The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, June 9, 2023.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, 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
Big streak
The Nasdaq Composite recorded its longest winning streak since January, closing out Monday with gains of 0.3%. Stocks in the U.S. built on the positive momentum from last week, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.18% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.1% higher. The tech-heavy index rose for seven straight days, while the Dow and S&P 500 rose for six straight days for the first time since July and June, respectively. In Asia, South Korean stocks fell 3%, leading losses, while investors also assessed trade data from China and a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Deep job cuts
Citigroup‘s 240,000 employees were on edge as fears grow around CEO Jane Fraser‘s massive corporate overhaul to cut costs that would result in an undisclosed number of layoffs. “We’ll be saying goodbye to some very talented and hard-working colleagues,” she said in a memo in September. Now, the reorganization, which is referred internally by its code name, “Project Bora Bora,” could see job cuts of at least 10% in several major businesses, according to people with knowledge of the process.
AI arms race heats up
During its first in-person event on Monday, Microsoft-backed OpenAI announced its latest and most powerful GPT-4 Turbo artificial intelligence model yet. It also unveiled a new option that will allow users make custom versions of its viral ChatGPT chatbot and is cutting prices on the fees that companies and developers pay to run the software.
China imports surprise
China’s imports unexpectedly rose in October from a year ago, but exports recorded a worse-than-expected drop. Data showed imports rose by 3% in U.S. dollar terms for the month, above a Reuters’ forecast for a 4.8% drop. Exports fell 6.4% last month in U.S. dollar terms, worse than an expected 3.3% drop.
[PRO] Growth stocks that are set for bigger leaps
Higher-for-longer interest rates are bad for growth stocks but, investor hopes were reignited after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged for the second consecutive meeting. This led stocks to bounce back last week and for those eager to get back into such growth names, CNBC Pro screened for stocks you should look at.
The bottom line
Markets started the week on a high note as major averages closed out Monday’s session with some big winning streaks.
The Nasdaq rose for the seventh straight day, its longest winning streak since January, while the Dow and S&P 500 gained for six straight days for the first time since July and June, respectively.
Wall Street indexes had strong momentum following their best week of 2023, propelled by a soft monthly jobs report that drove bond yields lower, boosting equities.
“The stock market has had a strong start to November, and the move seems deserved in light of what we’re seeing in most, though admittedly not all, of our sentiment indicators,” wrote Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
“Generally, our view over the last month or so has been that if the surge in yields stopped soon, US equities could escape without incurring too much additional damage,” she added.
Shifting focus to the fast-paced AI arms race, viral ChatGPT chatbot owner OpenAI announced its most powerful GPT-4 Turbo artificial intelligence model yet to stay ahead of rivals like Anthropic, Google and Meta.
GPT-4 Turbo now provides answers with context up to April 2023, accepts more input and supports text-to-speech. Which means you can narrate and summarize an entire book, without having to lift a finger.
