Customers visit Macy’s Herald Square store on December 17, 2023 in New York City.
Kena Betancur | Corbis News | Getty Images
This report comes from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open tells investors everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Do you like what you see? You can register here.
What you need to know today
Shopping rally
Wall Street is over Thursday higher, with the S&P 500 hitting a new record high despite new data showing retail sales fell 0.8% in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average he also saw a late rally, adding over 300 points. Technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%.
Driving Nvidia’s success
A filing showed Nvidia took stakes in a handful of public companies. Shares of most of these AI companies soared on Thursday, reflecting strong investor interest in following Nvidia’s AI development story.
Forget Tesla, look at Ford
Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors to forget Tesla as the future of the auto industry, urging them to focus on Ford’s “Pro” fleet business. “If you’re looking for the future of the automotive industry, stop looking at FSD and Tesla. Look at Ford Pro. It has half a million subscribers with a 50% gross margin,” he said.
Putin prefers Biden
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Joe Biden would be a better president for Russian relations than Republican nominee Donald Trump. ″[Biden] he is more experienced and more predictable. He is an “old school” politician. But we will work with any US leader elected by the American people,” Putin said in an interview.
[PRO] Asia’s AI stands out
Given the AI boom, Morgan Stanley picked stocks it called “undervalued beneficiaries” in the Asia-Pacific. The largest share of AI beneficiaries in Asia and emerging markets was found in the IT and communications sector, the bank said.
The bottom line
Americans increased their spending earlier this year after the usual extravagance of the holiday season.
Consumer spending saw a big drop, down 0.8% in January from the previous month. The bigger-than-expected plunge came after a strong round of spending in December, which was revised down to a 0.4% rise.
Weak retail sales data raised fresh doubts about the strength of U.S. consumer activity, which accounts for about two-thirds of economic growth.
Consumer spending has risen markedly despite higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation. And the US economy has proven far more resilient, even as others such as Japan and the UK have shown weakness and slipped into technical recession.
However, there were other positive economic indicators that offer a glimmer of hope.
Jobless claims released on Thursday continued to surprise and even fall despite layoffs at major companies in recent weeks. It reflects underlying strength in the labor market, another critical factor in economic growth.
There was also good news on the manufacturing front, as regional surveys in the Federal Reserve’s Philadelphia and New York districts were both better than expected for February.
Given the mixed economic data, Wall Street’s focus will turn to Friday’s producer price index — which usually doesn’t get as much attention. But now it will be, given CPI’s big hit on Tuesday.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this story.