GLOBAL MARKETS-Stock Indexes Gain as Nvidia Boost Offsets Caution on Fed Event

GLOBAL MARKET - NEW YORK. MSCI's global equities gauge rose on Thursday as Nvidia's bullish outlook boosted technology shares while U.S. Treasury yields rose before a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.

The dollar was virtually unchanged as traders turned their focus to Warsh's scheduled appearance at the central bank's Jackson Hole symposium on Friday with hopes for clues on interest rate policy.

 

On Wall Street, the heavyweight S&P 500 technology sector rallied  3.4% and was the sole gainer â??among the benchmark index's 11 major sectors. Technology stocks had also rallied in Europe after AI chip leader Nvidia forecast roughly 70% revenue growth for its upcoming fiscal year ending in January 2028.

 

"Technology created the money flow today. It's attracting all the  capital," said Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, who said Nvidia's results and executive commentary answered many questions that investors had about the AI boom.

 

"AI is here to stay. It's going to grow. It's compounding faster and faster ... we're not near the peak of the infrastructure buildout."

 

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Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investments, described Nvidia's report as "the icing on the cake of one of the best earnings seasons in corporate American history."

 

"AI fundamentals are still scorching hot. With earnings reports this strong and strong forward guidance, it's causing traders to come back to the tech space after rotating away," Miskin said.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 105.56 points, or 0.20%, to 53,569.44, the S&P 500 gained 55.29 points, or 0.72%, to 7,730.99 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 411.16 points, or 1.57%, to 26,541.35.

 

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe climbed 4.77 points, or 0.41%, to 1,154.70. Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 finished down 0.69%. Growing concerns over France's political outlook drove the CAC 40 blue-chip index in Paris down 1.7% after hitting its lowest level since July 24.

 

CRUDE OIL RISES ON SUPPLY CONCERNS

 

 

U.S. crude settled up 1.58%, or $1.30, at $83.53 a barrel while Brent settled at $89.70 per barrel, up 2.12%, or $1.86.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly told mediators that Washington is uninterested in returning to terms of a memorandum of understanding reached with Iran in June, citing unnamed sources.

 

Miskin said investors across asset classes are worried about volatility in oil prices due to supply concerns.

 

"It's very unclear still how the supply dynamics will end up shaking out," said Miskin. "It's got the Treasury market's attention, and that volatility is something that is giving unease and anxiety to investors and markets more broadly."

 

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In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 1.22 basis points to 4.676%, from 4.664% late on Wednesday, while the 30-year bond yield rose 0.91 bp to 5.1941%.

 

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 1.21 bps to 4.236%. In currencies, the dollar was little changed after Labor Department data showed that weekly initial jobless claims fell for a second straight week, and investors turned their focus to Warsh's speech.

 

While the Fed chair has shown he is not inclined to signal Fed moves in advance, Ewing said investors will be searching for subtle clues.

 

"Investors will be hyper-focused on every word that man says because he's not going to say anything directly regarding Federal Open Market Committee policy," Ewing said.

 

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.02% to 99.14, with the euro up 0.01% at $1.165.

 

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.06% to 159.38.

 

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rallied 2.05% to $80,046.24. In  precious metals, spot gold rose 0.23% to $4,602.81 an ounce. Spot silver rose 1.7% to $69.25 an ounce.