[Good Morning Stock Market] US Stocks Close Higher on Strong Corporate Earnings... "KOSPI Expected to Start Up"

Large Tech Stocks Rally, Closing Higher for 2 Consecutive Days
'Crash Shock' Nvidia Continues Rebound Trend
"KOSPI Expected to Recover Investor Sentiment Centered on Semiconductors and Secondary Batteries"

The KOSPI is expected to start higher on the 24th.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 23rd (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,503.69, up 263.71 points (0.69%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 rose 59.95 points (1.2%) to 5,070.55, and the Nasdaq closed at 15,696.64, up 245.34 points (1.59%) from the previous session.

On that day, the U.S. stock market closed higher for the second consecutive day, supported by strong corporate earnings and gains in major tech stocks. Investor sentiment showed signs of recovery ahead of the release of first-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and March Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data. The preliminary GDP figure for Q1 will be released on the 25th, and the March PCE on the 26th. The U.S. releases GDP data three times: preliminary, revised, and final.

Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, 10 sectors rose except for materials (-0.8%). U.S. automaker General Motors (GM) and logistics company UPS posted earnings surprises that exceeded expectations for Q1, rising 4.37% and 2.41%, respectively. Nvidia, which shocked the market with a 10% plunge last week, rebounded for the second consecutive day with a 3.65% gain. Including Nvidia, the "Magnificent 7" (Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft (MS), Apple, Tesla) all rose. Meta gained 2.98%, Tesla 1.85%, Microsoft 1.65%, Amazon 1.30%, Alphabet 1.25%, and Apple 0.64%.

The Magnificent 7 officially enters the earnings season starting with Tesla, which reported after the close on the 23rd. Tesla’s Q1 revenue fell 9% year-over-year, marking the largest decline since 2012. Meta will report earnings on the 24th, Microsoft and Alphabet on the 25th, and Amazon on the 30th. Apple will announce results on the 2nd of next month, and Nvidia on the 22nd. Eddie Chung, Senior Strategist at French financial group Cr?dit Agricole CIB, said, "Whether the market will show further strength now depends on the assessment of the sustainability of AI demand following the earnings reports."

The previous day, the KOSPI closed at 2,623.02, down 6.42 points (0.24%) from the previous session. Semiconductor stocks remained sluggish, trading in a narrow range, and stocks with low price-to-book ratios (low PBR) saw a weakening in their upward momentum. Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Over the past two days, the domestic market showed a ‘strong start but weak finish’ pattern, lacking follow-through, but with the U.S. market rising on strong corporate earnings, improved investor sentiment, and a weaker dollar, the pressure on the won-dollar exchange rate is expected to ease slightly. In particular, a recovery in investment sentiment toward semiconductors and secondary batteries is anticipated." He added, "Today, the KOSPI is expected to start 0.5-0.8% higher."