CNBC Daily Open: Markets rallied as nothing broke yesterday

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US stocks rallied on Wednesday as both banks and Big Tech rallied. For markets still reeling from the banking crisis, no news is good news.

• Thursday brings a slew of China-related news as the Asian Boao Forum, widely seen as China’s response to the World Economic Forum, proceeds.

• In Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s first public address to an international audience as Premier Li tried to rally Asia behind Beijing. China’s development, Li said, would “add strong momentum to Asia’s economic growth.”

• US stocks rallied across the board on Wednesday – all major indices rose and all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 traded higher. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday. On a bright spot, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.89% to hit a two-week high, helped by mining, banking and technology stocks.

• UBS’s new (and former) CEO Sergio Ermotti is known for turning a troubled bank around – which is why he was tasked to oversee the merger with Credit Suisse, UBS said. Traders liked the bank’s new leader – US-listed banks rose 4.31%.

• PROFESSIONAL The banking turmoil has hit regional banks hard – some have lost more than 30% in value this month. But Goldman Sachs said there are some regional banks that could emerge as winners from the turmoil.

Yesterday was an excellent day for equities and the biggest bank news was positive (maybe not for outgoing UBS CEO Ralph Hamers, but definitely in terms of shareholder value). Could we finally turn a corner after three turbulent weeks?

First, the new (old) CEO of UBS. Both analysts and investors liked the choice of the Swiss bank. As Beat Wittmann, a partner at Porta Advisors in Zurich, told CNBC, Ermotti “is proven and trusted from the perspective of the general public as well as the industry.” Investors agreed – UBS shares skyrocketed in both Switzerland and the US

The appointment appeared to allay fears of further banking turmoil. In the US, banks rose on the news. Citigroup climbed 1.61%, Wells Fargo 2.12% and Morgan Stanley 1.6%. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) is up 1.07%.

After a two-day slide, Big Tech also recovered. The biggest gainers yesterday: Amazon was up 3.1%, Netflix was up 2.63% and Meta was up 2.33%. Investors may have been encouraged by Alibaba’s split into six entities that could serve as a model for other big tech companies.

Micron’s report that the company’s inventory problems are improving helped its shares soar 7.19% and led to a rally in semiconductor stocks — a performance that’s even more impressive considering the company is a larger than announced expected loss for the last quarter.

All major indices gained on these moves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1%, the S&P 500 was up 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.8%. Obviously, market sentiment was high yesterday, although there was no clear reason for it. Or maybe it was just the lack of a significant event that cheered up the markets. As Ed Yardeni, President of Yardeni Research, put it, “Any day that doesn’t break is a good day.”

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