NEW YORK (Dow Jones) – Profit-taking began on the US stock exchanges on Monday after reaching new highs. The Dow Jones Index, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 had set new record highs. The unbroken AI boom also caused all-time highs in the technology sector – like at Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang had stated that data center spending would double in the next few years. But here too, the high valuations were used to take profits. The graphics processor manufacturer’s share price ultimately rose by 0.2 percent. The Dow Jones Index rose 0.3 percent to 38,797 points, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed 0.1 and 0.3 percent lower, respectively. According to initial information, there were 2,218 (Friday 1,866) price winners and 631 (975) losers on the Nyse. 65 (61) titles closed unchanged.
In the meantime, investors had given advance praise for consumer prices for January on Tuesday. If the inflation data turns out to be unexpectedly low, interest rate cut fantasies could make the rounds again, it was said. This circumstance helped the stock market gain momentum temporarily, but investors eventually got cold feet. “The Fed continues to expect interest rate cuts to offset an expected tightening in financial conditions as inflation returns to 2 percent, but the timing and magnitude remain elusive given the strength of the economy and ongoing uncertainty about the path of inflation,” explained U.S. Chief Economist Tim Duy at SGH Macro Advisors.
Mergers make prices
The reporting season justified the current high valuations. According to analysts at Jefferies, 76 percent of companies have beaten earnings estimates so far in the fourth quarter. There were no important economic data on the agenda on Monday. Impulses came from the company side: The planned merger of Diamondback (+9.4%) and Endeavor (+0.7%) would create an oil and gas company with a market capitalization of over 50 billion dollars.
Gilead Sciences (+1.0%) is acquiring CymaBay Therapeutics (+25.4%) for $4.3 billion to expand its liver disease portfolio. On Friday, Microsoft (-1.2%) became the first company ever to reach a market capitalization of $3.125 trillion, surpassing Apple, whose market value had risen to $3.09 trillion in July 2023, but has since fallen back below the $3 trillion mark had slipped.
Amazon trended 1.2 percent lighter. It has been revealed that company founder Jeff Bezos sold Amazon shares for $2 billion. According to business figures, Amtech Systems shot up 25.6 percent above forecasts. Applied Digital lost 8.1 percent as the company was hit by power outages.
Hardly any movement in dollars and bonds
The dollar showed itself to be assertive. The greenback will hardly move until the consumer price data is published on Tuesday, it said. The appearances of several US Federal Reserve representatives on Monday triggered at most small price movements. Bond yields are also barely moving at the moment. Here too, investors were waiting for the inflation data.
Oil prices came back somewhat after the previous week’s rise, although with low sales as many Asian markets remained closed for Chinese New Year. Analysts at DNB Markets and ING pointed to a statement from Iran’s foreign minister suggesting that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could be moving closer to a diplomatic solution. “Recent reports indicate that Iran has held talks in Beirut in recent days, including with senior Hamas officials, to explore a diplomatic solution,” ING said. Headlines like these tended to weigh on oil prices. In the coming days, players will be interested in the monthly reports from OPEC and the International Energy Agency in addition to inflation data.
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INDEX last +/- % absolute +/- % YTD
DJIA 38,797.38 +0.3% 125.69 +2.9%
S&P 500 5,021.84 -0.1% -4.77 +5.3%
Nasdaq Comp. 15,942.55 -0.3% -48.12 +6.2%
Nasdaq-100 17,882.66 -0.4% -79.74 +6.3%
US bonds
Maturity Yield Bp to VT Yield VT +/-Bp YTD
2 years 4.48 +0.4 4.48 6.4
5 years 4.13 -0.7 4.13 12.8
7 years 4.16 -0.9 4.17 19.3
10 years 4.17 +0.2 4.17 28.8
30 years 4.37 -0.2 4.37 40.0
FOREX last +/- % Fri, 8:50 Thu, 17:25 % YTD
EUR/USD 1.0775 -0.1% 1.0780 1.0764 -2.4%
EUR/JPY 160.89 -0.0% 160.98 160.83 +3.4%
EUR/CHF 0.9435 +0.0% 0.9429 0.9413 +1.7%
EUR/GBP 0.8532 -0.1% 0.8533 0.8537 -1.6%
USD/JPY 149.32 +0.0% 149.34 149.41 +6.0%
GBP/USD 1.2629 +0.0% 1.2633 1.2610 -0.7%
USD/CNH (Offshore) 7.2147 -0.1% 7.2137 7.2164 +1.3%
Bitcoin
BTC/USD 50,186.54 +4.3% 46,248.62 45,272.72 +15.3%
CRUDE OIL most recently VT-Settlem. +/-% +/- USD% YTD
WTI/Nymex 77.02 76.84 +0.2% +0.18 +6.7%
Brent/ICE 82.10 82.19 -0.1% -0.09 +6.7%
GAS VT Settlem. +/- EUR
Dutch TTF 25.785 26.80 -3.8% -1.02 -16.6%
METALS last day previous +/- % +/- USD % YTD
Gold (spot) 2,020.43 2,024.75 -0.2% -4.33 -2.0%
Silver (spot) 22.70 22.61 +0.4% +0.09 -4.5%
Platinum (spot) 891.65 875.00 +1.9% +16.65 -10.1%
Copper future 3.72 3.68 +1.1% +0.04 -4.3%
YTD based on the previous day’s closing level
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 12, 2024 4:09 p.m. ET (9:09 p.m. GMT)