Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 6, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open global markets newsletter. The CNBC Daily Open provides investors with everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? Sign up here.
What you need to know today
large scale demonstration
Wall Street posted a broad-based rally, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 300 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose more than 1%. All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory. Large companies recovered from Monday’s losses, with Nvidia and Meta Platforms up 3.8% and 3.9%, respectively. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose, while U.S. oil prices rose after hitting a six-month low on Monday.
Not so great
Shares of Supermicro Computer Inc. fell 13% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations. The company, which beat Wall Street’s first-quarter revenue forecast, also announced a 10-for-1 stock split. Supermicro is a major server supplier to Nvidia, a major player in the artificial intelligence boom, and has seen strong growth in recent years. However, the company’s profitability is now a concern for investors. Gross profit margin fell to 11.2% in the reported quarter, down from 17% a year earlier.
Microsoft vs Delta
Microsoft has accused Delta Air Lines of using outdated technology after an IT outage in July caused more than 5,000 flights to be canceled. The airline, which said the incident caused $500 million in damages, is seeking damages from Microsoft and CrowdStrike. A botched software update by CrowdStrike last month affected millions of computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Microsoft has questioned why Delta has struggled to recover compared to other airlines, noting that Delta has not updated its IT infrastructure. Delta denies the allegation.
X sues advertisers
Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has filed a lawsuit against a group of advertisers for orchestrating an illegal boycott that has cost the platform billions of dollars in revenue. The lawsuit, filed in Texas, accuses the World Federation of Advertisers and its members of violating antitrust laws by halting advertising after Musk’s takeover. Musk has declared X a “war” on advertisers, while X CEO Linda Yaccarino cited evidence unearthed by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to support the lawsuit’s allegations.
Asian markets rise
Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan’s deputy governor said the central bank would not raise interest rates while markets are “very volatile.” The yen fell 2.3% to 147.75 against the dollar, boosting Japan’s export-heavy Nikkei 225. The index rose 2.8% after surging more than 10% on Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.67% and China’s CSI 300 rose 0.28% after China’s imports in July grew faster than expected, while export growth missed forecasts. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.45% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.55%.
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bottom line
Wall Street spent the session trying to dig out of the hole, but Goldman Sachs warned that the correction may not be over yet. Indeed, futures pointed to a lower open for Wednesday.
Peter Oppenheimer, chief global equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC that the market correction was “healthy and somewhat inevitable” after a very strong first half of the year, especially given signs of a slowing U.S. economy and growing “complacency” in the market.
“I think this correction, while stable, is not over yet. I think we will see some volatile environments in the near term as investors start to reassess themselves and gain more confidence again about the direction of interest rates and the economy. But at the same time, I don’t think we are in a bear market and there will be some good opportunities here.”
Asked by CNBC’s David Faber if now was a good entry point for investors to return to the market, with the Nasdaq multiple down to 24x, Oppenheimer said: “I don’t think it’s gone down enough.” He expects more declines before value investors see this as a good buying opportunity.
Big-cap stocks took a beating on Monday, losing $1 trillion in early trading before recovering some ground. There was much concern about the profits and billions spent by Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet on AI data centers. Hedge fund Elliott Management reportedly told clients that Nvidia was in a “bubble” and the AI craze was “overblown.”
Ankur Crawford, Alger portfolio manager, urged investors to look beyond short-term profits and focus on the long-term earnings power of the companies leading the AI revolution.
“If you look at Microsoft’s Azure numbers, they went from being a non-profitable company seven quarters ago to a $6 billion company today. I challenge anyone to tell me any other company that has gone from zero to $6 billion in a year and a half. This is just the early days of AI business.”
CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Samantha Sobin, Sean Conlon, Jeff Cox, Rowan Goswami, Leslie Joseph, Spencer Kimball and Dylan Potts contributed to this report.