Traders work during the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street in New York City, March 17, 2020.
Johannes Eisel | AFP | Getty Images
This report is from today’s international market newsletter CNBC Daily Open. The CNBC Daily Open provides investors with everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see?You can subscribe here.
Asian stocks are mixed
Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as investors awaited key inflation data from the United States. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and China’s CSI300 index also rose. However, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell, and so did the TOPIX. Wall Street ended lower overnight as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.06%, falling for the third straight session. The S&P 500 fell 0.17% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.55%.
Google’s Gemini problem
Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the company’s artificial intelligence failures in a memo to employees. This comes after the tech giant was forced to take Gemini’s image generation functionality offline for further testing. Pichai called the issue “problematic” and said it “offends users and shows bias.”
Water shortage threatens chipmakers
S&P Global Ratings said in a report that water shortages could threaten semiconductor companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. But the credit rating agency added that the company’s advantage as the world’s largest contract chip maker “allows it to lock in end demand and compensate for lower unit sales with higher prices.”
Aim for Nvidia
Geely-backed car technology company Ecarx has emerged as a contender in the fast-growing electric vehicle industry. While Nvidia has the lead when it comes to AI-based self-driving systems, Ecarx is aiming for the mass market and plans to launch new products to compete with the U.S. semiconductor giant, said its co-founder and CEO. )’s Jiyu Shen told CNBC.
[PRO] Outstanding little-known pharmaceutical companies
Investors are flocking to major weight-loss drug makers such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. But fund manager Freddie Leight singled out a lesser-known but outstanding company: US drug distributor McKesson Corporation. Leight called the company an “exciting idea” and noted that the 100-year-old business is “very defensive and very diversified.”
Wall Street is bracing for key inflation indicators that will affect investors’ views on interest rates.
All eyes will be on January’s personal consumption spending (the Fed’s favorite measure of inflation), which will be released today. Investors are hoping for indicators that inflation is finally easing.
Fed officials have said they want to see more evidence of disinflation before cutting rates.
Federal Reserve Board Member Michelle Bowman The governor signaled caution this week, saying upside risks to inflation remained and could slow progress or even cause price pressures to accelerate again.
“My fundamental outlook remains that inflation will fall further if interest rates remain unchanged,” Bowman said on Tuesday. “We will continue to remain cautious when considering future changes to our policy stance,” he said.
The PCE report was released on the heels of higher-than-expected consumer and producer price increases, delivering a one-two punch to the market. And Fed watchers expect this trend to continue, with PCE also trending slightly higher.
“Core consumer spending index is expected to rise slightly, which could cause the Fed to postpone rate cuts until June,” said Louis Navellier, founder and chairman of Navellier & Associates. . With explanation.
He added that PCE data “is going to be a big problem” for Wall Street. “We’ll see how that impacts the bond market and investor perception.”
A disappointing outcome could raise investors’ concerns that the Fed could delay further rate cuts and keep rates high for an extended period of time.
