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Stock markets move little ahead of Nvidia earnings

US and European equity markets saw little change on Tuesday, choosing instead to stay calm ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings due out late Wednesday and US gross domestic product data expected later in the week. Asian stocks were mostly trading in negative territory, dragged down by fears that central banks may need to act again to rein in inflation after Australian consumer prices increases were hotter than markets had expected.

Date
Author
Shane Strowmatt, LGT
Reading time
5 minutes

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In New York, traders were cautious about taking large positions ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings, which are due out after the bell on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial ended Tuesday’s session roughly flat and the S&P 500 gained 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 finished the day 0.3% higher. The Nvidia’s earnings have driven a rally in stocks related to artificial intelligence this year and a miss could cause that trade to deflate. However, beating market expectations has been rewarded greatly, with the chipmaker breaking the record for the largest single-day gain in market capitalisation earlier this year.

US consumer confidence rises in August

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July. The Expectations Index also rose to 82.5, marking the second consecutive month above 80, a threshold below which signals a potential recession. Despite overall confidence rising, concerns about the labour market and future income persisted, particularly among younger and lower-income consumers. The mild move is unlikely to change affect Federal Reserve officials’ opinions when they meet to determine the central bank’s monetary policy next month.

Australian inflation hotter than expectations

Data released Wednesday showed Australia’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.5% annually in July, down from 3.8% in June and driven partly by government rebates on electricity bills. Despite this decrease, the CPI still exceeded forecasts, prompting markets to reduce the likelihood of a near-term interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The central bank’s minutes from its last monetary policy meeting showed that it had already been considering raising interest rate to get inflation under control. Wednesday’s CPI figure adds more weight to that argumentation. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.2% lower on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, stock markets were trading mostly in the red. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was swinging between mild gains and losses, while in South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell more than 1%, while the CSI 300 was down 0.8%.

Germany confirms slight contraction in second quarter

German gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter, following a 0.2% increase in the first quarter. Year-on-year, GDP rose by 0.3% on a price-adjusted basis but remained unchanged when accounting for calendar adjustments. The decline was attributed to a significant 3.2% drop in the construction sector and slight decreases in manufacturing and trade, while business services saw a 0.9% increase. Germany’s DAX gained 0.4% on Tuesday, while the EuroStoxx 50 closed roughly unchanged.

Corporate and macroeconomic calendars

Corporate news in focus: Quarterly figures from Nvidia, Salesforce.

Economic data in focus: MBA mortgage applications.

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

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