In the game of Wall Street waltz, U.S. stock index futures barely budged in the twilight hours on Tuesday. The street shrugged off some beefy producer inflation data, saving its gasps for the more anticipated consumer price index.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell tossed his two cents into the mix, hinting that the monetary policy’s corset was cinched just right for the current stage. This sparked some optimism that interest rates won’t play the hike game in 2024.
But the party didn’t quite continue into the after-hours bash, especially as the producer price index revealed a beefier inflation snapshot for April. All eyes now squint at the upcoming CPI reading, scheduled for a spotlight dance on Wednesday.
S&P 500 Futures took a breather at 5,271.75 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures barely nudged at a month-long high of 18,418.0 points, all by 19:46 ET (23:46 GMT). Dow Jones Futures played it cool at 39,687.0 points.
Market munchkins await CPI after spicy PPI dish Despite Tuesday’s victory lap, the markets are perched on their seats, anxiously awaiting the potentially spicy CPI reveal for April, slated for Wednesday.
The PPI data for April had a bit more kick than expected, raising fears that U.S. inflation might cling stubbornly, dampening hopes for a Fed rate cut.
Besides the CPI saga, U.S. retail sales data for April is also poised to make an entrance on Wednesday.
Wall Street dusts off PPI ruckus, Nasdaq struts its stuff The S&P 500 gave a nod and rose 0.5% to 5,246.68 points on Tuesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 0.3% grin to 39,558.11 points. The NASDAQ Composite stole the limelight, sprouting 0.8% to land at 16,511.18 points—a record-setting finale.
The collective sigh of relief over the nonchalant stance on interest rates, especially post-Powell’s comments, sprinkled some cheer on Wall Street. Powell also made sure to remind everyone that the U.S. economic engine was purring away.
Nevertheless, brace yourselves for the rollercoaster this week, as the CPI data approaches.
Meme stock mania takes a chill pill, but GME and AMC ride the wave The meme stocks kept their heads above water in the after-hours swim, albeit with a bit less gusto than earlier this week.
GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) leveled up by 4%, while AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) strutted nearly 10% higher. U.S. shares of BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) also caught some rays, rising by 6.9%.
GME and AMC, the stars of the meme stock show, nearly doubled their worth this week after Keith Gill, a notable figure in the meme stock realm, resurfaced on social media after a three-year hiatus.
OpenAI’s Shakeup: Sutskever Steps Aside for Pet Project, Pachocki Takes the Helm
In a move reminiscent of a soap opera plot twist, OpenAI’s co-founder and Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever, announced his departure on Tuesday, citing a personal project as his new focus. Stepping into his considerable shoes is researcher Jakub Pachocki, tasked with steering the AI behemoth into the future.
Sutskever’s exit follows the tumultuous saga of CEO Sam Altman’s brief ousting months ago, a drama sparked by concerns over AI safety. Altman’s rapid return to the helm, just five days later, was propelled by investor uproar, notably from tech titan Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and threats of mass exodus from OpenAI’s ranks. Sutskever himself expressed remorse over the attempted ousting.
In a social media farewell, Sutskever lauded OpenAI’s remarkable journey, expressing confidence in the company’s ability to forge safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI). As the head of OpenAI’s superalignment team, tasked with pushing the boundaries of AI intelligence, his departure leaves a significant void.
Coincidentally, Sutskever’s exit coincides with OpenAI’s unveiling of a souped-up ChatGPT tool capable of real-time responses to voice, images, and videos. This comes on the heels of the company’s explosive debut in late 2022 with the original ChatGPT, igniting a frenzied race among tech giants like Google, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) to harness the power of AI.