China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Saturday issued an orange alert, the second highest in its four-tier warning system, for Typhoon Matmo, which is expected to land in the country’s southern coastal areas, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi.
Matmo, the 21st typhoon of the year, was observed at 18 degrees north latitude and 117.7 degrees east longitude at 05:00 on Saturday -- about 660 kilometers east-southeast of China's coast, moving northwestward at a speed of 25-30 km per hour, according to the NMC.
Forecasts indicate it will make landfall along coastal areas ranging from Dianbai in Guangdong Province to Wanning in Hainan Province during the daytime on Sunday, it said.
Guangdong has issued a level-II emergency response to winds, and all fishing boats operating in the waters west of the Pearl River Estuary have returned to port to take shelter.
Hainan has issued a level-III emergency response to winds and floods.
Haikou, the provincial capital of the province has planned to carry out a gradual citywide suspension of classes, work, transportation, flights, park operations and business operations from Saturday afternoon to Sunday.
All inbound and outbound flights at Haikou Meilan International Airport are expected to be cancelled from 23:00 Saturday.
RoPax ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait are set to be suspended from 16:00 Saturday.
China has a four-tier emergency response system, with level-I being the most severe response, and a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
China issues orange alert for Typhoon Matmo
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday following the market's steepest declines in a month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 309.74 points, or 0.65 percent, to 47,147.48, marking its second straight drop but still notching a weekly gain. The S and P 500 slipped 3.38 points, or 0.05 percent, to 6,734.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 30.23 points, or 0.13 percent, to 22,900.59, snapping a three-day losing streak.
Seven of the 11 primary S and P 500 sectors finished lower, with materials and financials leading the laggards, down 1.18 percent and 0.97 percent, respectively. Energy and technology outperformed, advancing 1.37 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively.
The tech trade regained some footing after several days of pressure. AI leaders Nvidia and Oracle rebounded from their losses in the prior session, as did Palantir Technologies and Tesla, both of which had dropped more than 6 percent on Thursday.
Those sharp declines had briefly put the Nasdaq on course to break its seven-week winning streak, but Friday's recovery lifted the index back into positive territory for the week. Concerns about the sustainability of the AI rally have intensified, with the recent rout in cloud-computing giant Oracle heightening worries over stretched valuations, heavy reliance on debt financing, and soaring capital expenditure plans across the sector.
"AI is truly testing the limits of Wall Street spreadsheets right now," David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors, told CNBC, adding that investors pricing in "so much of this future growth that they really can't measure yet" just spurs an "environment of swings."
Adding to the market unease, traders continued to assess the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision. Market pricing now puts the odds of a quarter-point rate cut in December at below 50 percent, which is sharply lower than the roughly 95 percent probability seen a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
U.S. stocks close mixed following steep declines
U.S. stocks close mixed following steep declines
