Wall Street ended higher on Monday, with gains in 3M and Goldman Sachs ahead of key inflation and jobs data this week that will offer more clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
All three major stock indexes rose as investors digested last Friday's comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the U.S. central bank may need to raise interest rates further to ensure inflation is contained.
Focus now shifts to a report on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, to be released on Thursday, and non-farm payrolls data due on Friday.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 climbed 0.63% to end the session at 4,433.31 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.84% to 13,705.13 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62% to 34,559.98 points.
Market Movers
Unprofitable Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast Auto Pte Ltd. (VFS) is now worth more than the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Boeing Co. VinFast shares closed up 20% at $82.35 Monday, marking a blistering 688% since its market debut Aug. 15. It is currently worth about $190 billion.
American depositary receipts of Alibaba (BABA) rose 2.7%, JD.com (JD) gained 2.6%, and Baidu (BIDU) rose 2.6% after the Chinese government said it would reduce a tax on trading and take other steps to boost its capital markets.
U.S.-listed shares of XPeng (XPEV) jumped 5.3% after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker announced it would acquire DiDi Global ‘s (DIDI) smart auto development business for $744 million.
Nvidia (NVDA) was up 1.8%. Barron’s highlighted that even with the stock’s 215% jump this year the latest earnings report from the leader in AI chips made the shares cheaper. The forward price/earnings ratio, which measures a stock’s current price relative to earnings in the future, often in the next year, shows Nvidia shares are now cheaper than they have been since Jan. 5, though the stock has soared since then.
CrowdStrike (CRWD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley and the price target was lowered to $167 from $178. Shares of the cybersecurity company fell 3.7% to $144.03.
3M (MMM) rose 5.2% following a report from The Wall Street Journal that said the company and plaintiffs attorneys were nearing a settlement in which 3M would pay $5.5 billion to resolve claims it sold faulty combat earplugs to the U.S. military. Negotiations are continuing, people close to the discussions told the Journal, and the final amount hasn’t been established yet.
Jabil (JBL) reached an agreement to sell its manufacturing business in China to BYD Electronic, a subsidiary of Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD, in a deal valued at about $2.2 billion. In a statement, Jabil said the transaction would be the largest in the history of the contract electronics manufacturer. Jabil shares were up 8.9%.
Hawaiian Electric (HE) surged 44.6% after the utility pushed back against allegations its power lines caused a deadly wildfire on the island of Maui in Hawaii. The company suggested it intends to defend itself as it faces lawsuits around the devastating wildfires in Hawaii earlier this month.
Boston Scientific (BSX) rose 6% and was the best performer in the S&P 500 after a study of pulsed field ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heartbeats, met primary and safety endpoints.
Novocure (NVCR) dropped 37.5% after a failure of an ovarian cancer study. The Swiss company said a late-stage trial of Tumor Treating Fields with paclitaxel failed to meet its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer.
Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP) was up 5.1% after the Federal Trade Commission suspended its challenge of Amgen ‘s (AMGN) $27.8 billion acquisition of the biotechnology company. The pause, effective until Sept. 18, allows the FTC’s three commissioners to decide whether the agency should settle the case, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Market News
OpenAI releasing version of ChatGPT for large businesses
Artificial intelligence leader OpenAI said on Monday it is releasing a version of ChatGPT targeted to large businesses, increasing the overlap in what OpenAI and its financial backer Microsoft offer to customers.
ChatGPT Enterprise offers more security, privacy and higher-speed access to OpenAI’s technology, the company said. Early customers include Block, Carlyle and Estee Lauder Companies.
Musk, Zuckerberg Set to Attend Schumer’s Forum on Future of AI
Senator Chuck Schumer plans to bring together several technology industry chiefs to discuss the ramifications of artificial intelligence, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who have been discussing whether to bring their rivalry to a cage match.
Others invited to the closed-door meeting in September are Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc.’s Google; Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella; Nvidia Corp. co-founder Jensen Huang, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, according to Schumer’s office.
Goldman Is Selling a Wealth-Advisory Unit to $240 Billion Money Manager
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. struck a deal to sell an investment-advisory business aimed at the mass-affluent market to Creative Planning LLC, a wealth-management firm that oversees about $240 billion.
The bank agreed to sell the business, with $29 billion in assets, that grew out of United Capital, a registered investment adviser it purchased for $750 million, according to a statement. The offloading of the company just four years after Goldman acquired it signals the firm’s intention to refocus its attention on the ultra-rich segment where it has a dominant presence.