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Nasdaq, S&P, Dow drift after retail sales come in softer than expected (0:35). 2 Fed rate cuts in 2024 and 6 in 2025? (1:47). Nvidia driving things; anxiety about 2nd half of the year (2:50). Apple price target raised; tech bull market 'is just starting.' (4:00). Crypto eventually going to be in every portfolio (7:20).
The following is an abridged transcript:
Coming to you live from Seeking Alpha's first ever Investing Summit, including clips from Logan Kane, Joe Albano and Mott Capital Management.
U.S. stocks on Tuesday struggled for direction, as investors showed little reaction to the latest retail sales data. Wall Street is looking to keep its momentum going after coming off its 30th record close of the year.
Before the opening bell, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a 0.1% M/M rise in retail sales in May to $703.1B, lower than the expected increase of 0.3%. Moreover, April's reading of unchanged was revised down to a fall of 0.2%. Meanwhile, core retail sales slipped 0.1% M/M in May, versus an anticipated climb of 0.2%.
The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) +0.1% was slightly up to 5,480 points. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) was up by a few points to 38,797 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) -0.1% was lower to 17,848 points.
U.S. Treasury yields were lower after the retail sales report.
Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 1.8% in morning trading on Tuesday, after the AI darling’s price target was raised to a Wall Street high of $200 from $140 by brokerage Rosenblatt.
As the Federal Reserve weighs the potential for additional rate cuts, Invesco's chief global market strategist is projecting two of them by the end of the year, while a KPMG senior economist is eyeing six in 2025.
Kristina Hooper and Kenneth Kim, respectively, made the predictions during the session "2024: A Global Midyear Outlook" at the Seeking Alpha Investment Summit Tuesday morning in New York.
Hooper noted that the Fed should have moved sooner in cutting rates. However, once it does, she sees small caps and cyclicals especially as beneficiaries.
While Kim sees one rate cut this year, that will grow to six next year, he anticipates. He added that there are several factors that will likely move the Fed to cut the rate in December, including this morning's retail sales report from May.
J.P. Morgan raised its price target on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock to $245 from $225 noting that AI-highs are still to be seen as upgrade cycle led EPS upsides leave a lot of room.
The firm has an Overweight rating for the U.S. tech giant.
Wedbush Securities believes that the ongoing bull market in U.S. technology stocks is only now gaining traction, and is set to last until possibly 2027.
The S&P 500 (SP500) Information Technology sector has climbed a whopping ~31% so far this year, while its accompanying Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:XLK) has advanced about 20%.
The sector's performance has been an instrumental driver in Wall Street's bull run that has seen the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) index surge to record levels north of 5,400 points.
"The tech bull market is just starting," Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, said at the Seeking Alpha Investing Summit on Tuesday.
Grayscale Investments highlighted the popularity of cryptocurrency in the U.S., noting that one in six Americans own crypto assets at a time when bitcoin (BTC-USD) (GBTC) (IBIT) (BITO) and other digital tokens have surged in value.
The comment also comes just days after cryptocurrency startup funding surpassed a total of $100B, according to data from aggregator DeFiLlama.
"52M own crypto assets, that’s one in six Americans,” John Hoffman, managing director of distribution & partnerships at Grayscale, said at the Seeking Alpha Investing Summit on Tuesday, and predicted that "over the next 20 years" crypto is "going to be in every portfolio."
