Rumors about Apple and Alphabet
AI hype is giving Wall Street a boost again
March 18, 2024, 10:22 p.m
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At the start of the week, the hype about artificial intelligence is spreading again on Wall Street. The focus is on the papers from Nvidia, Apple and Google parent Alphabet. The Fed is due to make an interest rate decision in the middle of the week.
Investors on Wall Street took advantage of the recent setback to buy stocks from the technology sector. The Dow Jones Index the standard values closed 0.2 percent higher at 38,790 points. The technology-heavy one Nasdaq advanced 0.8 percent to 16,103 points. The broad one S&P 500 increased 0.6 percent to 5149 points. The guesswork surrounding possible interest rate cuts had recently been fraying the nerves of US stock investors and had put them on the defensive at the end of the week.
At the start of the week, investors once again picked up on the stock market hype surrounding the topic of artificial intelligence (AI), which had driven Wall Street to previously unattainable heights in March. The spotlight was once again on AI pioneers Nvidia, which opened its annual developer conference. Investors were eagerly awaiting announcements of new chips by CEO Jensen Huang. According to experts, these will determine whether Nvidia can maintain its wide lead.
“The tailwind for the AI darlings comes from Nvidia’s annual artificial intelligence conference – an event that could be so important for the stock that it has been dubbed ‘AI Woodstock,'” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth .
Investors are hoping for a rate cut in June
Nvidia dominates the market for AI chips for data centers and had a share of around 80 percent last year. Market share is expected to fall by several percentage points as new products come onto the market from rivals such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. With a market value of $2.2 trillion, Nvidia is the third most valuable company in the world after Apple at $2.7 trillion and Microsoft at $3.1 trillion. Climbed at the start of the week Nvidia shares by up to 5.2 percent. At the end of trading there was still an increase of 0.7 percent.
The hype surrounding artificial intelligence also fueled Google’s parent company alphabet. The stocks shot up 4.6 percent because, according to a media report, Apple wants to use Google’s AI “Gemini” to add artificial intelligence to the iPhone operating system. Appletitles won 0.6 percent.
Investors also had an eye on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday. It is a given that the US monetary authorities will continue to leave the key interest rate, which was raised in the fight against high inflation, unchanged. However, investors are hoping for indications as to whether the Fed could consider a first interest rate cut in June. Surprisingly stubborn inflation had recently raised doubts about the US Federal Reserve’s rapid interest rate turnaround.
Tesla rival Xpeng on the rise
In the run-up to the interest rate decision, the Dollar index by 0.1 percent to 103.60 points. It has already risen by around two percent this year. In addition to the Federal Reserve, a number of other central banker meetings are scheduled, including in Japan, Great Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan.
In terms of individual values, price increases announced by the electric car manufacturer Tesla for its Model Y in Europe provided a tailwind. Tesla shares rose by more than six percent. The vehicles are likely to become around 2,000 euros more expensive in some countries from March 22nd, Tesla announced on the online platform X on Saturday. Whether this also applies to Germany remained unclear at first. On Friday, Tesla had already increased the price of the Model Y in the USA by $1,000.
Meanwhile, the announcement of a new, cheaper electric car brand drove up the US-listed shares of Tesla’s rival Xpeng at. The Chinese car manufacturer’s shares rose in price by almost two percent. Xpeng has announced the launch of the new brand next month as “the first AI-powered car for young people.” The new models will cost between 100,000 yuan and 150,000 yuan (13,000 to 19,400 euros). Xpeng is thus increasing the pressure in the price war among electric car manufacturers in China.