Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, Sept. 28, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Dow up, Nvidia sinks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points as investors rotated out of technology and into banking and energy stocks, such as Goldman Sachs and Chevron. Nvidia’s shares dived, extending last week’s decline, but are still up nearly 140% since the beginning of the year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both traded in negative territory. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was little changed as investors await Friday’s key inflation data. U.S. oil prices rose 1% amid simmering Israel-Lebanon tensions.
No pre-election cut
David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, said Monday the Federal Reserve was unlikely to cut rates before the November election due to political considerations. “Generally the Fed wants to stay out of politics,” Rubenstein told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on “Squawk Box.” He expressed concerns about potential criticism from former President Donald Trump if rate cuts occur before the election. “I suspect the market is probably more right than wrong when it says the rate cuts are likely to come after the election,” he said.
Bitcoin tumbles
Bitcoin’s price on Monday dropped below $60,000, marking its lowest level in over a month. It has lost nearly 11% in the past week. The decline coincided with a second consecutive week of outflows from crypto investment products. James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, attributes the sell-off to concerns over the number of rate cuts. “We have now seen $1.2 billion of outflows from crypto ETFs over the last two weeks which all began after the FOMC meeting,” he said, alluding to the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates until there’s more evidence of declining inflation.
Trade tensions
Chinese Premier Li Qiang defended China’s technological advancements amid EU plans for tariffs on Chinese electric cars. He criticized global restrictions on cooperation and attributed China’s industrial success to its market size, workforce, and consumer base. He emphasized the importance of international cooperation and the need to “reject” confrontation. This comes as the EU and US plan to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. China and the EU have reportedly agreed to discuss the potential tariffs.
Asia markets rise
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region mostly rose as investors sifted through economic data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.7% while the broad-based Topix rose 1.4%. The services producer price index for Japan moderated slightly to 2.5% year on year in May. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4% on positive consumer sentiment data. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.4% while mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.4%.
[PRO] Peak Nvidia
Nvidia’s extraordinary rally has surpassed even dot-com era records, with the chip stock now charting unprecedented historical moves — could that signal a peak for AI darling?
The bottom line
After months of complaints from investors about Wall Street’s rally being too narrow and overly reliant on a handful of technology stocks, the market appeared to take a step toward broadening out. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the standout performer, partially at the expense of AI favorite Nvidia.
Ray Wang, founder of Constellation Research, attributes Nvidia’s decline to broader economic concerns. “The pullback is coming out of a macro level. People are worried about the consumer side, where the economy is headed, and they’re doing some profit-taking ahead of summer,” Wang explained. “I would buy on the dip.”
Wang has a price target of $200 for Nvidia, representing an almost 70% upside from Monday’s close. During an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he outlined several reasons for his bullish stance on the stock.
As investors cash in on Nvidia, the S&P 500 has shown remarkable resilience, having gone 377 days without experiencing a 2.05% sell-off. This lack of volatility has been attributed to investor caution, with many sitting on the sidelines concerned that the market and stocks may have already gotten ahead of themselves.
Bank of America chief equity technical strategist Stephen Suttmeier believes there’s a lot of cash sitting on the sidelines but investors are concerned we are in an “overbought” market.
“I think the market is continuing to run-up because not enough people are on board with it,” Suttmeier told CNBC’s “Squawkbox” on Monday. “We’ve been staying overbought…and people hate chasing overbought markets, and I think that’s the reason overbought markets continue to grind higher.”
Suttmeier noted that the S&P 500 benchmark index might climb as much as 20% in 2024.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Yun Li, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Samantha Subin, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Spencer Kimball, Evelyn Cheng, Sheila Chiang and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
