Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures little changed at 9,147.00
  • S&P 500 down 0.5% to 6,909.65
  • Dow Average little changed at 49,524.50
  • Aussie down 0.2% to 0.7110 per US$
  • US 10-year yield fell 3.5bps to 4.0174%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 2 bps to 4.26%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 1.9 bps to 4.70%
  • Gold spot up 0.5% to $5,188.89
  • Brent futures down 0.1% to $70.75/bbl

Economic Events

  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$800 Million 2.75% 2028 Bonds on Feb. 27
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Private Sector Credit MoM, est. 0.7%, prior 0.8%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Private Sector Credit YoY, prior 7.7%
  • 15:00: (AU) Bloomberg Feb. Australia Economic Survey

Wall Street traders lifted stocks away from session lows as oil erased its gain amid signs of progress in US nuclear talks with Iran. Chipmakers sank as Nvidia Corp.’s results failed to inspire investors seeking reassurances about artificial intelligence. Bonds climbed.

While the S&P 500 fell, about 350 of its shares advanced. The Nasdaq 100 lost 1.2%. Even after giving a bullish forecast, Nvidia tumbled 5.5%, dragging down almost every company in a key semiconductor gauge. Salesforce Inc. gave a strong estimate for long-term sales and announced a large share buyback, assuaging some fears about AI disruption of the software industry.

In late hours, Dell Technologies Inc. gave an outlook for sales of its AI servers that exceeded estimates. CoreWeave Inc., an operator of AI data centers, reported a bigger loss than anticipated. Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. is cutting 4,000 employees, reducing its workforce by nearly half as the financial technology firm places a bet on AI changing the future of labor productivity.

The mixed Wall Street response to earnings reflects uncertainties swirling around the revolutionary technology. After soaring for much of the past few years, Nvidia has gone cold amid questions about massive AI spending. Meanwhile, traders have been fleeing companies seen as potentially under threat of being displaced.

The reason why investors didn’t launch into a frenzy after seeing revenue, net income, and guidance come in way better than expected is that Nvidia rarely misses on those metrics, according to Hardika Singh at Fundstrat Global Advisors.

“But where it did miss was easing investors’ concerns about its narrowing moat in the evolving world of compute and explaining its gameplan for how it’ll fare in a world of AI disruption that could upend all kinds of businesses from cybersecurity to food delivery to banks,” she said.

Michael Burry, who made his name shorting the US housing market, added to the worries. He noted that Nvidia has purchase obligations of $95.2 billion, compared with $16.1 billion a year earlier. That could be risky if demand wavers.

The S&P 500 lost 0.5%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell four basis points to 4.01%. The dollar wavered. Oil fell 0.3%. The US and Iran will continue talks next week after making “significant progress,” mediator Oman said.