MSCI’s global equities gauge rose yesterday as Nvidia’s bullish outlook boosted tech shares and US Treasury yields edged down before a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh today, although uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz sent Brent futures higher.
US Treasury yields slipped but the dollar was virtually unchanged as traders turned their focus to Warsh’s appearance at the central bank’s Jackson Hole Symposium with hopes for clues on interest rate policy.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street the S&P 500 technology sector was the sole gainer among the benchmark index’s 11 major sectors and technology stocks also rallied after AI chip leader Nvidia forecast roughly 70 per cent revenue growth in the fiscal year ending January 2028.
Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investments, described the report as “the icing on the cake of one of the best earnings seasons in corporate American history.” “AI fundamentals are still scorching hot. With earnings reports this strong and strong forward guidance, it’s causing traders to come back to the tech space after rotating away,” said Miskin.
However, he said investors are concerned about volatility in oil prices as traders weighed a lack of progress in the Middle East as Washington confirmed it was not currently in talks with Tehran.
US crude rose 0.13pc to $82.37 a barrel and Brent rose to $88.85 per barrel, up 1.15pc on the day. “It’s very unclear still how the supply dynamics will end up shaking out,” said Miskin.
“It’s got the Treasury market’s attention, and that volatility is something that is giving unease and anxiety to investors and markets more broadly.” At 11.18am ET (1518 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221.84 points, or 0.41pc, to 53,684.43, the S&P 500 rose 52.19 points, or 0.68pc, to 7,727.72 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 356.12 points, or 1.36pc, to 26,486.31.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 4.32 points, or 0.38pc, to 1,154.25. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.74pc, while growing concerns over the political outlook in France drove the CAC 40 blue-chip index in Paris down 1.8pc and it hit its lowest level since July 24.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan closed up 0.3pc, stretching its gains into a third consecutive day. South Korea’s KOSPI pared earlier gains to close up 1.5pc, after the Bank of Korea raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3pc, in line with market expectations.
In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 0.76 basis points to 4.656pc, from 4.664pc late on Wednesday, while the 30-year bond yield fell 0.44 basis points to 5.1806pc. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 0.64 basis points to 4.218pc.
In currencies, the dollar was little changed after Labour Department data showed that weekly initial jobless claims fell for a second straight week, with attention shifting to Warsh’s speech.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.02pc to 99.14, with the euro up 0.02pc at $1.165.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.01pc to 159.3. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 2.88pc to $80,699.22. In precious metals, spot gold rose 0.07pc to $4,595.95 an ounce while spot silver rose 1.04pc to $68.81 an ounce.
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