Tonight's Highlights | US January PPI Exceeds Expectations; Major Futures Decline

On Friday, the three major US stock index futures traded lower following hotter-than-expected inflation data, with European markets mostly following suit.

 

Data released pre-market showed the US January Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 2.9% year-over-year (vs. 2.6% expected) and 0.5% month-over-month (vs. 0.3% expected). Core PPI surged 3.6% year-over-year (vs. 3% expected), with a monthly jump of 0.8%, significantly higher than the 0.3% forecast.

 

In the previous session, negative reactions to big-tech earnings weighed on the indices: the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.2%, while the Dow managed a marginal 0.1% gain. Despite its historic "beat-and-raise" report, NVIDIA plunged 5.5% on Thursday. Analysts cited a "sell the fact" sentiment, skepticism over its rumored partnership with OpenAI, and growing concerns regarding the sustainability of massive AI capital expenditures by hyperscalers.

 

Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted:

 

"Even a blockbuster report couldn't save NVIDIA in this environment. The market is increasingly fearful that the hyper-growth phase for 'The Magnificent Seven' is maturing, leading to a broad-based retreat."

 

Friday marks the close of a volatile February. The Nasdaq is on track for its worst month since March of last year, currently down 2.5% for the month.

Corporate News

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Samsung to Increase DRAM Size for HBM4 Stability

 

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ASML Declares Next-Gen High-NA EUV Production-Ready

 

ASML confirmed its High-NA EUV machines, priced at roughly $400 million each, are ready for high-volume manufacturing. CTO Marco Pieters stated the tools have processed 500,000 wafers with high uptime and precision, signaling a major leap for the next generation of AI chips.

 

Meta and Google Sign AI Chip Lease Agreement

 

Meta has reportedly finalized a deal to lease Google’s custom AI chips (TPUs) to supplement its compute capacity as it develops new large-scale AI models.

 

EU Approves High-Dose Wegovy for Obesity

 

The European Commission has authorized a new 7.2 mg weekly maintenance dose of Wegovy (semaglutide). This higher dose is intended for adults who require additional weight loss support beyond the standard 2.4 mg dose.

 

Moderna’s Combined COVID-Flu Vaccine Recommended in EU

 

The EMA has recommended the approval of mCombriax, the first mRNA vaccine providing dual protection against both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza for adults aged 50 and older.