Stock Market News: Nvidia shares soar, Fitch mulls US rating downgrade, Target under fire
As the debt ceiling approaches, Fitch Rating mulls a downgrade of the U.S., Nvidia shares soared on AI dominance, Target remains under fire for Pride Merchandising move and Costco earnings due today. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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A trader work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | $4,151.28 | 36.04 | 0.88 |
Wall Street ended sharply higher on Thursday after a blowout forecast from Nvidia sent the chipmaker's stock soaring and fueled a rally in AI-related companies, while investors watched for signs of progress in U.S. debt ceiling talks.
Nvidia Corp soared to a record high after the world's most valuable chipmaker forecast quarterly revenue 50% higher than estimates and said it was ramping up supply to meet demand for its artificial-intelligence (AI) chips.
Investors had exchanged over $53 billion worth of Nvidia's shares as of late-afternoon, according to Refintiv data.
"Nvidia has officially replaced FANG as the centerpiece of this market," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "Investors are obsessed with AI, and Nvidia is the perfect AI story."
European Internal Market and Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton speaks at a news conference in Brussels, Belgium February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
Europe's artificial intelligence (AI) rules are not for negotiation, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Thursday, as he criticised OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's threat to quit the continent if it cannot comply with the legislation.
Altman's comments at a conference a day earlier came as the European Union seeks to expand its AI rules to cover generative AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, and require companies to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems.
Breton said there was no point making speculative threats and claiming Europe was holding up the rollout of generative AI.
"Let's be clear, our rules are put in place for the security and well-being of our citizens and this cannot be bargained," Breton told Reuters.
An oil pumpjack is pictured in the Permian basin, Loco Hills regions, New Mexico, U.S., April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Liz Hampton
The U.S. on Thursday will hold its first sale of oil and gas drilling rights on federal lands since passage of President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law, with more than 10,000 acres (40.5 square kilometers) on offer in New Mexico and Kansas.
The federal lease auction is just the second to be held in New Mexico, the nation's second-largest oil-producing state, since Biden became president in 2021.
Biden's Interior Department had attempted to suspend federal oil and gas leasing to study its environmental and climate impacts, but the Inflation Reduction Act that passed last year requires some oil and gas auctions if federal rights of way are offered for renewable energy projects.
It is a modest sale, by historical standards, with just 19 parcels on offer on 3,300 acres in New Mexico's portion of the Permian basin. The auction will include an additional 26 parcels on 6,800 acres in Cheyenne County, Kansas.
A smartphone with a displayed TikTok logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Social media platform TikTok is testing an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that can converse with users about short videos and help them discover content, an app intelligence firm said.
Israeli-based Watchful Technologies said it has found the AI chatbot dubbed "Tako" on some versions of the TikTok app on Apple Inc mobile devices.
Screenshots and video Watchful shared with Reuters showed the chatbot featuring prominently on the app's interface as a ghost-shaped icon, which users can tap while watching videos to have text-based conversations and get help finding content.
"In select markets, we're testing new ways to power search and discovery on TikTok, and we look forward to learning from our community as we continue to create a safe place that entertains, inspires creativity, and drives culture," the spokesperson said.
Nvidia stock saw a gain of over 20% putting its annual run to well over 100% after quarterly earnings highlighted its lead in the race to dominate AI.
The stock is heading for a record close.
Target shares continued their slide Thursday as the retailer roils from the controversy surrounding the Pride merchandising campaign which has erased billions in market value this week alone.
A Dish Network receiver hangs on a house in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DISH | $6.23 | -0.37 | -5.61 |
| AMZN | $116.75 | 1.76 | 1.53 |
Dish Network Corp surged over 15% premarket on Thursday after a report said the company was in talks to sell its wireless plans through Amazon.com Inc.
Details of the new phone plans sold through Amazon's U.S. website could be announced as soon as June, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology & the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I.: Rules for Artificial Intelligence' on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 16, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has raised $115 million in a Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital for a cryptocurrency project he co-founded.
The project, Worldcoin, aims to distribute a crypto token to people "just for being a unique individual". The project uses a device to scan irises to confirm their identity, after which they are given the tokens for free.
Worldcoin has faced criticism for perceived privacy risks. In response to Altman's tweet introducing the project in 2021, former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden tweeted, "Don't catalogue eyeballs".
The token will not be available to people in the United States and some other countries, according to Worldcoin's website.
A general view of the BioNTech building where the production of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine has started in Marburg, Germany, November 18, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| BNTX | $111.09 | -5.21 | -4.48 |
| PFE | $38.63 | -1.01 | -2.55 |
| MRNA | $131.59 | -6.16 | -4.47 |
| NVAX | $7.29 | -0.70 | -8.76 |
Germany's BioNTech said it was on track to introduce a COVID-19 shot by the early fall in the northern hemisphere that is adapted to currently dominant virus variants in line with recommendations by the World Health Organization.
BioNTech was targeting regulatory approval by the end of the summer to allow for a seasonal vaccination campaign to start in early autumn, CEO and co-founder Ugur Sahin told shareholders at the biotech firm's annual general meeting on Thursday.
BioNTech/PFizer's new formulation would aim to produce antibody responses to the XBB.1.5 or XBB.1.16 variants, as preferred by the WHO, Sahin said, adding that the partners would introduce a ready-to-use single dose, a change from the multi-dose vials that were standard during the pandemic.
Moderna and Novavax have also been working on versions of their respective vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 and other currently circulating strains.
Fitch Ratings services said it is mulling a downgrade of the U.S.'s AAA credit rating, a move that could send shock waves through the financial markets as the debt ceiling deadline looms.
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