What Moved The Markets This Week 📈
Hot Inflation Data, Apple Acquires DarwinAI, House Passes Bill To Ban TikTok, StabilityAI Claims Intel's Gaudi2 Faster Than Nvidia's H100, and ADBE + PATH + S Earnings
Sunday Morning Markets
Trading Week 11, covering Monday, Mar 11 through Friday, Mar 15. Your weekly financial markets update, in less than 5 minutes.
The Week In Review ⏪
US Markets 🇺🇸
Inflation data:
CPI +3.2% (est 3.1%)
Core CPI +3.8% (est 3.7%)
PPI +1.6% (est 1.1%)
House passes bill to ban TikTok
Earnings from Adobe, UIPath, and SentinelOne
Global Markets 🌏
UK economy returns to growth
Alibaba under investigation by EU
Nio to launch low-cost EV brand “Le Dao”
Tech ⚡
Stripe passes $1T in payment volume
SpaceX successfully launches its Starship
Apple to acquire DarwinAI
Waymo to offer free robotaxi rides in LA
US Markets 🇺🇸
Consumer inflation picked up to 3.2% in February, slightly higher than expected. Excluding food and energy prices, core CPI rose 0.4% on the month and 3.8% on the year.
Wholesale inflation comes in much hotter than expected with the PPI jumping 0.6% on the month, double the consensus estimate. On an annual basis, the headline index increased 1.6%, the biggest move since September 2023.
Retail sales rebounded less than expected in February, suggesting a slowdown in consumer spending amid rising inflation and high borrowing costs. Sales rose 0.6% on the month, while core retail sales were unchanged.
House passes bill to ban TikTok or force the sale of the app to a U.S. company. The measure passed 352 to 65, showing bipartisan support due to fears that the CCP could collect data on Americans and influence public opinion.
NAR agrees to settle commission lawsuits for $418M and will allow clients to negotiate fees with agents. The deal is likely to lead to lower commission rates for agents and force thousands out of the industry altogether.
Dollar Tree to shut down nearly 1,000 stores as the retailer struggles to adjust to macroeconomic conditions and competition from the likes of Walmart and Temu. The company currently operates roughly 16,774 stores.
Southwest Airlines to cut its operating capacity and reevaluate its forecasts for the year, citing delivery delays from Boeing. Boeing continues to face backlash after a cockpit seat mishap caused a plane to nosedive this week.
Apple reaches a $490 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit that alleged CEO Tim Cook defrauded shareholders in 2019 by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China.
Global Markets 🌏
Nio plans to launch its mass-market EV brand, Le Dao, in May and expects deliveries to start at the end of this year. Until now, Nio has focused on the higher end of the EV market.
UK economy returns to growth in January as an expansion in the services sector helped deliver a 0.2% jump in GDP, in line with forecasts. The UK economy entered a shallow recession in the second half of last year.
U.S. and China quietly extend their technology deal for another six months to allow for further negotiations. The Science and Technology Agreement provides opportunities for the two countries to collaborate in those key industries.
Japan averts a technical recession as revised fourth-quarter data shows the economy grew 0.4%, bolstered by strong capital expenditure. Expectations are rising that the BoJ may normalize interest rates as early as March.
EU opens probe into Alibaba’s AliExpress under its landmark Digital Services Act, which went into effect this month. The investigation surrounds concerns over the dissemination of illegal content.
CEO of top ocean freight carrier provides a positive outlook on global trade demand in 2024, noting that “inventories are depleted in many cases and so far we’ve seen a good recovery after Chinese New Year.”
Tech ⚡
SpaceX successfully launches its Starship into orbit on a test flight, but loses the spacecraft above the Indian Ocean during its return to Earth. The flight represents a significant step forward for the company.
Apple to acquire DarwinAI as the tech giant races to add AI-based features to their devices. The startup specializes in vision-based tech to observe components during manufacturing and improve efficiency.
Stability AI claims Intel Gaudi 2 is faster than NVIDIA H100 on certain metrics after conducting a series of tests. Stability’s blog post noted that Intel’s solutions offer great value and can be seen as a respected alternative to NVIDIA.
Musk’s xAI to open-source Grok just days after suing OpenAI claiming they deviated from their open-source roots. The service will continue to be available to customers paying for X’s $16 monthly subscription.
Stripe reveals it passed $1 trillion in payment volume last year, up 25% from 2022. The company attributed the growth to Stripe’s enterprise business, startups adopting its products, and billing and tax services.
Waymo to offer free driverless robotaxi services in Los Angeles after receiving approval earlier this month. The company said services will be available across 63 square miles from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles.
Robinhood’s trading volume surged 36% last month to $80.9 billion. Options & crypto trading volumes also grew, up 12% and 10% respectively. Total assets under custody rose a whopping 16% from the month prior.
Earnings Reports 💰
See other breakdowns on our Twitter page.
Weekly Poll 🗳️
SMM Product Hunt 🧠
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Week Ahead 📅
Monday
EU - CPI Inflation (FEB)🇪🇺
JP - BoJ Interest Rate Decision🇯🇵
AU - RBA Interest Rate Decision🇦🇺
Earnings: Dlocal💰
Tuesday
US - Housing Starts (FEB)🇺🇸
US - Building Permits (FEB)🇺🇸
CA - CPI Inflation (FEB)🇨🇦
EU - ZEW Economic Sentiment (MAR)🇪🇺
CN - PBoC Interest Rate🇨🇳
Earnings: Xpeng💰
Wednesday
US - Fed Interest Rate Decision🇺🇸
UK - CPI Inflation (FEB)🇬🇧
DE - PPI Inflation (FEB)🇩🇪
JP - Jibun Services PMI (FEB)🇯🇵
Earnings: Pinduoduo, Micron, Chewy, General Mills, Five Below💰
Thursday
US - S&P Manufacturing PMI (MAR)🇺🇸
US - S&P Services PMI (MAR)🇺🇸
US - CB Leading Economic Index (FEB)🇺🇸
US - Existing Home Sales (FEB)🇺🇸
UK - BoE Interest Rate Decision🇬🇧
JP - National Core CPI (FEB)🇯🇵
Earnings: Nike, FedEx, Accenture, Lululemon💰
Friday
CA - Retail Sales (JAN)🇨🇦
UK - Retail Sales (FEB)🇬🇧
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