Wall Street progressed this Monday, as Nvidia consolidated and Apple (+1.9%) narrowly regained first place on the world capitalization podium. The S&P 500 is up 0.77% to 5,473 pts, while the Dow Jones is up 0.49% to 38,778 pts. The Nasdaq climbs 0.95% to 17,857 pts, shattering its Friday record. The 10,000 billion dollar trio Microsoft / Nvidia / Apple still attracts attention. Apple stands out in the wake of its announcements last week concerning its plans in artificial intelligence with Apple Intelligence and OpenAI… On the Nymex, a barrel of WTI crude gained 2.1% to $80.60. The dollar index stabilizes against a basket of currencies.
On the economic front, the New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index for the month of June stood at -6, compared to the FactSet consensus -8.4 and -15.6 a month before. Thus, the indicator still shows a decline in activity, but less pronounced than in the previous month.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said it was reasonable for the US central bank to cut interest rates “once this year”, but until December…
Remember that the Fed last week maintained its key rate in the range of 5.25 to 5.50%, at a 23-year high, in order to maintain continued pressure on the economy and curb inflation. The bank released projections showing a median forecast of 19 U.S. central bankers calling for just one rate cut this year.
“We’re in a very good position right now to take our time, get more data on inflation, more data on the economy, on the labor market, before we have to make a decision,” Kashkari commented. “We are in a strong position, but if you just say there will be a reduction, as the median indicates, it will probably be towards the end of the year”… “We need more evidence to convince us that inflation is on the way to falling back to 2%,” insisted the official in an interview with CBS.
On Tuesday, traders will monitor May’s U.S. retail sales, industrial production figures, and business inventories and sales. Thomas Barkin, Lorie Logan, Alberto Musalem and Austan Goolsbee of the Fed will speak.
The American real estate market index is expected on Wednesday, while on Thursday, the program will be expanded with housing starts and building permits, unemployment claims, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index, the balance of accounts current markets, the Atlanta Fed’s inflation expectations index, and the weekly report on US domestic oil stocks.
Finally, on Friday, for Four Witches Day, operators will monitor the US composite flash PMI index, existing home resales, as well as the Conference Board leading indicators index.
Values
Nvidia ended down 0.6%, while at the opening, the graphics and AI chip giant was approaching Microsoft’s stock market value at nearly $3.3 trillion… The rally took place on the record since the action was split by 10 a week ago. The stock has gained more than 160% already this year, driven by the enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and the strong demand for its chips dedicated to AI. Susquehanna has just set a price target of $160 on the stock compared to $145 previously, while maintaining its positive recommendation. The increased target corresponds to a multiple of 51.5 times the broker’s 2025 adjusted earnings per share forecast for Nvidia. The broker’s target is the highest on Wall Street on Nvidia, while according to FactSet, the average target is just $124. This target price would bring out a capitalization of nearly 4,000 billion dollars.
Nvidia today announced Nvidia Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX, a set of microservices that enable physically accurate sensor simulation to accelerate the development of fully autonomous machines of all types. “Sensors, a growing, multi-billion dollar industry, provide autonomous vehicles, humanoids, industrial manipulators, mobile robots and smart spaces with the data needed to understand the physical world and make informed decisions. With Nvidia Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX, developers can test sensor perception and associated AI software at scale in physically accurate and realistic virtual environments before real-world deployment, improving security while saving time and costs “, explains the group.
“Developing safe and reliable autonomous machines powered by generative physical AI requires training and testing in physical virtual worlds,” said Rev Lebaredian, vice president of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at Nvidia. “NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX microservices will enable developers to easily create large-scale digital twins of factories, cities, and even the Earth, helping accelerate the next wave of AI.”
Microsoft is up 1.3% at the top on Wall Street, while Wedbush has just raised its price target from $500 to $550, estimating that artificial intelligence should modify the growth trajectory of the software giant in the cloud. The recommendation is maintained at ‘outperform’. Furthermore, according to ‘The Information’, the AI startup supported by the colossus of Redmond, OpenAI, which is at the origin of the essential chatbot ChatGPT, would consider modifying its governance and abandoning its non-profit status lucrative. This is what the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, reportedly told some shareholders.
Tesla (+5.3%) begins its fight for legal recognition of shareholder vote in favor of Elon Musk’s record compensation of nearly $50 billion, telling a Delaware judge that it had a significant impact on its decision having canceled the famous package in 2018. Tesla wrote to Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick that the parties involved in the salary package affair should now present their legal interpretations of Thursday’s ratification of Musk’s salary, rather than going moving forward according to the case’s previous timeline.
Best Buy (+4.6%), the flagship consumer electronics retailer, benefits from a positive rating from UBS which has just revised its purchase recommendation, citing favorable prospects and restructuring efforts…
Autodesk gained another 6.5%, while the activist investor Starboard Value has, according to the Wall Street Journal, acquired a stake of around $500 million in the software group’s capital and intends to lobby for changes. The WSJ cites sources close to the matter. Starboard says Autodesk needs to improve its margins and make changes to its board of directors. The activist met with Autodesk executives to discuss concerns related to operations, governance and the handling of a recent accounting investigation. Recall that the group had earlier this month revealed a preliminary turnover higher than market expectations at around $1.42 billion. In addition, financial director Deborah Clifford had been appointed director of strategy, effective immediately, while Elizabeth Rafael, group director, had been appointed as interim CFO.
GameStop (-12.1%), the ‘meme stock’ preferred by small American investors, held its general meeting this Monday, while the influencer Roaring Kitty stirred up the issue by taking a stake and “pushing” the value on social networks, allowing the group’s management to raise more than $3 billion in two angelic capital increases. The group’s general meeting was postponed last week due to a technical problem resulting from strong shareholder demand.
