S&P 500 hits fresh record, FTSE 100 in the green as earnings in focus

Live13 updates

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 10:58 am GMT-4

  Nvidia shares trade at record high

  Shares in chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) are on track to reach a new record high, as the stock climbed 3% to hit $139.26 in early trading in the US on Monday.

  The stock is now up 181% year-to-date and previously hit a record high closing price of $135.58 in June.

  This latest rise has given it a market valuation of $3.4tn (£2.6tn) and make it poised to unseat Apple (AAPL), which has a market cap of nearly $3.5tn, as the world’s most valuable company.

  Nvidia shares have been fueled by barrage of good news around the company, including Wall Street analysts reiterating their buy ratings on the stock last week.

  Meanwhile, electronics manufacturing group Foxconn announced that it was building a huge facility in Mexico to produce Nvidia’s GB200 superchips. The two companies also said that they are building Taiwan’s largest supercomputer.

  Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a recent interview that demand for the company’s Blackwell AI chips is “insane”.

  Read more on this story here.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 10:05 am GMT-4

  How US stocks are faring in early trade

  From our US colleagues:

  The major averages opened mixed on Monday as investors turned their focus on more bank earnings and other quarterly results from major companies.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved up roughly 0.3% to a new record. On Friday, the broader index ended above 5,800 for the first time

  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.5% on Monday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped 0.2% from its Friday record close.

  Earnings season continues in full swing this week, with Citi (C), United Airlines (UAL), AI chip equipment maker ASML (ASML), Netflix (NFLX), and American Express (AXP) expected to report.

  Read more on today’s US market movements here.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 9:28 am GMT-4

  Ex-Google boss warns Starmer on regulation and clean energy goals

  Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google (GOOG), warned prime minister Keir Starmer that not fixing UK regulation may risk the government not meeting its 2030 clean energy goal.

  Schmidt said on stage with Starmer at the UK’s investment conference that “democracies — especially something as … old as this one have so many ways in which people can say no”.

  “I’d much rather have a single person who can say yes or no, and who says no, and then [companies] can move on,” he said.

  “The cost of capital, and the delay, is killing you. And further more you’re not going to achieve your 2030 energy goal … without fixing this,” Schmidt added.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 8:58 am GMT-4

  Tech firms commit to £6.3bn UK data centre investment

  CyrusOne, ServiceNow (NOW), Cloud HQ and CoreWeave announced on Monday plans to invest in data centre infrastructure in the UK, worth a total £6.3bn.

  The investments were announced as part of the UK’s International Investment summit and will bring the total investment in UK data centres to more than £25bn, since the Labour party took office in July.

  The new data centres are aimed at giving the UK more computing power and data storage, to provide the infrastructure to train AI technologies.

  Technology secretary Peter Kyle said in the announcement: “Data centres power our day-to-day lives and boost innovation in growing sectors like AI.

  “Today’s drumbeat of investment is a vote of confidence in Britain and our approach to work with business to deliver sustained growth for all.”

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 7:36 am GMT-4

  Mulberry owner rejects Frasers offer

  In company news, the biggest shareholder in UK luxury handbag brand Mulberry (MUL.L) said it had “no interest” in selling the company, on the back of an two offers from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group (FRAS.L).

  Frasers put forward a second takeover bid of £111m for Mulberry on Friday.

  Challice Limited, which has a 56% majority stake in the handbag maker, said in a statement on Sunday “has no interest in either selling its Mulberry Shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking”.

  Shares in Mulberry Group had surged 18% by lunchtime on Monday.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 7:07 am GMT-4

  Nobel economics prize announced

  Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson have been awarded the Nobel prize in economics “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity,” the The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced.

  The Nobel Committee praised the trio for explaining why “societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better.”

  Read more here

  The richest 20 per cent of the world’s countries are now around 30 times richer than the poorest 20 per cent. The income gap between the richest and poorest countries is also persistent; although the poorest countries have become richer, they are not catching up with the most… pic.twitter.com/FIh56HB9Lk

  — The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 14, 2024

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 7:00 am GMT-4

  DP World announces £1bn UK port investment

  Logistics giant DP World announced a £1bn investment to expand its London Gateway port as the UK’s International Investment summit kicked off on Monday.

  The Dubai-based company said it would increase capacity at the port by building two new shipping berths, as well as adding a second rail terminal to handle an expected increase in in containerised trade.

  DP World said the expansion would create a further 400 permanent new jobs, in addition to the 1,200 currently employed at the site.

  The announcement comes after a row involving UK transport secretary Louise Haigh last week in which she criticised its P&O Ferries division when announcing new worker protections.

