Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Feb. 23, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
OPEC+ extends cuts OPEC and it allies agreed to extend official crude production cuts into 2025 amid lackluster demand. A smaller group from the alliance, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, will also extend voluntary cuts of 1.7 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said OPEC+ wants concrete rate cuts before factoring in the potential impact on energy demand. Separately, oil giant Saudi Aramco began a massive share sale to raise around $12 billion to fund the country’s continued attempts to diversify its economy.
New AI chip Rubin Nvidia unveiled its next generation artificial intelligence chip, Rubin, a mere three months after launching its Blackwell model. This accelerated pace of development comes as competition intensifies from AMD and Intel and tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Amazon invest in their own AI chip designs. Rubin, slated for a 2026 rollout, will feature new graphics processing units, central processing units and networking chips.
GameStop soars, again Shares of GameStop jumped more than 19% on Robinhood’s 24-hour exchange Sunday evening on speculation that Keith Gill could have taken a huge position in the video game retailer. Gill, who goes by DeepF——Value on Reddit and Roaring Kitty on YouTube and X, reappeared Sunday night, posting a screenshot of his account holding 5 million shares of GameStop worth $115.7 million as of Friday’s close. The post was not independently verified by CNBC.
Kospi soars on oil discovery South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.8% after President Yoon Suk Yeol announced there was potentially a massive oil and gas reserve off the east coast that could meet the country’s gas demand for 29 years and oil demand for four years. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.32% after a private survey showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly two years. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index inched lower, down 0.14%, after briefly turning positive on the data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.78%.
[PRO] Buying volatility Have you ever wondered what institutional investors mean when they say “buying volatility” or “selling volatility?” And is this something retail investors can do? CNBC’s Michael Khouw explains all.
The bottom line
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on course to win a rare third term, while South Africa’s ruling African National Congress lost its 30-year parliamentary majority. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks set for defeat in next month’s election.
As significant as these elections are, there is one that will have truly global resonance: the election of the leader of the free world in the world’s biggest economy. Last Thursday, a New York jury found former President Donald Trumpguilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his criminal hush money trial.
Shockwaves from the jury’s decision immediately rocked Trump Media & Technology Group shares, which fell 15% in extended trading. Trump owns about 65% of the company, a stake valued at approximately $5.7 billion. On Friday, the stock ended down 5%, valuing Truth Social’s owner at $8.7 billion. This valuation is entirely based on Trump’s brand and personal following.
According to the company, most of its 621,000 shareholders are retail investors. Its first filing as a public company revealed first-quarter losses of $327.6 million on less than $1 million in revenue.
“It’s a meme stock that has no fundamentals,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, told Reuters. “The valuation of that stock has always been a bit of a question mark. It certainly isn’t making any money and is trading almost at an unfathomable level.”
While the verdict had little impact on the broader market, it did make global headlines and had social media abuzz. After all, Trump’s legal problems will not prevent him from running for president, and if his first term is any indication, world leaders will be wary.
As earnings season winds down, attention will shift to May’s nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, which will shed light on the health of the labor market and the economy.
But strategists anticipate increased market volatility in the coming months as the 2024 election approaches, potentially becoming a significant market mover. “Without a near-term catalyst, stocks will continue to ‘chop around,'” wrote Wells Fargo equity analyst Christopher Harvey in a Friday note. “Politics remain a wild card.”
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache, Natasha Turak, Brian Schwartz, Alex Harring, Sarah Min, Rebecca Picciotto, Annika Kim Constantino Shreyashi Sanyal and Yun Li contributed to this report.
Hydrogen fuel cell specialists Hyzon have announced plans to quit Australia even as sales of battery electric commercial trucks climb.
For a while, it seemed like Hyzon had found something of a home in Australia. Recently, the American startup had announced pilot programs that would see its hydrogen fuel cells put to work in transit buses in Brisbane, tow trucks (above) in Victoria, and five 154-ton severe duty trucks scheduled to service a zinc refinery operation in north Queensland.
The company said it was hoping to raise new capital to get its 200 kW HFCs into series production, and has retained investment bank PJT Partners to evaluate a number of options, up to and including an outright sale of the company.
