Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, US, February 23, 2024.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, the international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open keeps investors informed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
The advance of the extreme right
French President Emmanuel Macron said that he would dissolve Parliament and call for a new legislative vote after his Ennahda party suffered a major defeat in the European Union elections. Opinion polls when they left the polls showed that the far-right National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, won 31.5% of the votes, compared to his party. 14.5% for Macron's party. Le Pen's victory in the new elections means that Macron will not have any control over domestic politics for the remainder of his presidency, which ends in 2027. The first round of parliamentary elections is scheduled to take place on June 30, with the second round taking place on July 7. Far-right parties also received record support in this year's European Parliament elections, opinion polls showed late Sunday. CNBC's Karen Gilchrist has more on what the right's rise could mean for Europe and beyond.
Winning week
All three major indexes on Wall Street posted weekly gains, led by the Nasdaq Composite, which rose 2.38%, followed by the S&P 500, which rose 1.32%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 0.29%. On Friday, the S&P 500 finished flat after hitting a record intraday high. The Dow Jones fell 87 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.23%. Stocks rebounded from early session pressure after a stronger-than-expected jobs report, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield up more than 15 basis points. Oil prices recorded a third weekly loss as OPEC+ plans to increase supplies.
Impossible, Mask
Norway's $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Tesla's eighth-largest shareholder, will vote against Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package. The Fund previously opposed the package in 2018 and remains concerned about its size, structure and lack of guarantees. Despite acknowledging Tesla's success under Musk, the fund has criticized the CEO's excessive pay and is seeking an ongoing dialogue with the company.
Roaring Kitty got game
Keith Gill, the internet personality known for his role in the GameStop meme stock craze, hosted his first live stream in three years, reiterating his bullish stance on the retailer despite a recent sales decline and stock flotation. Known as “Roaring Kitty” and “deep value on various social media platforms,” Gill didn’t give much of a reason behind his huge stake. The company's stock was halted several times during the broadcast and ended the day down nearly 40%. GameStop shares were in free fall before the live broadcast after revealing disappointing earnings.
Aramco in billions
Saudi Arabia will raise more than $11.2 billion from a secondary public offering of shares in state-owned Aramco, pricing 1.545 billion shares at 27.25 Saudi riyals ($7.27) per share, at the lower end of the expected range. Despite the recent 2% decline in Aramco shares and pressure on global oil prices, the supply has attracted strong international demand. Aramco remains attractive to investors because of its large dividends and support from the Saudi government and its sovereign wealth fund. The money will be used to finance the economic diversification ambitions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Aramco shares rose on Sunday.
(PRO) Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy artificial intelligence
The AI revolution has fueled the current bull market, led by Nvidia, whose shares are up 142% this year after rising 239% in 2023. Morgan Stanley notes that investing in stocks with increasing exposure to AI can deliver returns Strong later this year. For those who missed the AI boom, the Wall Street bank believes there is still an opportunity.
Bottom line
More than 600,000 viewers tuned in for Keith Gill's highly anticipated appearance after a three-year absence. A 50-minute live stream titled “Roaring Kitty,” as Gill is known, was shown on YouTube, with a green screen image of GameStop's live chart as the background.
While Gill remains a “myth” to his followers, Wall Street is struggling to understand the phenomenon.
In 2001, “you had an enemy, which was short sellers,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Money Movers. “This seems more pessimistic because there is no clear enemy in this case, it is more about how to increase the stock.”
But the enemy remains Wall Street and its ecosystem. The SEC is investigating GameStop options trading, and Gill's E*Trade trading platform is considering impeaching him, according to the Wall Street Journal.
To be clear, Gill did not ask his social media followers to trade GameStop. As Gill's broadcast came to a close, he asked his followers, with dramatic pauses in between, to say, “Watch this. I think we'll end the broadcast now.” A few moments later, GameStop shares fell an additional 1% and trading was halted, while Gill laughed.
One X user explained, “Roaring Kitty shows how algae unloads inventory based on keywords.”
There's still an “us versus them” mentality three years after the original meme craze. Robinhood Markets, where meme trading took off three years ago, introduced 24-hour trading to retail investors, who until recently were denied access to after-hours trading, various initial public offerings and high-frequency trading. “We believe that for any product that is available to institutional investors, retail should also have access to it,” CEO Vlad Tenev told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Meanwhile, Jill's legend only grows. “We were up 550 million yesterday and now down 230 million the next, not even a crazy sweat, this guy is an absolute legend,” @walkpeepo wrote on YouTube. Another wrote: “From 50k to 500m you are a legend, a modern-day Robinhood.”
As for the endgame, for now, Gill is still holding on to his options and shares in GameStop.
It's the second most traded stock and options after Nvidia on the Interactive Brokers trading platform, Sosnick said, adding “it's Nvidia's market and we're all trading in it” — Nvidia is responsible for a third of the S&P 500's gains this year.
— CNBC's Karen Gilchrist, Katrina Bishop, Jeff Cox, Brian Evans, Tanya Machel, Spencer Kimball, Fred Imbert, Yun Lee, Alex Haring and Kev Lesvig contributed to this report.
