- Asian Stocks Follow US Gains on Lower Bond Yields: Markets Wrap
Asian stocks followed gains in the US as a decline in Treasury yields helped bolster the allure of holding equities. Traders are closely watching for any further news around President-elect Donald Trump’s planned administration. MSCI’s gauge of regional shares climbed as much as 0.9% as benchmarks rose in Japan, Australia and South Korea. Chinese stocks were mixed. - Nasdaq closes higher as Tesla rally helps start week on an upbeat note
The Nasdaq Composite rose Monday following a rough week, as Tesla shares surged and Wall Street looked ahead to some major market-moving earnings reports. The Nasdaq advanced 0.6% to settle at 18,791.81, while the S&P 500 added about 0.4% to close at 5,893.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.39 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 43,389.60. Tesla spearheaded the tech-heavy index’s rally, popping 5.6% amid a Bloomberg News report, citing people familiar with the matter, that President-elect Donald Trump’s team is working on ways to ease regulation on self-driving vehicles. Elsewhere, Apple and Netflix gained 1.3% and 2.8%, respectively, while Advanced Micro Devices surged 3%. - DOJ Will Push Google to Sell Chrome to Break Search Monopoly
Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell off its Chrome browser in what would be a historic crackdown on one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The department will ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, according to people familiar with the plans. - Gold surges on softer dollar, Russia-Ukraine tensions
Gold prices soared on Monday, after six days of losses, as the U.S. dollar’s surge stalled and heightened uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine conflict rekindled safe-haven demand. Spot gold jumped 1.8% to $2,608.19 per ounce by 01:44 p.m. ET (1844 GMT), moving away from a two-month low on Thursday. U.S. gold futures settled 1.7% up at $2,614.60. “Part of it is (President) Biden’s announcement of long-range missiles for Ukraine to reach deeper into Russian territory. - Oil prices rise more than 3% on Sverdrup outage, Ukraine war escalation
Oil prices gained more than $2 a barrel on Monday after news that crude production at Norway’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield had been halted, which added to earlier gains stemming from escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war. Brent crude futures gained $2.26, or 3.18%, to close at $73.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $69.16 a barrel, up $2.14, or 3.19%. - Trump team weighs pairing Warsh at Treasury, Bessent on National Economic Council
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering pairing Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve official, in the Treasury secretary role, with hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as director of the White House’s National Economic Council, according to people familiar with the matter. Bessent was offered the NEC post but told Trump that he wouldn’t accept until he knew who the Treasury secretary would be, the people said. Warsh has been invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, where transition efforts are based, to interview with the president-elect in coming days, they said. - Lebanon, Hezbollah Agree to US Cease-Fire Plan, Reuters Says
Efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified, with Lebanon’s government expected to respond to a draft deal presented by the US, amid an escalation of Israel’s air attacks across the country.
The strikes in the past week, which have killed dozens of people in Lebanon, appear aimed at putting pressure on both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government to accept an agreement to end more than a year of conflict. - Nike shares slide as much as 3% to hit the lowest intraday level since Aug. 12 as TD Cowen analysts said they’re more cautious on the state of its business after meeting with channel contacts and field work.
The potential for “another reset” to consensus earnings expectations for fiscal 2026 is higher than Wall Street anticipates and what’s implied by valuation metrics, analysts led John Kernan write in a note to clients “The view is that the Nike brand looks ‘tired’, has had execution missteps related to its marketplace management, and recent product launches in footwear and also within apparel are not scaling,” they write Meanwhile, the analysts flag “Jordan retro fatigue” and say the focus on basketball and lifestyle categories is “too high”. - Nvidia shares fall as much as 3.4% on Monday, after the Information reported that the chip giant has asked its suppliers to change the design of the server racks for its new Blackwell graphics processing unit due to an overheating problem.
The changes to the Blackwell racks have come late in the production process, according to the technology-focused publication. The Information cited company employees, customers and suppliers who weren’t identified. - Tesla rises as much as 7.6% on Monday
Tesla leads self-driving stocks higher as members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are seeking to ease federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles. “This would be a huge step forward in easing US rules for self-driving cars and be a significant tailwind for Tesla’s autonomous and AI vision heading into 2025,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says; “Estimate the AI and autonomous opportunity is worth $1 trillion alone for Tesla,” Ives writes in a note Other stocks moving higher: Mobileye Global 6.7%, Aurora Innovation 7.1%, We Ride 17%, Uber -6.1% and Lyft -6.4% Musk has announced plans to produce large numbers of driverless Tesla robotaxis that lack driver controls starting in 2026 - CVS Health shares gain as much as 5.7% after the company said Glenview Capital Management founder Larry Robbins and three others are joining its board as part of an agreement with the activist firm.
The additions will increase the number of health-care and technology members of the company’s board, “which should add comfort to investors regarding the recovery pathway for HCB as well as the longer-term strategic outlook,” Evercore ISI analyst Elizabeth Anderson writes, referring to the Health Care Benefits business Rates outperform with PT $75.“While having additional expertise as part of the company/board is never a bad thing, we don’t think this really changes anything beyond where we think CVS had already started to point the ship,” Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny writes. - Market veteran Howard Marks cautions that China’s economic growth target is a ‘Herculean challenge’
Veteran investor Howard Marks said he was hopeful about China’s economy, but cautioned that the country’s growth target was a monumental challenge. “I’m still optimistic on China’s long-term possibilities, as long as they execute well and as long as they remain constructive with regard to the rest of the world,” the co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management said. China has set a growth target of “around 5%” for 2024, but experts have said the world’s second-largest economy will likely fall short of this goal. - Super Micro Computer said it hired BDO USA as its independent auditor, effective immediately.
The company submitted a compliance plan to Nasdaq to support its request for an extension of time to regain compliance. In its compliance plan to Nasdaq, the company indicated that it believes that it will be able to complete its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2024, and its Quarterly Report on 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2024 and become current with its periodic reports within the discretionary period. - Jim Cramer says ‘nothing truly dulls the case’ for owning Tesla stock
CNBC’s Jim Cramer made the case for owning Tesla stock, saying it’s worthwhile not because President-elect Donald Trump reportedly wants to relax U.S. self-driving rules, but because of CEO Elon Musk himself. “While I don’t buy the national self-driving mandate, I think nothing truly dulls the case for owning Tesla,” he said. “The Musk premium will work its magic in other ways, perhaps favorable municipalities and Tesla rentals next to federal highways.” - NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery agree to settle lawsuit over live game rights
The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached a settlement that will allow the league to move forward with Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Amazon as its media partners. WBD’s popular NBA studio show “Inside the NBA” will continue to be produced by TNT Sports but will air on ESPN. WBD will be able to air NBA games in certain international countries and will get free access to NBA highlights for its media properties. - Stanley Druckenmiller piled into regional banks and made this health-care stock his biggest bet
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller built a sizable position in regional banks and made one health-care name his biggest position last quarter. Druckenmiller bought $115 million worth of shares in the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF in the third quarter, making it the firm’s seventh-biggest holding. - China’s vice premier vows to boost Hong Kong competitiveness, says stimulus push has ‘benefited’ the city
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Tuesday vowed to boost Hong Kong’s competitiveness by investing in the city’s innovation and delivering supportive financial policies. Beijing’s stimulus measures have already “benefited” Hong Kong, said He, who oversees a key economic and financial policymaking body.
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