Stocks retreat as Fed decision looms

On Mar 19, 2024

Stocks pulled back on Tuesday from a rebound, as investors watched for the results from crucial Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose above the flatline, coming off a winning day for the major gauges. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped about 0.5% as Nvidia (NVDA) shares retreated in the wake of AI updates from its annual developer conference.

Attention is firmly on the Fed’s two-day meeting beginning Tuesday morning, seen as a test for stocks bruised by recent inflation surprises that undermined bets on interest-rate cuts coming soon.

With policymakers widely expected to keep rates at their historic highs, the focus is on the “dot plot” for any clues to the number and timing of any cuts this year. The central bank’s policy decision is due Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan ended its era of negative rates with its first hike in 17 years, making a splash in a week packed with central bank decisions.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to pull back from its recent record high, falling over 5% to hover above $63,000, on track for its biggest one-day loss in two weeks. Shares of crypto-linked companies Coinbase (COIN) and Marathon Digital (MARA) lost ground alongside the token.

On the corporate front, shares of Unilever (UL) popped after the Ben & Jerry’s maker said it would cut jobs and spin off its ice cream unit.

Live4 updates

Tue, March 19, 2024 at 2:15 PM GMT

Stocks trending in morning trading

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during morning trading on Tuesday:

Unilever (UL): The consumer goods giant rose 2% to start the trading day after announcing plans to spin off its ice-cream business — which includes Magnum, Popsicle and Klondike — and a restructuring plan that could impact 7,500 jobs as part of an effort to save more than $800 over the next three years.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD): The dominant cryptocurrency is on track to suffer its biggest daily drop in two weeks, as investors continue to flee from the token after recently hitting an-all time high. Bitcoin was trading hands at 63,000 Tuesday morning, a drop of about 7%.

Nvidia (NVDA): Fresh of its annul developers conference, the AI darling lost 3% Tuesday morning after unveiling its latest (AI) chip, which it said it is up to 30 times speedier than its predecessor.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI): Shares of the server manufacturer sank 11% after announcing plans to sell 2 million shares. The company plans to use the roughly $2 billion in proceeds to support operations and boost manufacturing capacity. The stock offering comes as Super Micro’s shares have skyrocketed this year, more than tripling on the demand for artificial-intelligence technology.
Tue, March 19, 2024 at 1:34 PM GMT

Stocks slide before Fed meeting

Wall Street pulled back some as Federal Reserve officials began their two-day huddle to decide their next move on interest rate policy.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose above the flatline, coming off a win on Monday for the major indexes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped about 0.5% as AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) retreated after sharing AI updates from its annual developer conference.
Tue, March 19, 2024 at 12:30 PM GMT

The bottom line on Nvidia

Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock didn’t do too much on day one of its GTC conference despite an impressive array of new product introductions.

But that doesn’t mean what the company unveiled was disappointing — quite the contrary! I actually think everything CEO Jensen Huang showed off is so complex, it could take a few days for investors to digest and assess if the stock warrants another push higher.

Wall Street was pleased with what they heard.

Here’s what JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur had to say:

“Overall, the team is further distancing itself with its aggressive cadence of new product launches and more product segmentation over time. With leading silicon (GPU/DPU/CPU), hardware/software platforms, and a strong ecosystem, Nvidia is well positioned to continue to benefit from major secular trends in AI, high-performance computing, gaming, and autonomous vehicles, in our view. Bottom line: NVIDIA continues to be 1-2 steps ahead of its competitors.”
Tue, March 19, 2024 at 12:15 PM GMT

The AI stock bubble…or not

As Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC conference continues out on the West Coast, it feels natural for BofA’s new fund manager survey out today to weigh into the AI stock bubble debate.

The end result: institutional investors have no clue if this is a bubble!

Investors can’t decide whether AI stocks are in a bubble.

Stocks retreat as Fed decision looms

Stocks trending in morning trading

Stocks slide before Fed meeting

The bottom line on Nvidia

The AI stock bubble…or not