On May 8th, the three major U.S. stock indices opened collectively higher. As of 22:30 Beijing time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.24%, the Nasdaq Composite Index had risen 1.26%, and the S&P 500 Index had gained 0.8%. Large-cap technology stocks were mostly higher, with Tesla surging over 4%, and Nvidia and Apple each climbing more than 2%. Apple's share price briefly touched $294.79 per share, setting a new record high, with its latest market capitalization reported at $4.31 trillion.
Semiconductor stocks experienced a collective surge, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rising over 3%. Advanced Micro Devices and Intel both gained more than 7%. Memory-related concepts led the gains strongly. Micron Technology briefly surged over 10%, reaching a new all-time high, with its market capitalization exceeding $800 billion. SanDisk Corp. rose over 9%, Seagate Technology increased by 4%, and Western Digital advanced more than 3%.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index saw its gains narrow to 0.11%, having earlier risen over 1%. Among popular individual stocks, Canadian Solar surged over 10%, Baidu gained more than 2%, while Bilibili and XPeng each rose over 1%.
According to the latest U.S. non-farm payrolls data, employment increased by 115,000 in April, compared to an estimate of 70,000 and a previous figure of 178,000. The U.S. unemployment rate for April was 4.3%, matching both the expectation and the prior reading. The March non-farm payrolls figure was revised upward from an increase of 178,000 to 185,000, while the February figure was revised from a decrease of 133,000 to a decrease of 156,000.
In commodities, spot silver rose nearly 3% intraday, approaching $81 per ounce. Spot gold increased nearly 0.8% to $4,723.94 per ounce. International oil prices experienced a short-term surge, with Brent crude rising over 1% to reclaim the $100 per barrel level.
Major cryptocurrencies saw their losses widen, with Bitcoin falling below $80,000. Over the past 24 hours, nearly 90,000 positions were liquidated across the market.
On the news front, new developments emerged in the Middle East situation. According to reports, U.S. military forces conducted airstrikes on May 8th in the Strait of Hormuz against multiple empty Iranian oil tankers attempting to break through a blockade. Separately, reports indicated an explosion occurred on May 8th in the Sirik region of Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, for reasons currently unknown.
As of April 30th, analysts' expectations for the earnings of S&P 500 component companies over the next 12 months have risen 11% since the beginning of the year. Despite ongoing conflicts such as the U.S.-Israel-Iran tensions, tariff disputes, the Russia-Ukraine war, and numerous other turbulent factors, the boom in the AI wave has fueled this optimism. Recent reports of breakthroughs in U.S.-Iran negotiations have almost invariably triggered strong market rebounds, while the stock market's recent reactions to geopolitical setbacks have often appeared muted.
As the Middle East conflict enters its third month with parties still deadlocked, Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, stated that the U.S. could potentially face a financial crisis in the future, with the ultimate outcome possibly being a "stagflationary environment." He also reiterated his view that investors should allocate 5% to 15% of their assets to gold to navigate very difficult periods. "Throughout history, we have found that in all these periods, all fiat currencies decline, and gold prices rise."