Markets to the Moon

Equity markets continued their ascent as Nasdaq closed at a record high even as Apple and Microsoft lags and fell during the session. Alphabets had a good run and hit an all-time high.

We saw smaller counters such as Pinduoduo, Naked Brand Group, Airbnb and Honest Co moving higher. The fact that the index can reach a new high without big tech’s support shows the breadth of the strong momentum in stocks, which is a good sign for the general market.

If this continues, it will alleviate the concern about the market’s recent strength when most analysts view the macro-outlook for equity as neutral.

Chinese Markets seeing a sign of support from Central Government

Chinese stocks had a good rally in the session. This comes as Chinese central banks discussed using monetary stimulus to boost the economy to support a quality economic growth with a supportive level of money growth.

Central banks worldwide are exploring their toolbox to fight the development against Covid 19 and address the immediate concern to the supply chain.

US House Approves the Proposal for Infrastructure Bill

This has been a hot topic for Pika World, and the latest development brings joy. The House Democrats had achieved a consensus on the $3.5 trillion budget framework, mainly on a party-line vote.

Pika World expects the final vote of approval on an overall spending plan that includes family, education and climate matters, even without the Republican support as it moves ahead into the Senate and finally onto President Biden’s desk for his sign off.

It is expected that the passing of the bipartisan bill will conclude by 27 September.

Shopify: It just gets Better

The stock rallied after announcing the deal with TikTok, allowing businesses to create a storefront that would enable consumers to buy products directly from the social media app. This is both good news for the companies.

For TikTok, it marks a milestone as it works to generate revenue from the behaviours of new-age consumers. In addition, it helps to bridge the gap where creators and influencers are promoting content in short-form videos yet does not have a direct platform to help encourage purchase.

On Shopify, it helps elevate from Facebook’s success, which has seen considerable momentum in monetising its social commerce efforts as it builds tools across Instagram. Currently, Facebook has about 1.2 million active shops where the majority are SMEs. Note that Shopify also has deals agreement with Facebook.