MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks finished little changed as Target reported much weaker-than-expected results. Treasury yields rose by the most in a week as geopolitical anxiety eased and investors awaited President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Treasury secretary. The dollar strengthened. Oil fell amid a rise in U.S. inventories and worries about global demand. Gold futures continued to climb.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
U.S. stocks finished little changed as Target reported much weaker-than-expected results.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1%, while the S&P 500 gained less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%.
Nvidia reported after markets closed that sales surged in its latest quarter and profits nearly doubled, a sign of the strength of an artificial intelligence boom that has made the company the world's most valuable.
Sales totaled $35.1 billion, the company said, up 17% from a year earlier and ahead of forecasts in a FactSet survey of analysts. Profit reached $19.3 billion, also ahead of Wall Street forecasts.
Earlier Wednesday, Chinese shares closed higher, lifted by software and pharmaceutical stocks.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%, the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.4%. The ChiNext Price Index increased 0.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.2%
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.2% as auto and insurance stocks led declines.
Stocks in Australia slipped as the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark Index fell 0.6%, snapping a four-day winning streak.
New Zealand's NZX-50 fell 0.6% amid weakness in shares of banks and utility providers.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures settled lower as a third straight weekly rise in U.S. crude supplies and worries about global demand outweighed support from a "meaningful escalation" this week in tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
West Texas Intermediate crude for December fell nearly 0.8% to settle at $68.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the contract's expiration day. January Brent crude declined 0.7% to $72.81 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Front month Comex gold for November delivery gained 0.8% to $2,648.20 and has gained 3.2% over the last three sessions.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Fed's Bowman Sees U.S. Inflation Remaining as Prime Economic Concern
Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman said that inflation still dominates her concerns about the economy, arguing for a cautious approach to further rate cuts by the central bank.
Bowman cast a rare dissenting vote when the Fed decided on a half-percentage-point cut in September, but she joined the rest of the Fed's rate-setting committee in supporting the central bank's quarter-point cut earlier this month. Speaking at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, Bowman said she still thinks prices are rising too fast.
"Although economic conditions have been supportive of our employment mandate, they have been unsatisfying for our price stability mandate as inflation continues to be elevated," Bowman said.
Fed's Lisa Cook Expects More Rate Cuts. She's Watching the Labor Market.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is watching for signs of further softening in the U.S. labor market, while inflation follows a bumpy path lower to the central bank's 2% annual target. She expects more interest-rate decreases coming, but isn't making any decisions ahead of time.
"I still see the direction of the appropriate policy rate path to be downward, but the magnitude and timing of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks," Cook said in prepared remarks for an address at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday. "I do not view policy as being on a preset course, and I am ready to respond to a changing outlook."
If progress on slowing inflation ceases, then the Fed could pause its rate cuts, Cook said. Alternatively, a faltering labor market could call for quicker policy easing. In the in-between scenario, Cook expects a gradual decline in interest rates toward the neighborhood of neutral-at which interest rates neither stimulate nor restrict economic activity.
Nvidia's Sales Soar as AI Spending Boom Barrels Ahead
Nvidia's sales surged in its latest quarter and profits nearly doubled, a sign of the strength of an artificial intelligence boom that has made the company the world's most valuable.
Sales were $35.1 billion, the company said, up 17% from a year earlier and ahead of forecasts in a FactSet survey of analysts. Profit reached $19.3 billion, also ahead of Wall Street forecasts.
The company's outlook of around $37.5 billion in revenue for its current quarter also topped forecasts and suggested Nvidia's next-generation AI chips, which are expected to hit the market in high volumes next year, are in high demand from customers like Microsoft, Google, Meta and Elon Musk's xAI.
Elon Musk's xAI Startup Is Valued at $50 Billion in New Funding Round
Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence startup, xAI, has told investors it raised $5 billion in a funding round valuing it at $50 billion-more than twice what it was valued at several months ago.
Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, and investment firms Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz are expected to participate in the round, according to people familiar with the matter. The financing brings the total amount xAI has raised to $11 billion this year.
xAI was previously raising funds at a $40 billion valuation, before factoring in the new cash, The Wall Street Journal reported. Over the past few weeks, xAI raised that figure by $5 billion in negotiations with investors. The infusion of new cash brings its total post-investment value to $50 billion.
Boeing CEO to Employees: We Can't Afford Another Mistake
Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg told employees the once mighty manufacturer has serious culture problems and can't afford another mistake.
Ortberg, who took over in August, offered a blunt assessment of the troubled aircraft maker's situation in an hour-long, companywide meeting on Wednesday. He called out bloated management ranks, wasteful spending and a culture of infighting and shirking responsibility.
"We spend more time arguing amongst ourselves than thinking about how we're going to beat Airbus," Ortberg said at an all-hands meeting, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. "Everybody is tired of the drumbeat of what's wrong with Boeing. I'm tired of it and I haven't been here that long."
Expected Major Events for Thursday
00:30/AUS: Oct Foreign Exchange Transactions and Holdings of Official Reserve Assets
02:00/NZ: Oct Credit card statistics
05:00/JPN: Oct Steel Production
08:30/HK: Oct CPI
08:59/SKA: Nov Trade data - 1st 20 days of month
10:59/INA: 3Q Balance of Payments
22:00/AUS: Nov Australia Flash PMI
23:00/JPN: Sep Final Labour Survey - Earnings, Employment & Hours Worked
23:30/JPN: Oct CPI (Nation), CPI ex-food (Nation)
00:00/SIN: 3Q GDP
00:00/SIN: 3Q Balance of Payments
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2024 16:56 ET (21:56 GMT)
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