Geopolitics and Trump's actions overshadow Nvidia's report, current stock market news of companies
Stock market news
• Before the NVDA report, optimism returned to the market and stock indices grew briskly at the beginning of the trading session. The stabilization of crypto also contributed to this. However, then Trump spoke out, repeating threats to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the EU. And stock indices returned to zero.
Moreover, the defensive XLV and XLP also turned out to be weak.
However, the yield on 10-year US government bonds continued to decline and reached 4.25%.
Everything is calm in the morning. And only Bitcoin fell to $82 thousand, and is now trading at about $85 thousand. In the crypto market, players are taking advantage of the growth and selling. A classic bearish sentiment.
• It is a testament to the market's keen attention to the state of the US economy and the threat of Donald Trump's trade wars that even the financial report from Nvidia, the benchmark for artificial intelligence and the market leader, appeared and disappeared without a trace.
Part of the reason for this is that Nvidia's disclosures were generally neither hot nor cold: Guidance was strong but not sensational; gross margins were down but were set to rise by midyear.
The most important takeaway was that demand for the powerful, expensive computing technology for which Nvidia is famous is alive and well, despite what initially appeared to be a threat to the Western business model from Chinese AI competitor DeepSeek, which offers seemingly cheaper solutions.
• Nvidia's impact was largely absent from Asia, as tech stocks and the indexes they comprise were divided. Instead, attention was elsewhere. Bond yields and the dollar had more to tell, rising from recent lows as traders weighed the latest conflicting tariff rumors from Washington and what it all might mean for the economy and the Fed's policy path.
• Trump appeared to give Canada and Mexico another month's grace on their 25 percent tariffs, pushing the deadline back to April 2 — but a White House official then tried to push it back to March 4. But it was clear Europe was in the president's crosshairs as Trump imposed a "retaliatory" 25 percent levy "on cars and everything else" that will be unveiled soon.
Trump’s trade war will certainly hurt his goals more, but it will also hurt the United States. And the U.S. economy looks nowhere near as robust as it did just a few weeks ago, after a string of weak data, exacerbated by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments this week that things are “fragile” beneath the surface.
• Traders have moved from pricing in one quarter-point Fed rate cut this year to two, the first by July and the second by October, according to LSEG.
Investors will be looking to Thursday's GDP data for further signs of a slowdown, while the Fed's preferred inflation measure, the PCE deflator, is due out on Friday.
• Europe has a lot of data to digest on Thursday, including jobs data in Germany, producer prices in France and consumer inflation in Spain. Outside the bloc, Switzerland reports GDP. The ECB starts its next round of central bank meetings in a week, with markets currently pricing in a quarter-percentage-point rate cut, with a further two points by September. However, discussions at the central bank are focused on how much more rate cut is needed, given that inflation is still too high and the economy is struggling.
• AAPL should get rid of the DEI program, not just make adjustments to it - Trump
• Elon Musk tops the list of super-billionaires with a fortune of $419.4 billion, - WSJ. There are 24 people in the ranking with a combined fortune of about $3.3 trillion, which is more than the GDP of France.
• US may resume buying Russian oil before Europe does - Trafigura. OPEC will act pragmatically regarding oil supplies. The shadow fleet of oil tankers is already approaching 1,000 vessels.
• Microsoft Copilot (MSFT) has opened up Voice and Think Deeper to all users.
The tools, based on the OpenAI o1 model, are now free and have no restrictions.
Think Deeper includes infinite reasoning - the AI will check the answer to a query until it is as accurate as possible.
• The main sellers are 10k-100k BTC holders, but the market as a whole is accumulating. Addresses with balances between 10k and 100k BTC have been the main sellers during this decline, dumping 25,740 BTC in the last 7 days.
However, on-chain data shows that the network as a whole continues to accumulate BTC, with many traders using the price decline to increase their positions.
• The cryptocurrency market has lost more than $800 billion in recent weeks, due to a decline in enthusiasm that has gripped the crypto industry since Trump's election victory, the Financial Times reports.
• Bank of America said they would launch a dollar-pegged stablecoin if the law passed.
• "Investors have cut their holdings in US stocks, switching to Europe and China," Barclays.
Flows into US stocks fell to $33bn in February, the lowest since August. Inflows into EU (excluding the UK) stocks have risen, reaching $10bn since the start of the year, recouping almost half of the outflows since the US election.
• China also saw significant foreign capital inflows, particularly due to the outflow of funds from India and interest in Chinese tech stocks following the DeepSeek news.
• Trump signed an order directing federal agencies to enforce rules requiring insurers and health care providers to disclose prices for health care services,
reviving 2019 regulations that were said to have been shelved by the current administration. The order requires hospitals and insurers to provide actual prices, not estimates, and aims to make prices comparable across providers, including for prescription drugs. The departments targeted by the directive include the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services.
• Lucid Group (LCID) shares jumped 10% after better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, with revenue increasing 49% year over year and a narrowing quarterly loss.
The electric vehicle company delivered 3,099 vehicles in the fourth quarter and plans to more than double its production by 2025 to 20,000 vehicles, and announced leadership changes.
• Zeta Global (ZETA) fell 9% in early trading despite reporting record fourth-quarter results and upbeat full-year sales guidance.
The artificial intelligence marketing firm saw revenue increase 50% year over year and a big boost to adjusted EBITDA. But the market reaction suggests some investor concerns.
• On Semiconductor (ON) announced it will cut about 2,400 jobs to align costs with business trends.
The company expects to save $105 million to $115 million annually after the layoffs, despite incurring $50 million to $60 million in employee-related costs.
