSI 300 index surged by 0.20%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.80%, and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.68%. Further bolstering the rosy economic picture throughout the region, the Japanese Topix index climbed 0.51%.
On U.S. markets, futures were virtually unchanged. This came on the heels of a tech-driven rally on Wall Street and a much-better-than-expected jobs report that appeared to stoke growth. All this has investors bullish on technological progress and the short-term economic rally as reflected by most major indices’ soaring 2020 performance.