4:15pm: Dow climbs toward all-time high
US stocks rose on Thursday, led by tech gains after TSMC's positive outlook eased concerns about demand for AI chips.
This boost lifted Nvidia (NVDA) to an intraday all-time high.
Meanwhile, strong retail sales data also highlighted the strength of the U.S. economy.
The Nasdaq finished slightly above the flatline at 18,374 points, while the S&P 500 dipped below after briefly hitting an intraday high to finish at 5,841.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4%, addid 161 points to finish at 43,239.
3:50pm: Netflix set to report
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX, ETR:NFC) (Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX, ETR:NFC), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX, ETR:NFC)) is set to announce its Q3 2024 earnings report tonight and analysts anticipate strong results for the streaming giant.
Market expectations point to quarterly revenue of $9.77 billion, net income of $2.23 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of $5.16, a notable increase from $4.88 in Q2.
Most analysts have upgraded their expectations for Netflix’s EPS estimates and revenue estimates, although net income has been revised down slightly.
3:10pm: Gold emerges as safe haven
Gold's role as a safe haven asset, particularly in times of fiscal stress, has become even more appealing an increasingly uncertain economic landscape.
Bank of America analysts reaffirmed their bullish stance on gold, projecting a target price of $3,000 per ounce, citing mounting concerns over global debt sustainability and rising fiscal profligacy.
In their latest Global Metals Weekly report, the bank highlighted that despite rising interest rates, which traditionally exert downward pressure on gold, the metal remains attractive as investors seek refuge from fiscal uncertainty.
Read more here.
1:15pm: Market movers
Some afternoon movers for you.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported a 54% increase in net profit in its third quarter, reaching NT$325.26 billion $10.1 billion).
The chipmaking giant’s revenue rose by 36% year-on-year, totalling US$23.5 billion, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence processors.
Shares of TSMC gained 8% on Thursday following its earnings release.
On the flipside, Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) (Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID)) shares plunged over 16% after the electric vehicle maker revealed plans to sell about 262.5 million shares of its common stock in a public offering.
And in a securities filing, Lucid said the company recorded an operational loss between $765 million and $790 million during Q3, ahead of analysts’ expectation of a $752 million loss.
12:01pm: Tech, financials outperforming in 2024
Stocks remained in positive territory at midday as new data pointed to the strength of the US economy and TSMC’s positive outlook lifted chip stocks.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.6% at 18,470 points, the Dow Jones was up 0.3% at 43,203 points and the S&P 500 added 0.3% at 5,860 points.
Tech stocks have notably done a lot of the heavy lifting for the broader market this year, with NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) driving 34% of the S&P 500’s total return for 2024, according to an analysis by LPL Financial.
“Only 37% of S&P 500 stocks are outperforming the index this year,” LPL Financial chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist commented.
He highlighted that while technology may be leading in sector performance, and capturing most of the spotlight, financials are leading in terms of broader outperformance.
“61% of the sector is outpacing the S&P 500 this year, marking the highest percentage reading across the 11 sectors,” Turnquist said.
“The sectors with the lowest percentage of stocks beating the broader market lean defensive, although utilities is a notable exception as 55% of sector stocks are outpacing the index this year.”
Meanwhile, gold hit a new record high trading north of $2,700 per ounce.
11:20am: Economy in 'good shape'
The economy is in "pretty good shape," according to Bill Adams, Chief Economist for Comerica Bank following stronger-than-expected September retail sales.
"Since consumer spending fuels two-thirds of U.S. demand, the economy can’t be doing too bad as long as consumers still have their pocketbooks open," Adams commented.
"Industrial production is a drag, due to the impact of high interest rates as well as the Boeing strike."
Looking ahead, the hurricanes that severely impacted parts of the Southeast in late September and early October are expected to weigh heavily on October's data. This will obscure the underlying economic trends in the short term, further complicated by the ongoing Boeing strike, however, these challenges are temporary, according to Adams.
"With the Fed expected to continue lowering interest rates through the turn of the year, credit-sensitive sectors of the economy should perk up in coming quarters, sustaining the economic expansion into 2025," he wrote.
9.55am: Nasdaq semi sector leads Wall Street higer
US stocks have opened higher, led by tech giants including NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD).
The Nasdaq Composite has climbed 0.5% in early trades, while the Russell 2000 has jumped 1.6%.
Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 are up just over 0.3%.
Biggest risers among the Nasdaq 100 tech titans are generally in the semiconductor sector, with the leaderboard topped by Broadcom, followed by Super Micro Computer, Micron Technology, ARM Holdings, then not far behind it's NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices.
Among the largest companies on the S&P, Apple, Alphabet and Tesla are in the red, while the rest are higher.
Leading the fallers on the Dow are UnitedHealth, 3M Co, IMB and Disney.
8.53am: US retail sales higher than expected
US retail sales rose 0.4% in September, a marginally stronger rise than the consensus estimate of 0.3%.
The stronger rise was despite a large 4% drop in gasoline prices, which was offset by stronger gasoline sales volumes.
An unchanged reading for motor vehicle sales was weaker than expected, while sales at furniture & home furnishing stores down 1.4% and at electronics & appliance stores down 3.3%.
Those declines were more than offset by strong gains elsewhere: miscellaneous store sales jumped 4.0%, clothing sales rose 1.5% and sales at food & beverage and health & personal care stores rose almost 1%.
"The jump in miscellaneous store sales and apparent strong increases in food and gasoline sales volumes may have been due to consumers stocking up on essentials ahead of Hurricane Helene, although there was little weather-related impact on sales at food services & drinking places," says Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.
He notes that a strong monthly rise in control group sales "suggests that consumption growth strengthened to more than 3% annualised last quarter", though timelier data show a big drop in retail sales in the last week of September as Hurricane Helene made landfall, and Milton added to the disruption two weeks later.
"So prospects for October and the fourth quarter are looking softer."
8.15am: Nasdaq to lead Wall Street march
Nasdaq-listed tech stocks are poised to drive a positive open on Wall Street on Thursday, following encouraging reports from the semiconductor industry.
Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up almost 0.9%, while those for the broader S&P 500 rose 0.45% and Dow Jones futures inched up 0.1%.
AI chip colossus NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) was up almost 3% premarket, with fellow semiconductor stocks also higher, such as a 2.5% gain for Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, ETR:AMD).
This followed stellar earnings from Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ADR) (NYSE:TSM), with revenues and gross margins both beating expectations, with wafer shipments up 15%.
TSMC also released strong guidance for the fourth quarter, with better sales and margin than expected, which the company says is down to the strong AI boom, which is continuing to boost sales.
Key earnings reports on Thursday include private equity investment giant Blackstone, credit card provider American Express and consumer goods colossus Procter & Gamble before the bell, with Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX, ETR:NFC) the main focus after the close later.
Data releases from the US include retail sales, industrial production and capacity utilisation for September, the weekly initial jobless claims, and the NAHB’s housing market index for October.