Before the bell: a top day, thanks to AI and uranium

Nvidia, PayPal and Cameco stood out, proving once again that the potential of artificial intelligence remains enormous. In the United States, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates later today.

It was another green day on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 rising 0.2% and the Nasdaq adding 0.8%. Consumer confidence in the U.S. may be declining, but corporate news was largely positive. PayPal climbed 3.9% after publishing solid quarterly results and announcing a partnership with OpenAI. At one point the stock was up 13%, though much of that gain melted away by the close. Uranium producer Cameco surged 23.4% after the U.S. government placed an 80-billion-dollar order for nuclear reactors with Westinghouse Electric, in which Cameco holds a 49% stake. In Europe, markets fell 0.1% on average, while the Bel20 dropped 0.9%, weighed down by steep losses at Solvay (-4.8%) and UCB (-5.5%).

In Asia this morning, both the Japanese Topix (-0.2%) and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (-0.3%) are trading lower. Later today, Belgium will publish its third-quarter growth figures. In the U.S., the Fed is expected to announce a 25-basis-point cut to its short-term dollar rate. Melexis reported a 13% decline in quarterly revenue and a net profit that nearly halved, though the company did slightly raise its full-year guidance. Adidas, Adyen, Airbus, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz, Santander and UBS also report earnings today. In the U.S., Boeing and Caterpillar will publish before the bell, followed by Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Starbucks, Mercado Libre and Chipotle after hours.

Uranium, my lord

The entire world now seems convinced of the potential of nuclear power. Even Greta Thunberg has long since changed her tune. We can’t do without it—nuclear power, that is, not Greta Thunberg. Belgium was once, through Congo, a supplier of uranium—though not always for peaceful purposes. Our country can still take pride in its world-renowned Nuclear Research Centre and in the decades of experience that many Belgian companies have built up in this field. And yet we’ve recently closed another nuclear plant, while the rest of the world—and even Microsoft—recognises its value. Politics destroys value. If I didn’t invest, I’d probably be in a mental institution by now. The naïve put their fate in the hands of politicians; the wise hedge that political risk through the visionary strength of leading enterprises. Sadly, Cameco isn’t in my portfolio—but Yellow Cake (+6.3%) is.

Nvidia CEO dispels AI bubble fears

These are glory days for the fans, researchers and developers of artificial intelligence. In Washington, Nvidia is hosting its annual GPU Technology Conference. CEO Jensen Huang delivered his keynote speech, revealing the latest news and some striking figures. Most notably, he hinted at the scale of Nvidia’s order book: for its newest generation of chips, outstanding orders reportedly amount to a staggering 500 billion dollar. Investors lapped it up, sending the stock 5% higher.

Several new collaborations were announced. Nvidia is teaming up with Uber to develop 100,000 autonomous vehicles and with Eli Lilly to build a new supercomputer. The company also struck partnerships with Palantir and CrowdStrike, and will invest 1 billion dollar in Nokia (+21.3%) in exchange for 166.4 million new shares in the Finnish firm. The U.S. government is also joining in: together with Oracle, Nvidia will build seven new AI supercomputers for the Department of Energy. The largest will run on no fewer than 100,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs. The revenue has to come from somewhere.

Did you know…

that Japan’s Nikkei index is up 2.2% today—even though most Japanese stocks are lower? The gain is entirely due to a 22.1% surge in Advantest, the world’s largest producer of semiconductor-testing equipment, which raised its full-year forecast by 25%.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.