Stocks ease past Nvidia blues, crude oil rebounds

7:08 pm Thursday, August 29th, 2024

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global shares edged higher on Thursday, shrugging off investor disappointment at artificial intelligence powerhouse Nvidia’s results, while oil prices rebounded from two sessions of losses helped by Libyan supply disruptions.

The Dow reached a fresh record high close, while the S&P 500 finished just below its July record close and the Nasdaq dropped. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.59% to 41,335.05, the S&P 500 was flat at 5,591.96 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.23% to 17,516.43.

European stocks rose 0.76% after hitting a record high powered by technology shares. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.04% to 827.62.

Nvidia beat analyst estimates on Wednesday with second quarter revenue of $30 billion and third quarter revenue forecast at $32.5 billion. But the results failed to meet lofty investor expectations that have underpinned a massive rally in Nvidia shares and catapulted the company into one of the main drivers of the benchmark S&P 500. The stock closed down 6.4%.

U.S. Commerce Department data showed that the economy grew at a 3.0% annualized rate last quarter, indicating that the Federal Reserve would have room to begin cutting rates in September.

“Nvidia is just a representation of what happens when the market gets ahead of itself in expectation,” said Matthew Orton, chief markets strategist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“When I actually look at the numbers themselves, it was a clean beat and raise pretty much across the board. I think there’s a clear signal that demand for artificial intelligence remains strong.”

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 2.4 basis points to 3.865%. Markets are fully pricing in a rate cut of at least 25 basis points (bps) during the Fed’s September meeting, although expectations for a cut of 50 bps fell to 34.5% after the data, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Investors are also eyeing the personal consumption expenditure price index – which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure and is due on Friday.

“The economy is doing a little bit better than expected. If you break down the number you see once again, it’s the intrepid consumer that is continuing to consume, which is very positive for the economy,” said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at SiebertNXT in New York.

The U.S. dollar rose after GDP data. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, gained 0.36% at 101.37, with the euro down 0.39% at $1.1077.

Gold climbed again and was just shy of notching another record high. Spot gold added 0.79% to $2,522.08 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.9% higher at $2,560.3.

Oil prices gained as concerns over Libyan supplies helped offset a smaller than expected draw in U.S. crude inventories, which tempered demand expectations.

Brent crude futures settled up 1.64% at $79.94 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 1.87% at $75.91.

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy)