Today’s Market News |
Key developments to markets on Wednesday: |
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Twenty-four hours later, it looks more like an overdue reset from a record run dominated by the largest companies. The S&P 500 equal weight index <.SPXEW> fell slightly on Tuesday after actually closing up a smidge during the tech-led meltdown on Monday.
Nvidia short sellers raked in over $6 billion in profits on Monday, data analytics firm Ortex said. Short bets also paid off big time on chip-maker Broadcom <AVGO.O>, and other AI-linked stocks.
Options traders were quick to pile back into Nvidia contracts after Monday’s slide. Call options, typically bought to express a bullish view on a stock, outnumbered put options 1.6-to-1, nearly in line with the 1-year average, after dipping to a more than two-month low of 1.36-to-1 on Monday.
More than half of the Magnificent 7 companies are reporting earnings this week,
Meta <META.O>, Tesla <TSLA.O> and Microsoft <MSFT.O> releasing Wednesday after the bell and Apple <AAPL.O> post-close on Thursday. This will provide a glimpse of how their AI investments are faring so far and a chance for executives to comment on how much DeepSeek has changed the competitive landscape.
Nikkei 225 share average <.N225> could take its cue from the U.S. bounce,
as it did with a 1.4% slide overnight. Otherwise many Asian centers are closed on Wednesday for the Chinese New Year.
FOMC expected to keep rates steady after 100 basis points of easing from September to December.
U.S. rate futures are pricing in almost 50 basis points of cuts this year, or two 25 bp reductions starting in June. Until this week, it had factored in just one cut.
ECB meets on Thursday and is expected to lower rates, which would widen the dollar’s interest rate advantage.
USD turned higher against the euro and yen, buoyed by U.S. President Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on imported computer chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to persuade the producers to make them in the United States.
<JPY=> rose 0.7% to 155.63, snapping three straight down sessions magnified by Monday’s drop in Treasury yields as investors sought the safety of U.S. government debt.
Yields firmed on Tuesday.
