Before the bell: Nvidia briefly up 5%

Shares of German car manufacturers are falling, while those of their Chinese competitors are rising. The Oslo stock exchange is welcoming a new listing.

Wall Street started the new trading week on a positive note, with gains of 1% for the S&P 500 and 1.2% for the Nasdaq. There were also gains in Brussels, although the Bel20 rose only 0.4%. WDP (+2.8%), Aedifica (+2.2%), UCB (+2.1%) and Montea (+1.8%) performed significantly better. In the Euro Stoxx 50 (+0.4%), Bayer (+3.8%) stood out. The biggest losers in the index were once again the German carmakers BMW (-2.7%), Mercedes-Benz (-2%) and Volkswagen (-1.6%).

In Asia, markets are showing modest gains of around +0.3%. Earlier in the day, both the Topix and the Hang Seng were still up roughly +1%. Geely Auto (+5.3%) is gaining more than its German competitors are losing. In Germany, investor confidence data will be released this afternoon. The Oslo stock exchange today welcomes the listing of Capital Tankers, a Greek shipping company. On Wall Street, sportswear manufacturer Lululemon will report results after the close.

Nvidia briefly at +5%

Yesterday, Jensen Huang addressed analysts, investors, journalists and other followers at a Nvidia technology conference. Markets were eagerly awaiting the chief executive’s presentation. I wonder why. Nvidia published its quarterly results on 25 February—barely three weeks ago. Those results were outstanding and the outlook was very strong. What could possibly have changed in just three weeks? Are some investors not worrying too much? Could their nervousness lead to panic-driven behaviour that is anything but beneficial for their portfolios? Buy. Then sell at the first dip. Then buy again at a higher price. In this way, you mainly feed the coffers of brokers and governments. Better to invest calmly, with a clear vision and a long-term horizon. There is nothing wrong with buy-and-hold. Incidentally, Jensen Huang mentioned that Nvidia’s revenue could reach one trillion dollar. On that “news,” the share immediately jumped 5%. When it became clear that this figure referred to Nvidia’s cumulative revenue up to 2027 (27 billion four years ago + 61 billion a year later + 131 billion + 216 billion last year + …), the weak hands quickly started selling again. Nvidia ultimately closed 1.7% higher yesterday.

Interest rate hike

Australia’s central bank raised its policy rate this morning to 4.10%. Until today, it stood at 3.85%. Five policymakers voted in favour of the increase, while four preferred to keep rates unchanged. It would not surprise me if many interpret this hike as a precursor of a broader trend we may also see at other central banks. After all, higher oil prices lead to inflation, and inflation is curbed with higher interest rates. However, rates had already been increased at the previous meeting of Australia’s rate-setting committee. The central bank also denied that the current hike is driven by higher oil prices. With inflation at 3.4%, it was already too high. Unemployment in Australia stands at just 4.1%, a historic low. In short, we do not believe that central banks will suddenly start raising rates across the board. That would not make much sense.

Did you know…

that today is St. Patrick’s Day? On such a day, three to four times more Guinness is consumed than usual. The Irish brewer is part of the listed group Diageo.

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