Wall Street Indexes Swing Higher, Global Markets Follow

Alexander Garcia
21 Nov, 2024
Miami

Wall Street indexes rebounded from morning doldrums after investors overcame initial hesitations about the widely anticipated quarterly results from Nvidia Corp. 

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.1% after Nvidia reported a sharp jump in revenue and earnings driven by a strong demand for its artificial intelligence chips. 

Revenue and earnings in the third quarter doubled as demand from large customers for data center chips remained elevated for the third year in a row. 

The company offered a strong revenue outlook for the current quarter, but growth is expected to slow in the next year. 

Seasonally adjusted initial weekly jobless claims in the week ending November 16 were 213,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. 

Continuing jobless claims, which lag by one week, increased by 36,000 to 1.908 million, the highest in three years. 

 

Existing Home Sales Slightly Rebounded In October 

Existing home sales in October increased 2.9% from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted 3.96 million, the National Association of Realtors said in its monthly update Thursday. 

Existing-home sales rebounded from a 14-year low of 3.83 million, and median home price increased 4% to $407,000, halting three consecutive months of decline.   

"The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.6% to $5,951.45, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 18,974.06, and the Russell 2000 index inched higher 1.7% to 2,367.19. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.32%, 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 4.40%, and 30-year Treasury bonds decreased to 4.59%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.91 to $69.66 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged up 12 cents to $3.31 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $19.87 to $2,672.52 an ounce, and silver decreased by $0.06 to $30.87.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 106.61.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Nvidia declined 0.9% to $144.62 after the advanced chip maker reported strong quarterly results but fell short of the highest revenue expectations.

Revenue in the fiscal third quarter increased 94% to $35.1 billion from $18.1 billion, net income soared 109% to $19.3 billion from $9.2 billion, and diluted earnings per share jumped 111% to 78 cents from 37 cents a year earlier. 

Nvidia forecast fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $37.5 billion, with a band of 2%, and GAAP gross margin of 73% and non-GAAP gross margin of 73.5%. 

Data center revenue increased to $30.8 billion, a jump of 17% from the previous quarter and a rise of 112% from a year ago. 

Snowflake soared 23.2% to $159.30 after the data analytics company beat earnings expectations for the third quarter. 

Revenue in the quarter increased 28% to $942.1 million from $734.1 million, net loss attributable to shareholders expanded to $324.2 million from $214.2 million, and diluted net loss per share expanded to 98 cents from 65 cents a year ago. 

The company guided product revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter to increase 23% to between $906 million and $911 million, and for the full year to increase 29% to $3.4 billion. 

Investors are awaiting the release of quarterly results from Intuit and Gap Inc. after the market closes. 

 

European Market Indexes Rebounded, Passenger Car Registration Jumped  

European markets rebounded for the fifth day in a row as investors reviewed the latest corporate results and new passenger car registration. 

Benchmark indexes in Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, and London edged slightly higher, but lacked momentum amid worries about the future rate path and looming tariff war with the U.S. 

New passenger car registration increased in October after falling for two months in a row, driven by robust sales increase in Spain and Germany, according to the latest released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. 

Car registration increased 1.1% after falling 6.1% in September and 18.1% in August, driven by 7.2% increase in Spain and 6% rise in Germany. 

For ten months to October, new car registration increased 0.7% to 8.9 million vehicles. 

The UK budget deficit surpassed expectations in October and reached the second highest level for the October, driven by increase in interest payments. 

Public sector net borrowing increased to £17.4 billion from £15.8 billion in the previous year, the Office for National Statistics reported Thursday. 

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased by 0.7% to 19,141.27; the CAC-40 index advanced by 0.3% to 7,218.01; and the FTSE 100 index rose by 0.5% to 8,150.23.

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged lower to 2.31%, French bonds inched down to 3.09%, the UK gilts edged lower to 4.44%, and Italian bonds increased to 3.59%.

The euro edged lower to $1.04; the British pound inched down to $1.25; and the U.S. dollar weakened to 88.59 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.76 to $73.75 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas rose by €1.61 to €48.20 per MWh. 

JD Sports Fashion plunged 14.5% to 96.10 pence after the specialty retailer reported a decline in comparable store sales in the third quarter, and the company lowered is adjusted earnings outlook. 

The retailer estimated annual adjusted pre-tax earnings to be at the lower end of its previous range between £955 million and £1.035 billion.  