• Apple (AAPL) is gaining momentum in the market for artificial intelligence-powered computers, with 54% of such computers shipped in 2024 being Macs. The trend highlights Apple's growing influence in integrating AI capabilities into consumer products, according to research firm Canalys.
• Siyata Mobile (SYTA) announced it will merge with Core Gaming, a global gaming developer. The merger will see Core Gaming become a wholly owned subsidiary and the management of both companies will change to support the new business structure.
• Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly considering building a new data center campus for its AI projects, which could potentially be worth more than $200 billion.
While Meta denies these specific plans, the report indicates that it is continuing to evaluate potential sites in several U.S. states.
• Amazon (AMZN) announces redesigned Alexa Assistant with generative AI.
• Goldman Sachs sees growth in US energy and metals production thanks to Trump's policies.
• Uber rival Bolt picks adviser for potential IPO Bolt Technology OU is working with an adviser to explore options including a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter
• AB InBev (BUD) shares soared as the Budweiser maker comfortably beat expectations. Strong North American sales helped Anheuser-Busch InBev beat analysts' quarterly profit and revenue estimates.
• EU approves Nokia's $2.3 billion takeover of Infinera (INFN)
• GM boosts investor payout with new share buybacks and higher dividend.
General Motors shares rise.
• Lilly (LLY) plans to invest $27 billion in new U.S. plants as Trump threatens drug tariffs
Trump said Wednesday he would revoke licenses for oil companies to operate in Venezuela.
That would hurt CVX.
• MRNA shares fall 6% in premarket trading as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews its $590 million contract to develop a bird flu vaccine.
• NRG shares rose 11%. NRG Energy said Wednesday it will team up with GE Vernova (GEV, +6%) and engineering firm Kiewit Corp. to build four natural gas-fired power plants to meet growing energy needs for data centers and artificial intelligence.
• OKLO shares are up 10% and up another 4% in premarket trading. The clean energy startup said it is participating in an Energy Department initiative that will help it speed up the deployment of its nuclear power plants.
• GM shares rose 4%. The automaker raised its quarterly dividend by 25% to 15 cents a share from 12 cents and said its board approved a new $6 billion share repurchase plan (13% of Mcap).
• APP shares fell 12% as two short sellers accused the company of fraud.
More reactions to the reports yesterday on the exchange
ZI +23%
AXON +15%
INTU +12%
LOW +2%
STLA -5%
CART -12%
FLYW -23%
NVDA yesterday before the report rose by 3.7%, and in the premarket it fell by 1.5%
Stocks after reports
SNOW +9%
LUNR +4%
CRM -5%
AI -6%
EBAY -8%
Key events that could impact markets on Thursday:
- US GDP (Q4), durable goods orders (January).
- French producer prices (January), Spanish CPI (Feb), German employment data (Feb).
- Swiss GDP (Q4).
Fundamental news
• U.S. new home sales fell in January amid higher mortgage rates and adverse weather conditions.
• Inflation in Japan rose above expectations, from 1.9% to 2.2% (2.0% expected).
• Musk will attend Trump's first cabinet meeting. This was announced by White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt, AFP reports. Elon Musk, who is cutting US budget spending on behalf of Donald Trump, does not have a ministerial portfolio or formal decision-making powers, the agency recalls.
Musk: "We must act quickly to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion by fiscal year 2026"
"We need to save $4 billion every day."
In the month since Trump's return to the White House, his approval rating among Americans has hardly changed - Reuters/Ipsos poll
The poll showed that 44% of Americans rated the politician's work positively in his first month in office.
• Trump supporters want to change the US constitution so that he can be elected for another term, - NBC. According to the 22nd amendment to the constitution, adopted in 1951, the same person can be elected head of state no more than two times.
• The House of Representatives has passed a Republican budget plan that would
cap tax cuts at $4.5 trillion over 10 years
and cut government spending by $2 trillion over the same period.
The plan would direct the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to cut spending by $880 billion.
• Trump supported the idea of access to rare earth metals of the Russian Federation. The US President said that he is conducting “serious discussions” with Russia on the topic of ending the war in Ukraine and “trying to conclude a number of agreements in the area of economic development.” In particular, he expressed a desire to conclude an agreement giving American investors access to Russian rare earth metals.
• Trump announced the introduction of “gold cards” for moving to the United States; they will be sold for $5 million. Including, possibly, to Russian oligarchs.
• Trump launched an investigation into copper imports based on national security concerns, not trade deficits. He signed an executive order on copper that he said would have a significant impact.
• China recapitalizes banks. The authorities plan to inject $55 billion into three state banks through the issue of special bonds. In total, up to $140 billion may be allocated to support the banks.
• Hungary again threatens to block further sanctions against Russia and proposes to soften already imposed restrictions - Reuters.
Hungary is seeking to remove eight Russian citizens from the EU sanctions list and is also demanding new guarantees for negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine. Otherwise, Budapest threatens to block the extension of sanctions against Russia.
• Europe will need 250 billion euros a year and 300 thousand soldiers to defend itself without US help - experts from the Bruegel think tank.
• Global debt rises to record high in 2024 - Bloomberg Global debt has risen by about $7 trillion to reach an annual level of $318 trillion.
• Even if Ukraine has economically viable deposits, the West will be forced to send the extracted rare earth metals to China for processing, since it dominates this area - Bloomberg.
• The "pro-Russian" candidate for the presidency of Romania, Georgescu, was detained: his car was stopped on the road. The politician was sent for questioning to the Prosecutor General's Office. Shortly before this, the Romanian prosecutor's office found $10 million in cash and plane tickets to Moscow hidden in an underground safe in the home of Georgescu's bodyguard.