Nvidia Seeks to Dethrone Apple as Most Valuable Company

Nvidia's shares closed at a record high on Monday, boosting its market value to $3.39 trillion, just shy of Apple’s $3.52 trillion. Wall Street also reached new milestones, with the S&P 500 closing at an all-time high and the Dow Jones crossing 43,000 points, driven by strong performances from technology stocks. Upcoming earnings reports from major banks, including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, alongside key economic data from Europe, are set to shape the day ahead.

Equities

The FTSE 100 opened the week on a positive note, gaining 0.5% to close at 7,900.02 points. Utilities and pharmaceutical stocks drove this increase, with SSE and Severn Trent both rising around 2%.

In the mid-cap FTSE 250, companies like home builder Vistry rose 4.4% after recovering from a significant drop last week. The automobile sector saw strong performance, closing nearly 7% higher, while gambling firms suffered losses; Entain fell 8% and Flutter dropped 6% due to reports of a potential £3 billion tax raid on the industry.

Across the Atlantic, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both achieved record highs on October 14, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.77% to end at 5,859.85 points and the Dow rising 0.47% to 43,065.22 (over 43K for the first time).

The technology sector was particularly strong, led by semiconductor stocks, which rose 1.8%. Nvidia saw a notable increase, closing at a record high with a 2.4% rise, while Arm Holdings surged by 6.8%. Other major tech players also performed well; Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla saw increases between 0.6% and 1.6%.

Caterpillar’s shares fell by 2% following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley, while Boeing dropped 1.3% after announcing larger-than-expected losses for the third quarter and delays in jet deliveries.

Bank earnings, including strong results from major financial institutions, helped support market optimism despite concerns over high stock valuations.

Forex & Commodities

The US dollar rose to a 10-week high yesterday, climbing to an index value of 103.36, bolstered by expectations of moderate interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The euro fell to a low of $1.0902 ahead of an anticipated 25 basis point cut by the European Central Bank this week.

The British pound dipped 0.1% against the dollar, settling at $1.3054. China's offshore yuan fell 0.3% to 7.0906 as the market reacted to lacklustre fiscal stimulus announcements, failing to provide the hard figures investors were hoping for.

In commodities, gold prices eased 0.2% to $2,649.98 per ounce, pressured by the stronger dollar and diminished investor confidence following China’s stimulus plan.

Oil prices fell by 2% as Brent crude settled at $77.46 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $73.83 per barrel. OPEC lowered its outlook for global oil demand growth for 2024, primarily due to declining Chinese oil imports and economic growth concerns. This marked the third consecutive downgrade from the producer group.