  

Japan's Indexes Closed Down Following Volatile Semiconductor Equipment Stocks and Persistent Weakness In Yen 

Stock market indexes in Tokyo traded down and reversed gains of the previous session amid weakness in semiconductor equipment stocks. 

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% and the broader Topix decreased 0.5% after intraday traders dumped semiconductor equipment makers following quarterly results from Nvidia. 

The artificial intelligence application enabling chipmaker reported fiscal third quarter revenue soared 94% and net income jumped 109%, meeting the lofty expectations set by many analysts. 

Investors decided to sell Nvidia stock in the after-hours trading, despite the company offering a strong forward-looking revenue outlook of $37.5 billion. 

The weakness in semiconductor equipment stocks overshadowed market sentiment as investors shifted their focus to upcoming inflation data on Friday. 

The yen hovered near 154.66 against the U.S. dollar amid speculation that the Bank of Japan is preparing for another market intervention and arrest its persistent decline. 

 

Japan Stock Movers 

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.7% to 38,072.68, and the broader Topix index fell 0.5% to 2,686.05.

Tokyo Electron decreased 0.5% to ¥21,760.0, Advantest fell 2.2% to ¥9,337.0, Disco Corp. eased 0.1% to ¥42,290.0, and SoftBank Group declined 0.4% to ¥192.90. 

Fujikura declined 0.9% to ¥5,592.0, Furukawa Electric jumped 3% to ¥6,239.0, Kyowa Kirin increased 0.8% to ¥2,547.0, and UBE Corp jumped 3.4% to ¥2,412.50.   

Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. jumped 5% to ¥4,530.0 and extended the two-day increase to over 15% after activist investor Elliott Management acquired a 5% stake in the company. 

The activist investor is in negotiations with the company to scale back its real estate holding and share more capital with stockholders, according to several executives at the company contacted by Ticker.com. 

Tokyo Gas Urban Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, provides real estate leasing, management, and brokerage services, generated revenue of 31.9 billion yen and operating income of 5.9 billion yen. 

Elliott is seeking the company to sell several of its real estate projects, including the Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo, with net annual revenue of 10.2 billion yen and operating income of 185 million yen. 

The company's stock, before the recent surge, traded at a price-to-book ratio of 1, and the company's assets do not reflect the current market price of its several real estate holdings. 

 

China Indexes Resume Downward Slide, Kuaishou Technology Plunged 10% 

China and Hong Kong stock market indexes halted a three-day rally as investors looked for fresh catalysts. 

The Hang Seng index declined 0.1% and the CSI 300 index eased 0.2% as investors turned cautious following a weak earnings growth outlook. 

Baidu and Chow Tai Fook were in focus ahead of quarterly results later today. 

Benchmark indexes in mainland China and Hong Kong are down about 15% from their peaks in late September, after fiscal and monetary stimulus measures failed to revive consumer confidence. 

Moreover, investors are also concerned about rising trade barriers in the European Union and higher tariffs in the U.S. on goods made by China. 

The latest monetary and fiscal measures to revive property markets did not go far enough, and property developers continue to struggle with insufficient capital. 

China's stimulus measures focus on easing the debt burden on local governments but do not provide any support to property developers and home buyers who have paid for unfinished projects. 

Moreover, leading 35 companies in Hong Kong reported flat earnings in the latest quarter and forecast weak earnings growth in the remainder of the year. 

 

China Stock Movers 

The Hang Seng index decreased 0.1% to 19,680.23, and the mainland-focused CSI 300 index edged lower 0.2% to 3,976.90. 

Semiconductor equipment-related stocks were in focus after Nvidia Corp. reported strong quarterly results but fell short of the highest revenue expectations.

Baidu edged down 0.06% to HK$83.95, and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group decreased 3% to HK$7.14. 

Residential property developers fell as investors worried that Beijing policymakers may encourage struggling companies to consolidate. 

Longfor Group declined 1% to HK $11.24; China Vanke decreased 2.2% to HK $6.40; and China Resources Land dropped 1% to HK $23.60.

Kuaishou Technology dropped 10.5% to HK $47.05 after the short-video app developer's revenue increase fell short of market expectations. 

Revenue in the third quarter increased 11.4% to 31.1 billion yuan from 27.9 billion yuan, net income jumped 50% to 3.3 billion yuan from 2.2 billion yuan, and diluted earnings per share rose to 0.75 yuan from 0.49 yuan a year earlier. 

Average daily users increased 5.4% to 407.5 million from 386.6 million, and average monthly users rose 4.3% to 714.1 million from 684.7 million a year ago.