In a recent trading session, U.S. stock indexes opened lower, with mixed movements observed in major tech stocks. Notably, NVIDIA (NVDA, Financial) achieved a historic intraday high, with shares rising over 2% to $141 per share, driving its market cap to $3.46 trillion. Despite the overall decline among tech giants, NVIDIA's upward momentum is anticipated to continue, with analysts at Bank of America raising the stock’s target price from $165 to $190, suggesting potential further growth of 38% from its previous close of $138.
Meanwhile, other prominent tech firms such as Amazon and Tesla saw declines over 1%, while Meta and Microsoft also experienced slight dips. Conversely, Alphabet saw modest gains, and Apple recovered from earlier losses. In addition, key Chinese stocks declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index initially dropping over 1% before narrowing losses.
European markets mirrored the U.S. trend, with key indices including Germany’s DAX, the UK’s FTSE 100, and France’s CAC 40 all experiencing mid-session drops. Goldman Sachs strategists advised that U.S. stocks might not sustain their high performance seen over the past decade. They predict a nominal annual return of just 3% for the S&P 500 over the next ten years, compared to a previous decade’s average of 13%.
Amid geopolitical influences, gold prices surged to new heights, with futures reaching $2,751.8 per ounce. This upward movement in gold also buoyed related stocks, with companies like Harmony Gold and Barrick Gold witnessing early gains. In the oil market, both WTI and Brent crude futures rose over 1%, despite UBS analysts expressing a bearish outlook on oil fundamentals, attributing it to reduced geopolitical risks and weakened global demand.
