01 Stock Market
The U.S. major indexes closed as follows: Dow Jones down 0.56% at 47,916.57; S&P 500 down 0.11% at 6,816.89; NASDAQ up 0.35% at 22,902.90. A mixed finish capped a busy session in which rising semiconductor names could not fully counterbalance weakness in several mega-caps and software groups.
Unusual-move stocks stood out across the tape. Chipmakers led with Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) up 12.98% at $150.60, Marvell Technology (MRVL) up 7.19% at $128.49, Broadcom (AVGO) up 4.69% at $371.55 and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) up 3.55% at $245.04. AI infrastructure play CoreWeave (CRWV) jumped 10.87% to $102.00 after sealing a cloud-capacity deal with Anthropic, while electric-vehicle names rallied, pushing NIO (NIO) up 7.08% at $6.50 and Li Auto (LI) up 5.03% at $19.21. In contrast, enterprise-software heavyweight ServiceNow (NOW) fell 7.58% to $83.00 following a broker downgrade, and data-analytics firm Palantir (PLTR) slipped 1.86% to $128.06.
Chip demand linked to artificial-intelligence build-outs remained the session’s central theme. Nvidia (NVDA) rose 2.57% at $188.63 after suppliers signalled fresh order upgrades, and leveraged ETF SOXL advanced 6.13% to $76.39. Taiwan Semiconductor’s revenue beat lifted its U.S.-listed shares 1.40% to $370.60, feeding optimism for the sector’s earnings season. Meanwhile, mega-caps were mixed: Apple (AAPL) was flat at $260.48, Tesla (TSLA) added 0.96% to $348.95, and Microsoft (MSFT) eased 0.59% to $370.87 as investors weighed inflation data against ongoing AI capital-expenditure waves.
02 Other Markets
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.56%, latest at 4.32%.
USD/CNH fell 0.03%, at 6.85; USD/HKD fell 0.04%, at 7.83.
U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.09%, at 98.72.
WTI crude futures fell 2.29%, at 95.63 USD/bbl; COMEX gold futures fell 0.98%, at 4,771.00 USD/oz.
03 Top News
1. Anthropic signed a multiyear agreement to rent CoreWeave’s AI cloud capacity. The deal secures large blocks of Nvidia-powered infrastructure for Anthropic’s Claude models. CoreWeave shares surged as investors anticipated a multi-year revenue stream.
2. Lumentum forecast its optical-component order book will remain full through 2028. The CEO said hyperscaler demand is “falling further behind supply,” and pledged at least $100 million for additional Japanese capacity. The upbeat outlook sent Lumentum stock higher alongside peers.
3. The U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 3.3% year-on-year in March, matching forecasts. Core inflation remained moderate at 2.6%, but energy costs jumped nearly eleven percent amid Middle-East tensions. The data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will stay cautious on rate cuts.
4. An Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad to launch U.S.-brokered peace talks. Tehran insisted on unfreezing assets and maritime concessions before formal negotiations, casting uncertainty over the fragile two-week ceasefire. Energy traders monitored the outcome for clues on Strait of Hormuz oil flows.
5. Apple retained the top spot in global smartphone shipments despite industry weakness, Counterpoint Research reported. iPhone volumes grew five percent even as overall shipments fell six percent due to memory shortages and subdued consumer sentiment. The data underscored Apple’s pricing power.
6. Morgan Stanley highlighted Tesla’s imminent milestone of ten billion Full Self-Driving miles but kept an “equal weight” view. Analysts said mounting capital-expenditure needs and negative free cash flow require clearer proof of near-term autonomous revenues. Tesla shares edged higher on the day.
7. UBS downgraded ServiceNow to neutral, citing softer enterprise software budgets. The bank warned that non-AI application spending is under pressure, triggering a sharp sell-off in ServiceNow and broader software names. The stock fell more than seven percent.
8. Nvidia injected $2 billion into Lumentum in a strategic investment supporting optical-chip production. The funding aims to accelerate indium-phosphide capacity crucial for high-speed data links in AI data centres. Analysts view the move as reinforcing Nvidia’s supply-chain dominance.
9. Meta Platforms committed $21 billion to purchase high-performance computing power from CoreWeave. The agreement secures gigawatts of capacity for Meta’s generative-AI initiatives. The deal cements neocloud providers’ role in large-scale AI deployment.
10. TSMC reported a 35% year-on-year jump in quarterly revenue, topping analysts’ estimates. Robust demand for advanced nodes used in AI and smartphone chips drove the beat. U.S.-listed shares gained as investors anticipated strong margin guidance in the upcoming earnings call.
Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Tiger Newspress, public market data Disclaimer: This content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice.
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