What Moved The Markets This Week 📈
DOJ Sues Apple Over iPhone Monopoly, Fed Holds Rates Steady, Reddit IPOs Under Ticker RDDT, Nvidia Unveils Blackwell AI Chips, Neuralink Patient Plays Chess With Mind, and NKE + LULU + FDX Earnings
Sunday Morning Markets
Trading Week 12, covering Monday, Mar 18 through Friday, Mar 22. Your weekly financial markets update, in less than 5 minutes.
The Week In Review ⏪
US Markets 🇺🇸
Apple sued by DOJ over antitrust
Fed keeps rates as is and sees three cuts ahead
Intel awarded $8.5 billion in federal grants
Reddit goes public under ticker ‘RDDT’
Earnings from Nike, Lululemon, and FedEx
Global Markets 🌏
Interest Rate decisions:
Raise: Japan
Hold: England, Australia, China
Cut: Switzerland
FDI in China plummets 20%
Tech ⚡
Nvidia unveils its Blackwell B200 GPU
DeepMind cofounder joins Microsoft
Neuralink patient plays chess with his mind
US Markets 🇺🇸
DOJ sues Apple over iPhone monopoly in landmark antitrust case that claims Apple’s ecosystem, from the Apple Watch to Apple Pay, supports its monopoly. AAPL 0.00%↑ shares fell 4% following the news.
Fed holds rates steady at 5.25% to 5.5% and penciled in three quarter-percentage-point cuts by the end of 2024. The markets are currently pricing in a 75% chance of a rate cut at the June FOMC meeting (FedWatch).
Congress passes a $1.2 trillion funding bill late Friday night to avert a government shutdown at the last possible moment. The legislation now goes to President Joe Biden, who has said he’ll sign it into law.
Home sales spike 9.5% in February to 4.38 million units, the largest monthly gain in over a year. Higher demand and low supply pushed the median price up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500.
Intel awarded up to $8.5 billion in federal grants under the CHIPs Act as the Biden administration ramps up efforts to bring semiconductor manufacturing to U.S. soil. Intel could also receive up to $11 billion in loans.
Reddit shares pop 48% in NYSE debut after selling shares at $34, the top of the expected range. The 19-year-old website that hosts millions of online forums now trades under the ticker “RDDT”.
Shell to divest 1000 locations in pivot to EV charging and will focus its efforts in China and Europe where the EV market is more developed. Shell aims to increase its charging stations from 54,000 today to 200,000 by 2030.
Apollo Global offers $11 billion for Paramount’s film and TV studio. The company is also reviewing an offer to merge Skydance with all of Paramount, which owns CBS, Nickelodeon, and several cable networks.
Global Markets 🌏
Japan raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years with the BOJ increasing its short-term rate to 0-0.1%, from -0.1%. They also abandoned its yield-curve control and ended most of its asset purchases.
England, Australia, and China all hold rates steady as central banks remain cautious about inflation. The Bank of England hinted at rate cuts ahead, while the Reserve Bank of Australia said more hikes could be coming.
Switzerland becomes first major economy to cut interest rates in a surprise move. The SNB lowered its main policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%, saying inflation is likely to remain below 2% for the foreseeable future.
China’s economic data beats expectations by a wide margin to start the year, with retail sales up 5.5%, ahead of the consensus forecast of 5.2%. Industrial production increased 7%, compared with estimates of 5% growth.
Foreign direct investment in China continues to fall as economic growth has plateaued. China attracted just 215.1 billion yuan ($29.88 billion) of FDI in the first two months of the year, down 19.9% from a year ago.
Inflation in Canada unexpectedly cools to 2.8%, coming in well below estimates of 3.1%. The soft inflation report increases the odds of rate cuts, which the market is currently expecting to start in June or July.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar unexpectedly resigns and notes that he believes a new leader would be in a better place to guide his party into the upcoming local and European elections.
Tech ⚡
Nvidia reveals its new Blackwell B200 GPU, the ‘world’s most powerful chip’ for AI. It offers roughly 4x the speed and 25x the energy efficiency when compared to the H100. CEO Jensen Huang hinted at a $30-40K price tag.
DeepMind co-founder joins Microsoft as CEO of its new AI unit that will oversee the development of AI products, including Copilot, Bing, and Edge. Mustafa Suleyman left Alphabet in 2022 and started Inflection AI.
Neuralink's first patient plays chess with his mind as shown in a livestream posted on X. The patient, Noland Arbaugh, is paralyzed below the shoulder but was able to move the cursor using only his thoughts.
Apple in talks to license Google’s Gemini for iPhones, causing GOOG 0.00%↑ shares to surge 4%. According to Bloomberg sources, Apple has also held discussions with OpenAI and has considered using its model.
Google gets slapped with a $270 million fine by France’s competition authority for using news publishers’ copyrighted content without a license when training Gemini. Google has agreed not to contest the decision.
Audi reveals new all-electric Q6 e-tron SUV, the first production vehicle on its next-generation EV architecture. Audi plans to introduce about 20 new or significantly redesigned models and derivatives globally through 2025.
Nvidia expands ties with Chinese EV makers as they race to build self-driving technology. BYD will use Nvidia's next generation of in-vehicle chips called ‘Drive Thor’ to enable increased levels of autonomous driving.
Earnings Reports 💰
See other breakdowns on our Twitter page.
Weekly Poll 🗳️
SMM Product Hunt 🧠
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Week Ahead 📅
Monday
US - New Home Sales (FEB)🇺🇸
Tuesday
US - Durable Goods (FEB)🇺🇸
US - Consumer Confidence (MAR)🇺🇸
CA - Wholesale Sales (FEB)🇨🇦
JP - BOJ Core CPI (FEB)🇯🇵
Earnings: Flutter Entertainment, Gamestop, Ouster, Progress 💰
Wednesday
US - Crude Inventories 🇺🇸
AU - Retail Sales (FEB)🇦🇺
Earnings: Paychex, Carnival, Braze, RH, Rumble💰
Thursday
US - Jobless Claims🇺🇸
US - GDP (Q4)🇺🇸
US - Chicago PMI (MAR)🇺🇸
US - Pending Home Sales (FEB)🇺🇸
CA - GDP (FEB)🇨🇦
UK - GDP (Q4)🇬🇧
DE - Unemployment Report (FEB)🇩🇪
Earnings: Walgreens💰
Friday
US - Markets Closed (Good Friday)🇺🇸
US - PCE Inflation (FEB)🇺🇸
US - Personal Spending (FEB)🇺🇸
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