  Haigh had called P&O a “rogue operator” in an interview with ITV News and encouraged consumers to boycott the company. Haigh’s comments came two years after P&O laid off nearly 800 British seafarers and replaced them with lower-paid overseas staff.

  Following Haigh’s comments, it was reported that DP World had put its announcement of further investment in the London Gateway port on hold.

  However, prime minister Keir Starmer said on the BBC’s Newscast podcast said the comments were “not the view of the government”.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 6:12 am GMT-4

  Global investment leaders ‘optimistic’ about Britain

  Executives from some of the world’s biggest investment firms have said that they are “optimistic” about Britain’s prospects, in a letter published by The Times ahead of today’s International Investment Summit in London.

  Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon, Bank of America (BAC) president of international Bernard Mensah, JPMorgan (JPM) global banking co-head Filippo Gori, Legal & General (LGEN.L) CEO António Simões and Aviva (AV.L) CEO Amanda Blanc were among those signatories on the letter.

  “As global investors, we believe that there is a very real opportunity for the UK to grow its economy by attracting international investment,” the letter said.

  “Britain’s educational establishments, legal system, financial services sector and language form the bedrock of a strong investment proposition. Technological developments, advances in the energy system and greater freedom in capital flows have further enhanced Britain’s position.

  “With greater stability, its attractiveness is increased even further. We are optimistic about the future of the economy, and believe it is time to invest in Britain.”

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 5:25 am GMT-4

  Oil prices fall sharply

  Oil prices dropped on Monday, reacting to disappointing economic data from China, the world’s largest crude importer, which revealed a persistent deflationary trend. The country’s plans for fiscal stimulus also failed to meet market expectations, further weighing on prices.

  Brent crude futures (BZ=F) lost 2.2%% to $77.31 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude retreated 2.2% to $73.87 per barrel during early European trading.

  Crude markets were additionally affected by ongoing discussions about a potential ceasefire in the Middle East. Rising tensions in the region had previously propelled oil prices upward for two consecutive weeks, but speculation of a de-escalation has shifted sentiment.

  Read more from Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves here.

   

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 5:20 am GMT-4

  How US stocks are faring in pre-market

  US stocks were rose slightly in pre-market trading on Monday morning, with S&P 500 futures (ES=F) up 0.12%.

  This comes after both the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones (^DJI) hit fresh highs at the end of last week.

  The latest US producer price index reading helped further ease concerns around inflation, with it coming in flat month-on-month in September. On an annualised basis, producer prices grew by 1.8%, slowing from the 1.9% reading recorded in August.

  Earnings beats from major US banks also helped drive markets higher. Other major US companies are set to report this week, including streaming giant Netflix (NFLX), as well as banks Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC).

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 4:54 am GMT-4

  Overnight in Asia

  Markets in Asia had a mixed start to the week, with China’s SSE Composite (000001.SS) closing Monday’s session 2% higher, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) ended the day 0.75% in the red.

  In a closely-watched press conference on Saturday, China’s minister of finance Lan Fo’an promised to “significantly increase” debt issuance to help shore up the economy, but did not offer more details on the size of stimulus.

  Meanwhile, data released on Sunday showed deflationary pressures continued to mount in China. The consumer price index (CPI) grew 0.4% year-on-year in September, down from 0.6% in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

  China’s producer price index (PPI) was down 2.8% in September, compared with a 1.8% decline in August.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 4:22 am GMT-4

  UK PM to vow to slash red tape for UK investment

  Prime minister Keir Starmer is set to promise to remove barriers and red tape for those wishing to invest in the UK, as the government’s inaugural International Investment Summit begins in London.

  Pre-released remarks show he is expected to say the government will do everything it can to “galvanise growth”. That includes “getting rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment.”

  He will pledge to “upgrade the regulatory regime to make it fit for the modern age, making Britain fit to harness all opportunities.”

  CEOs and investors from across the globe will meet with ministers, first ministers, and local leaders at the Guildhall in the City of London. Companies such as Google parent Alphabet (GOOG), BlackRock (BLK) and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) are set to be in attendance.

  Read more here.

• Mon 14 October 2024 at 4:24 am GMT-4

  Good morning!

  Hello from London and welcome to a new week of market news.

  Today the UK will host the international investment summit, with prime minister Keir Starmer, as well as global business leaders, set to give speeches.

  Investors are also looking ahead to the release of jobs data and the latest inflation figure, in the UK this week.

  Third-quarter earnings season is now well underway, with Volkswagen (VOW3.DE) due to report on Monday,

  Let’s get to it.