S&P 500 Rally Loses Steam, But Most US Stocks Gain: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — A rally in the S&P 500 lost traction as Nvidia Corp. extended its selloff to more than 6%. The good news: most stocks in the US advanced.

Buoyed by data showing the economy is holding up and a host of market observers reassuring investors that Nvidia’s growth prospects remain intact, the vast majority of groups in the American equity benchmark rose. While tech was dragged down by the giant chipmaker, five companies in the “Magnificent Seven” group of megacaps gained. The Russell 2000 of small firms climbed almost 1%. In late hours, Dell Technologies Inc. jumped after its results. 

 

“As long as the tech sector can avoid getting hit hard, it could/should keep the ‘rotation’ scenario in play,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co. “Since the big-cap tech names are so highly weighted in the indices, a significant decline for the group will cause the market to move lower. But, as long as they can hold up, it could allow for the recent ‘rotation’ move to continue — and help the stock market move higher over the coming weeks.”

To Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers, some investors might be questioning: if Nvidia is down so much, how would that be a relief for markets? After all, the S&P 500 came within a whisker of an all-time high earlier Thursday.

“Although the company didn’t meet the most optimistic ‘whisper numbers,’ they also didn’t say anything that would invalidate investors’ love for megacap tech and all things regarding artificial intelligence,” he noted.

The S&P 500 hovered near 5,590. Treasuries held losses after a $44 billion sale of seven-year notes was a bit soft. The yield on 10-year bonds advanced three basis points to 3.86%. Swap traders slightly trimmed bets on Fed easing, while still expecting around 100 basis points of cuts for 2024. The dollar rose. Brent oil jumped to around $80.

Nvidia’s earnings report needed to be perfect for a stock that’s added nearly $2 trillion in market value in the past year. In the end, a broad beat still sparked a selloff. 

“The slide in Nvidia’s shares after the release of its latest consensus-beating results bolsters the argument that it was priced for perfection,” said John Higgins at Capital Economics. “But that doesn’t mean its party is over, or that the AI bubble is bursting.”

To James Demmert at Main Street Research, Nvidia’s post-earnings pullback was largely driven by investor confusion and a fear that Nvidia’s stock has run too fast since the early August low, but the strength in Nvidia’s quarter showed that its valuation is justified.

“The pullback in Nvidia’s stock is an invitation for investors to buy the stock,” he said.

In the bond market, the rise in yields left a closely watched spread just shy of regaining a normal, positive slope. 

The margin by which US two-year yields exceed 10-year yields dwindled to around three basis points. A year ago the two-year was around 80 basis points higher than the 10-year, reflecting expectations that Fed rate hikes above 5% would tame inflation and possibly cause a recession.

The US economy grew at a slightly stronger pace in the second quarter than initially reported, reflecting an upward revision to consumer spending that more than offset weaker activity in other categories.

“The message of this morning’s data is ‘steady as she goes’,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “The economy doesn’t appear to be falling off a cliff, and in the current market, good news is good. There was nothing here to make the Fed rethink its plan to cut rates next month.”

To Bret Kenwell at eToro, the latest data helped reassure investors that the economy is “not teetering on an economic cliff.”

“While we’re not necessarily out of the woods, the US economy is more resilient than many realize,” Kenwell says. “Today’s report should give investors confidence that the Fed can still orchestrate a soft landing.”

Corporate Highlights:

• Gap Inc. beat sales expectations in the second quarter, suggesting that an overhaul by new Chief Executive Officer Richard Dickson is working.
• Best Buy Co. raised its earnings guidance for the year, a sign that its turnaround efforts are starting to bear fruit as consumers begin upgrading Covid-era purchases with new products incorporating innovations like artificial intelligence.
• CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. reported second-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, indicating that a global IT outage it caused last month didn’t have an immediate impact on results.
• United Airlines Holdings Inc. has raised concerns with the Biden administration over how the pending $1.9 billion merger of Alaska Air Group Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. could affect its business relationships with Hawaiian.
• Brookfield Asset Management is in talks with several investment funds to join its bid to acquire Spanish blood-plasma company Grifols SA, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The Netherlands plans to limit ASML Holding NV’s ability to repair and maintain its semiconductor equipment in China, a potentially painful blow to Beijing’s efforts to develop a world-class chip industry.
• Nokia Oyj’s mobile networks assets are drawing preliminary interest from suitors including Samsung Electronics Co. amid increasing pressure to find new growth in the troubled telecom equipment sector, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Key events this week:

• Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
• Eurozone CPI, unemployment, Friday
• US personal income, spending, PCE; consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
• The MSCI World Index was little changed
• Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.7%
• The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.7%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
• The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1077
• The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3168
• The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 144.93 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin was little changed at $59,350.13
• Ether was little changed at $2,535.75

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 3.87%
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.27%
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.02%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $75.99 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,522 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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