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| This week's gainers and losers |
Tops : -0.8% Vaxcyte +38.16%: The American biotechnology company announced promising results for its experimental pneumococcal vaccine, surpassing expectations for immune responses across 20 serotypes. Although its products are not yet approved on the market, this news almost doubled Vaxcyte's market capitalization within a week, reaching approximately $12 billion. Nio +24.26%: The Chinese car manufacturer announced a 16% reduction in losses and nearly doubled its electric car sales in its latest quarterly report. This performance is attributed to increased deliveries and an improvement in the gross vehicle margin, which rose from 6% to 12% year-over-year. The group expects continued sales growth with record deliveries projected for the next quarter. Rightmove +17.67%: The real estate listing site's stock soared on the London Stock Exchange following the announcement of interest from Australian group REA in a takeover bid. The suitor has until September 30 to formalize an offer or walk away. Frontier Communications +23.37%: Verizon announced its plan to acquire Frontier Communications for $20 billion in cash, representing a 40% premium over the closing price on September 3. The friendly transaction is expected to strengthen Verizon’s position against competitors like AT&T by enhancing its broadband service offerings. The acquisition is projected to be completed within a year and a half. Flop: United States Steel -17.52%: U.S. President Joe Biden was set to formally block the acquisition of the American steel giant by its Japanese competitor Nippon Steel, due to a lack of approval from regulators. They argue that the $15 billion deal could jeopardize the supply of steel essential for critical projects in transportation, infrastructure, construction, and agriculture. ASML -16.13%: The Dutch government has imposed new export regulations. Suppliers of ultraviolet lithography equipment must now obtain authorization to export outside the European Union. The reason? These machines can produce semiconductors for military applications. The rules, effective from Saturday, will force ASML to apply for licenses to export certain models to China. The drop in Nvidia (-9.5%) and other American tech companies also dragged down the sector in Europe. Intel Corporation -14.29%: The American semiconductor giant is preparing a restructuring plan following accumulated losses in its manufacturing and outsourcing unit. It is considering selling certain divisions, including Altera, which specializes in programmable chips, and plans to drastically cut capital expenditures, possibly canceling a $32 billion factory project in Germany. Intel also announced massive layoffs and a suspension of dividends. With its market value dropping below $100 billion, speculation is growing about Intel possibly being removed from the Dow Jones, where it has become the least influential member with a weighting of 0.5%. Nvidia -13.86%: The American company continues to be penalized by underwhelming quarterly results and a decline in investor interest in the AI sector. Market players are increasingly turning to more cyclical sectors, anticipating monetary easing in mid-September. Broadcom Inc -14.62%: The American company reported fourth-quarter revenue below expectations due to a slowdown in broadband. However, it exceeded forecasts with adjusted earnings of $1.24 per share, and its revenue grew by 47%, reaching $13.07 billion. A dividend of $0.53 per share was also approved by the board of directors. Hermès -11.96% and LVMH -9.24%: The luxury sector is going through a challenging period. The sector’s high valuation and its exposure to the slowdown in Chinese consumer spending are weighing on companies. After a rebound in early 2024 due to hopes of recovery in China, the sector is once again declining. Persistent doubts about Chinese and U.S. growth are creating an atmosphere of uncertainty. |
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| Commodities |
The commodity, energy, and precious metals markets are currently being influenced by macroeconomic factors and geopolitical uncertainties. Investors remain cautious, awaiting key economic data and policy decisions that could redefine short-term trends. Oil: The crude oil market remains under pressure, with concerns about demand overshadowing OPEC+ efforts to stabilize prices. OPEC+ members are reportedly close to an agreement to suspend their gradual production cuts. However, prices have dropped due to weak economic data. Brent is trading at $71 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate is at $67.8 per barrel as of Friday. Natural Gas: Natural gas saw a significant increase this week due to long-term temperature forecasts and lower-than-expected stock increases last month. The National Weather Service's long-term forecast predicts that most states will experience above-seasonal temperatures over the next six to fourteen days, increasing cooling demand before the fall transition period. The Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that fuel stocks rose by 13 billion cubic feet last week, well below the consensus estimate of a 27 billion cubic feet increase. Precious Metals: Gold remained stable this week as investors await U.S. employment data to gauge the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decisions. Spot gold is trading at $2,509 per ounce. Among other metals, silver is trading at $28.5 per ounce, platinum at $922, and palladium at $930 as of Friday. Copper: The economic slowdown in China and recession fears in the U.S. and Europe have weighed on prices. Copper is currently trading at $9,092 per ton on the futures market. |
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| Macroeconomics |
Mood: Lukewarm. The accumulation of mixed statistics from the United States, combined with a seasonality traditionally unfavorable to equities, weighed on the markets for much of the week. The highly anticipated release of unemployment figures could have provided some relief, but while economists expected 165k non-farm job creations, the actual number came in at 142k. After the poor July figures, negatively impacted by Hurricane Beryl in Texas, the unemployment rate was expected to drop to 4.2%. A bit of good news this time: it was published exactly in line with expectations. In the end, the big buildup resulted in something of an anticlimax, with indecision dominating the discussions following the release, though the bias was negative as Wall Street opened. The next batch of statistics, which will provide the Federal Reserve with more information for potentially lowering interest rates on September 18, is expected next week. Crypto: The cryptocurrency sphere is directly impacted by the gloomy mood in traditional financial markets. A clear sign of this is the net outflows from Bitcoin Spot ETFs in the U.S., which have seen the largest capital withdrawals since May, with seven consecutive days of outflows since August 27. More than a billion dollars have evaporated from these exchange-traded products since that date. As a result, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 1% this week after falling more than 10% last week, now hovering around $57,300. The second-largest cryptocurrency is following the same trend: Ether (ETH) is down 1.3% since Monday, trading around $2,400. Cryptocurrencies, still highly sensitive to market sentiment, are likely to perform better when macroeconomic statistics become more favorable for riskier assets. |
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| Things to read this week | ||||||
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*The weekly movements of indexes and stocks displayed on the dashboard are related to the period ranging from the open on Monday to the sending time of this newsletter on Friday. The weekly movements of commodities, precious metals and currencies displayed on the dashboard are related to a 7-day rolling period from Friday to Friday, until the sending time of this newsletter. These assets continue to quote on weekends. |
