Stocks are mixed as Fed decision approaches

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Stocks fell in both directions on Tuesday as investors focused on the outcome of a key Federal Reserve policy meeting.

It was a winning day for the major indexes, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) down about 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.2%, or less than 100 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) fell about 0.8% as Nvidia (NVDA) stock fell following an AI update at its annual developers conference.

The Fed’s two-day meeting, which began Tuesday morning, has been closely watched and is seen as a test for stocks hit by recent inflation surprises that dampened hopes of an upcoming rate cut.

Policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates at historic highs, with all eyes on the dot plot for clues about how many and when they will cut rates this year. The central bank’s policy decision is scheduled to be announced Wednesday at 2pm ET.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years, ending the era of negative interest rates, creating a hot topic in a week filled with central bank decisions.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continues to fall from its recent highs, dropping more than 5% to remain below $63,000, marking its biggest single-day loss in two weeks. It became a momentum. The stock prices of cryptocurrency companies Coinbase (COIN) and Marathon Digital (MARA) also fell along with their tokens.

On the corporate front, Unilever (UL) shares soared after the Ben & Jerry’s maker announced layoffs and a spinoff of its ice cream division.

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Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 8:30 PM GMT+5:30

How settlements with real estate agents affect homebuyers

A proposed settlement in a major realtor lawsuit that could free home sellers from high fees could have a negative impact on a group already suffering from rising interest rates and soaring home prices.

Homebuyers struggling with inventory shortages may soon find themselves on the hook for paying agent fees, Yahoo Finance’s Rebecca Chen reports.

Under this long-standing system, homeowners who list their properties typically end up paying both the seller’s and buyer’s fees. They sign a contract specifying the percentage of the fee to be split. Traditionally each party receives her 3%. However, if the settlement is approved by a federal judge, the 6% commission that has been standard for years would be eliminated and buyers would be responsible for their own agent fees.

Under the new model, buyers must come up with funds to pay an agent in addition to down payments, financing, and closing costs.

Experts also doubt that the settlement will depress home prices, as economic factors such as supply and demand drive home prices down. And as Yahoo Finance’s Miles Udland writes, the Fed’s shoddy interest rate policy levers are also not designed to address housing affordability.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 7:45 PM GMT+5:30

Stock prices rise in morning trading

Below are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trend ticker page in Tuesday morning trading.

Unilever (UL): 2% after the consumer goods giant announced plans to spin off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Klondike, and a restructuring plan that could affect 7,500 jobs as part of the spinoff. It started trading higher. Over the next three years he will save more than $800 million.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD): The dominant cryptocurrency is on track to suffer its biggest single-day drop in two weeks as investors continue to flee the token after hitting an all-time high recently. Bitcoin remained at $63,000, down about 7%.

Nvidia (NVDA): Fresh off its annual developer conference, the AI darling fell 3% after announcing its latest AI chip, which it said was up to 30 times faster than its predecessor.

Super microcomputer (SMCI): The company’s stock price fell 11% after the company announced plans to sell 2 million shares. The company plans to use the approximately $2 billion in proceeds to support its operations and increase manufacturing capacity. The stock offering comes as Supermicro’s stock price has more than tripled this year due to demand for its AI technology.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 7:04 PM GMT+5:30

Stocks fall before the Fed meeting

Wall Street took some steps back as Federal Reserve officials begin a two-day meeting to decide next steps on interest rate policy.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.2%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose above the flatline, marking Monday’s winner among the major indexes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) fell about 0.5% after AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) withdrew after sharing AI updates at its annual developer conference.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 6:00 PM GMT+5:30

Nvidia highlights

Nvidia (NVDA) stock didn’t rise much on the first day of the GTC conference, despite impressive new product announcements.

But that doesn’t mean what the company announced was disappointing, quite the opposite. Everything that CEO Jensen Huang has unveiled is so complex that I actually think it could take investors a few days to understand and assess whether the stock is worth rising further. thinking.

Wall Street was satisfied with what they heard.

JP Morgan analyst Harlan Sarr commented as follows:

“Overall, the team is moving further apart with aggressive new product releases and product segmentation over time: cutting-edge silicon (GPU/DPU/CPU), hardware/software platforms, and With a strong ecosystem, Nvidia is well-positioned and, in our view, will continue to benefit from key long-term trends such as AI, high-performance computing, gaming, and self-driving cars. Bottom line: NVIDIA remains a step or two ahead of its competitors. ”
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 5:45 PM GMT+5:30

AI stock bubble or not?

As Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC conference continues on the West Coast, it feels natural that BofA’s new fund manager study released today would influence the AI stock bubble discussion.

As a result, institutional investors have no idea whether this is a bubble or not.

Investors can’t tell whether AI stocks are a bubble or not.