Fra Reuters og Bloomberg
Virtually all overnight gains in the S&P faded just after 6am when Reuters blasted the following two headlines which poured cold water on expectations of a quick deescalation in the Iran war
- *IRAN SUPREME LEADER SAYS URANIUM MUST STAY IN IRAN: REUTERS
- *IRAN SUPREME LEADER ISSUES DIRECTIVE ON URANIUM: REUTERS
Almost overshadowed by headlines related to AI-disrupter Anthropic and SpaceX, Nvidia’s results produced the expected high growth. Nvidia’s revenue growth shows that the momentum of the debt-fueled AI data-center buildout is accelerating. While analysts are broadly positive, some also questioned the sustainability of growth, especially amid higher competition. Some also pointed to the company’s compute revenue miss as an early warning sign, especially with Nvidia changing the way it reports revenue so it masks this weakness going forward. Nvidia’s price reaction was expected to be more muted compared to the last few years – call open interest has been drifting lower. While this suggests a cooling in the speculative chase that previously defined the popular AI trade, it isn’t dimming the price action of peripheral beneficiaries – a windfall for Asian chip makers.
“Investors remain relentless in pursuit of supernormal returns offered by AI,” said Emmanuel Valavanis, an equity sales specialist at Forte Securities, noting how narrow the market has become given a “laser beam focus on AI, the biggest tech infrastructure build-out of 21st century.”
Shortly after the Nvidia results, SpaceX filed publicly for what stands to be the largest-ever IPO, revealing billions in losses and a super-voting share plan allowing Elon Musk to keep the company under his control. SpaceX had a net loss of $4.28 billion on revenue of $4.69 billion for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $528 million on revenue of about $4 billion a year earlier, the filing shows.
While this will surely change, for now SpaceX is now a cash incinerating machine, with nearly $25BN in cash burn in the last 12 months.
“We believe that our current space efforts will catalyze transformative breakthroughs that could reshape terrestrial industries and lead to the emergence of new trillion-dollar markets on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.” Space Exploration said in its Form S-1.
Elsewhere Jamie Dimon said interest rates may climb much higher from current levels, while his firm will likely hire more AI specialists and fewer traditional bankers as the adoption of the technology accelerate.
The muted tone in US markets contrasted with buoyant optimism in Asia, where a key tech gauge jumped the most in six weeks.
Overnight Asia saw stock market fireworks with Korea’s LG Electronics and Hyundai Mobis both surging in Seoul after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang touted new opportunities offered by robots and automated vehicles. SoftBank Group Corp. jumped 20% as two companies backed by the Japanese investor – OpenAI and SB Energy Corp. – were said to be preparing for initial public offerings. Regional chipmakers tracked Wednesday’s gains in US peers.
“The rally in Asia has been supported by very strong momentum in technology, particularly around the current reality of AI demand,” said Francisco Simón, European head of strategy at Santander Asset Management. “Looking ahead, investors also continue to see structural growth potential linked to the future evolution of AI, including companies that may emerge as leaders.”
European shares edged higher after early declines as investors digested earnings reports and purchasing managers’ index data from across the region. The Stoxx 600 rose 0.4%, British defense technology firm QinetiQ was among the top gainers after posting strong results and announcing a new share buyback programme, while Ubisoft slumped on weak bookings. Here are the biggest movers Thursday:
- QinetiQ shares jumped as much as 11%, the biggest daily rise in over a year, after earnings showed a profit beat and a buyback initiative.
- Investec rallied as much as 5.3% in London to its highest intraday level since April after the specialist lender reported net income for the full year that beat the average analyst estimate.
- Generali shares rose as much as 2.9%, the best performer on the Stoxx 600 Insurance Index, after the Italian insurer reported what analysts say are strong 1Q earnings.
- CSG shares rose as much as 5.9% after Oddo BHF upgraded the defense company to outperform from neutral, saying there is potential for significant re-rating after a short attack sent the stock plunging earlier this month.
- Naturgy Energy Group shares gained as much as 3.4%, trading at their highest level since 2022, after receiving upgrades from Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas.
- Alfen rose as much as 25% after a Jefferies upgrade gives it a sole buy rating, with the energy-equipment company seen favorably positioned to capitalize on the energy transition theme, with double-digit growth in all end-markets.
- Greece’s Public Power rose as much as 6% to a record high after it concluded a share capital increase on Wednesday.
- Hexagon shares fell as much as 18% on Thursday, their first day of trading excluding rights to the company’s upcoming spin off of its subsidiary Octave.
- Ubisoft shares slumped as much as 19% on Thursday after the video game maker guided to a high single-digit percentage drop in net bookings for the coming fiscal year, well below expectations.
- Convatec shares dropped as much as 5.6%, worst performer in the Stoxx 600 Health Care Index on Thursday morning, after the medical products and equipment manufacturer provided an update for the first four months of 2026.
- MaaT Pharma shares plunge as much as 61%, the most on record, after the French biotech company said its experimental therapy Xervyteg for acute graft-versus-host disease is likely to be turned down by the European Medicines Agency.
- Autotrader falls as much as 4.8%, most since Feb. 3, after a soft earnings report which analysts said will weaken confidence in the online vehicle marketplace. The stock has lost about a fifth of its value this year.
- Elior slumped as much as 26%, the most since November 2024, after the French catering and food services company’s first-half results came in significantly below expectations and it lowered guidance for the full year.
Investors are also getting a reading into business activity in major economies against a backdrop of rising energy costs. The data compiled by S&P Global are closely watched as they arrive early in the month and are good at revealing trends and turning points. In the UK, businesses posted the first decline in output in over a year as the Iran shock and a mounting rebellion against Prime Minister Keir Starmer hit activity in the services sector. In the euro area, activity shrank at the quickest pace in 2 1/2 years.
Earlier in the session, Asian equities snapped a four-day losing streak, with a rally in tech shares and easing Middle East tensions helping lift sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 2.8%, the most over a month. South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 8% to lead gains in the region after Samsung Electronics reached a tentative deal with its labor union. Shares in Taiwan and Japan also jumped. Chip heavyweights contributed the most to the Asian benchmark’s gains. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group shares soared in Japan after reports said that two of the companies it backs are preparing to list in the US.
Walmart, Ralph Lauren and Deere are among companies expected to report results before the market opens. While confident in its ability to win market share, Walmart is unlikely to raise full-year guidance given persistent uncertainties from higher fuel and freight costs, Citi said. Numbers from Take-Two and Workday follow later in the day.
In commodities, Brent crude futures are up 2% to near $107 a barrel, erasing an earlier fall, after a report that Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad. European stocks surrendered gains and turned red on the news, while US equity futures dropped. Precious metals extended declines.
Bonds also sold off, with the decline in Treasuries pushing US 10-year yields up 3 bps to 4.61%. European government followed suit, led lower by shorter dated maturities.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.2% while the Swedish krona and Aussie dollar slipped to the bottom of the G-10 FX pile, losing 0.4% each. While a resolution could put the dollar under selling pressure, conviction of a lasting peace deal is lower, ING strategists say. “The dollar’s contained reaction to Trump’s comments leaves a relatively larger scope for further downside if a deal is indeed about to be agreed,” they write in a note; “But it also confirms thinner market patience, and a new period of a stall in negotiations could end up taking DXY above the 99.50 mark even without any new military re-escalation.”” At the same time significant downside in the currency may be limited given hawkish FOMC minutes on Wednesday, strategists say
Looking at today’s calendar, we get Housing starts for April, Philadelphia Fed business outlook, and initial jobless claims through May 16 are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by provisional PMI data for May at 9.45 a.m.