As if to underscore that fact, ANC (a leading, UPS-style last mile delivery partner for many of the Australia’s large retailers) has announced plans to spend more than $45 million.
ANC is calling the initiative “Project Spark,” and it’s being backed by a $12.8 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) specifically designed to address the barrier presented by the initially higher up-front costs of EVs. ARENA is also working to provide EV buyers with discounted leasing options, and generally “improved” EV charging infrastructure.
Project Spark is expected to add 112 new BEVs to Australia’s roads within the next year.
“It promises to kick-start a step change in electrifying last mile delivery in Australia by lowering the total costs to own and run electric trucks,” said Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA. “The project demonstrates use cases for battery electric trucks in last mile operations, tackling constraints that have so far made it hard for the industry to transition away from internal combustion engine vehicles.”
Electrek’s Take
No one said it better than MAN CEO, Alexander Vlaskamp, who said that it was “impossible” for hydrogen trucks to effectively compete with BEVs. That interview is definitely worth a re-read, but to see companies like Hyzon suffering in even the most hydrogen-friendly markets out there is to believe Vlaskamp, even if you already believed him, just that little bit more.
Shell-EDF’s Atlantic Shores South is the US’s ninth commercial-scale, offshore wind farm approved under the Biden administration – Trump wants to cancel it.
Atlantic Shores South consists of two wind farms — Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and 2 — expected to generate up to 2,800 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power nearly 1 million homes with clean energy.
It’s around 8.7 miles offshore New Jersey at its closest point. Up to 200 wind turbines and 10 offshore substations with subsea transmission cables were proposed, potentially making landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt, New Jersey. BOEM has approved the construction of up to 195 wind turbines. The project has a labor agreement with six New Jersey unions.
President Biden’s national climate adviser, Ali Zaidi, said, “The Biden-Harris administration will continue to use every available tool to grow the American offshore wind industry as we strengthen the nation’s power grid and tackle the climate crisis.”
Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ) has set a goal for New Jersey to install 11 GW of offshore wind by 2040. It has 3.7 GW of offshore wind in the pipeline.
In May, Donald Trump told a MAGA rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, that he would stop the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind farm “on day one” with an executive order if he won the presidential election. ”You don’t have to worry about Governor Murphy’s 157 [sic] wind turbines,” he said.
Governor Maura Healey (D-MA) recently told the Financial Times that the upcoming election created “heightened urgency” to speed up the buildout of the sector – Massachusetts is a US offshore wind trailblazer – and that a Trump win would be “devastating” for the industry. However, New Jersey’s Murphy said that “government policy is a different reality than what people might say on the campaign trail.”
During the Biden administration, the US Interior Department has given the go-ahead to more than 13 GW of offshore wind — enough to power nearly 5 million homes.
Read more:
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
EV stocks have had a rough couple of months, but Georgia-based bus brand Blue Bird has seen its stock price more than double in the last year as the company’s electric buses make their way to school districts around the country.
Newsweek is reporting that Blue Bird stock is soaring – and it’s true. The stock has climbed more than 111% in the last year, seriously outperforming SPAC deal tickers like Polestar (PSNYW) and Fisker (FSRNQ) and proving that lucrative union pay contracts and higher costs driven by the addition of new safety features don’t necessarily lead to reduced stock prices.
“Well, I would say we’re breaking a lot of the norms. A lot of these conventional wisdoms, that you can’t be a profitable EV company, obviously, that’s not true,” Blue Bird President Britton Smith told Newsweek. “We’re doing quite well. Having a positive relationship with the union is good for employees, and it’s good for the company overall. And even on safety, we’re breaking the convention that seatbelts are too expensive, and we’re making them more affordable for school districts nationwide.”
Blue Bird is leaning into zero emission buses that the company says will eventually produce up to 5,000 electric buses and gliders per year, as well as a new EV chassis line being developed for the red-hot last-mile delivery van market.
The company expects to deliver its 2,000th all-electric bus later this summer.
Newsweek‘s interview with Blue Bird’s president gets into all of that, talks about improved safety, better conditions for kids and bus drivers, and more. If you’re a BLBD investor (or are thinking about becoming one) it’s definitely worth checking out.