CNBC Daily Open: After a winning week for stocks, Moody’s downgrade of U.S.’ credit rating poses a new challenge

U.S. stocks popped last week on the back of a trade truce between America and China, in which they mutually agreed to cut tariffs for 90 days. Technology stocks soared, with Tesla and Nvidia leading the pack. Absent new developments on the tariff front, however, it’s unclear if this buoyant sentiment can last.

For one, the U.S.’ credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s Ratings to the second highest. This means investors could demand higher returns for U.S. Treasurys amid their ostensibly lower trustworthiness. Rising Treasury yields, in turn, could pressure stocks. Even though Moody is merely the latest to join Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings in bumping down the U.S. from the top rating — which did so in 2011 and 2023 respectively — it might send another crack through an already fragile stock market.

Although Nvidia was one of the winners of last week’s rally, it is still contending with chip export restrictions to China and increased scrutiny over its business activities. That’s a big deal because China’s artificial intelligence sector is “not behind” that of the U.S., and will probably reach around $50 billion within three years, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Losing out on that market would be a “tremendous loss,” he added.

Whether last week’s rally can be sustained will rely, then, on the headlines that will come from the White House this week.

Moody’s cuts U.S.’ credit rating
Moody’s Ratings cut the United States’ sovereign credit rating down one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, which is the highest possible, citing the growing burden of financing the federal government’s budget deficit and debt. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday called the downgrade a “lagging indicator,” claiming it reflects conditions during the Biden administration.

China’s retail sales disappoint
Retail sales in China grew 5.1% in April from a year earlier, lower than the 5.5% expected by a Reuters poll and March’s figure of 5.9%, suggesting the spending habits of consumers are still muted. Industrial output rose 6.1% in April on an annual basis — while that slowed from March’s 7.7% jump, it beat estimates of 5.5%, defraying some fears that U.S. tariffs would severely depressing factory activity in China.

Winning week for U.S. stocks
All major U.S. indexes rose Friday. For the week, the S&P 500 surged 5.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 3.4%. The Nasdaq Composite popped 7.2% on the back of strong showings from technology stocks such as Tesla and Nvidia, which jumped 17% and 16% respectively on the week. U.S. futures slipped Sunday evening stateside. Asia-Pacific markets fell Monday. Mainland China’s CSI 300 lost roughly 0.3% on downbeat retail sales figures from Beijing.

Nvidia denies sending chip designs to China
Following a report in the Financial Times that Nvidia is working on a research and development center in Shanghai in light of new U.S. export curbs, the chipmaker told CNBC it is “not sending any GPU designs to China to be modified to comply with export controls.” A source familiar with the matter told CNBC that the company is leasing new space for current employees, but is not sending any IP or GPU designs there.

Biden diagnosed with prostate cancer
Former U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer, his office said on Friday. “The cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office added.

[PRO] China certifies pilotless plane
As companies like Tesla and Alphabet-owned Waymo seek to be the first on the market with driverless cars, one company received certification from China this week to fly pilotless planes. Bank of America says it’s time to buy the firm’s U.S.-listed stock.

Meet the sustainable fashion startup backed by H&M and Amazon

When Gilberto Loureiro spent summers working in a textile factory as a teenager growing up in Portugal, he discovered that he felt “hate and love” for how clothes were produced.

“I really love the textile industry and problem solving, but I hate this … inspection working and inefficiencies and the waste. It’s really one of the most difficult jobs in the world,” Loureiro told CNBC via video call.

After taking a master’s degree in physics, he co-founded of Smartex, a tech company that uses cameras, vision software and artificial intelligence to spot defects in textiles during their production, and therefore reduce the proportion of fabric going to waste. Loureiro claims the technology has prevented 1 million kilograms of fabric from going to waste in the past three years.