Stocks fall despite Nvidia boost as inflation concerns weigh

NEW YORK - US stocks ended lower on May 23, even as a strong revenue forecast for Nvidia fueled a surge in its shares, but that was overshadowed by economic data showing inflation was still a concern that could delay any Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Nvidia shares jumped 9.32 per cent to close above the US$1,000 (S$1,351) per share mark for the first time and helped boost the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to intraday records in the early stages of trading after the AI chip company forecast quarterly revenue above estimates and announced a stock split.

But stocks lost ground after economic data showed US price pressures increased in May even as business activity accelerated and as lower weekly jobless claims indicated the labor market remains on firm footing.

“It maybe speaks to the fact that people are now positioned for disappointing growth data, slower inflation data, rate cuts, and this morning... it caught people wrong footed,” said Brian Nick Senior Investment Strategist at The Macro Institute in New York.

“Anything that looks like good news is still being greeted as bad news, which shows we’re still in this sort of Fed relief rally period where the market’s generally happy that interest rates have stopped going up, but the worst thing would be for interest rates to continue going up at this point.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 605.78 points, or 1.53 per cent, to 39,065.26, the S&P 500 lost 39.17 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 5,267.84 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 65.51 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 16,736.03.

Treasury yields moved higher after the data, which weighed heavily on small cap stocks, as the Russell 2000 dropped 1.6 per cent, its biggest daily percentage drop since April 30.

The gains in Nvidia helped lift the S&P 500 tech index 0.56 per cent as the sole advancer among the 11 major S&P sectors on May 23. But despite the gains in Nvidia, chip stocks on the whole were lower, with the PHLX semiconductor index edging down 0.02 per cent on the session.

The rally in equities to record highs this month has been fueled in part by AI optimism, a solid earnings season and renewed hopes for rate cuts by the Fed this year. Nvidia shares are up about 110 per cent this year after surging roughly 240 per cent in 2023.

Markets are now pricing in a 52.2 per cent chance for a rate cut of at least 25 basis points (bps) in September, down from the nearly 67 per cent a week ago, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

The Dow was dragged lower in part by a 7.55 per cent tumble in Boeing after the US planemaker forecast negative free cash flow in 2024 due to sluggish deliveries, which accounted for over 90 points to the downside for the blue-chip index. The 1.53 per cent tumble was the largest daily percentage drop for the Dow since March 22, 2023.

DuPont announced plans to split into three publicly traded companies. Shares of the US conglomerate ended up 0.48 per cent but were sharply off earlier levels.

Ticketmaster-owner Live Nation slumped 7.81 per cent after the US Justice Department along with a group of 30 states and the District of Columbia May 23 sued to break up the concert promoter.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 5.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 3.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 139 new highs and 159 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 13.70 billion shares, compared with the 12.19 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS