Nvidia, bitcoin, BOJ’s Ueda – what’s moving the markets By Investing.com

Investing.com — Wall Street was seen trading in a mixed fashion on Monday as investors await the release of earnings from Nvidia, one of the biggest beneficiaries of this year’s artificial intelligence craze. Bitcoin continued to be in demand, while the Japanese yen fell on increased uncertainty about when the Bank of Japan will next raise interest rates.

1. Nvidia’s 3rd quarter earnings in focus

The key corporate release this week comes from chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ: ), a bellwether for this year’s AI craze, which is set to report third-quarter earnings after the close on Wednesday.

The results could well be a gauge of investor appetite for tech stocks, the AI ​​trade and sentiment for stocks in general after a post-election rally stalled.

Nvidia’s chips are seen as the gold standard in the AI ​​space, and its shares are up about 200% this year, overtaking Apple (NASDAQ: ) to become the world’s largest company by market capitalization.

Analysts see Nvidia increasing third-quarter revenue by more than 80% to $32.9 billion, but The Information reported Sunday that the company’s new Blackwell AI chip is said to have overheating issues when plugged into custom server racks.

The company is working with suppliers to change the design of the racks to alleviate the overheating problem. The AI ​​chip giant has already delayed Blackwell by a quarter due to design flaws that have since been fixed.

2. Futures mixed; key companies’ results in the spotlight

U.S. stock futures traded mixed on Monday, at the start of a week that includes earnings from several major companies as well as comments from a number of Fed officials.

By 03:50 ET (0850 GMT), the contract was down 135 points, or 0.3%, while it was up 8 points, or 0.1%, and up 145 points, or 0.7%.

The three major indexes retreated last week, retreating from recent highs seen in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, after Fed chief Jerome Powell warned the U.S. central bank was in “no rush” to cut interest rates further.

Nvidia’s earnings will be in the spotlight this week (see above), but there are also results from e.g. Walmart (NYSE: ) and Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: ), which will provide fresh insight into the strength of consumer spending.

So far, with 93% of companies reporting results, three-quarters of them have reported a positive EPS surprise and 61% have reported a positive earnings surprise, according to data from FactSet.

Investors will also get the chance to hear from several Federal Reserve officials, including Chicago Fed President, Kansas Fed President and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack.

3. The BoJ remains vague on the timing of rate hikes

The Japanese yen weakened against the US dollar on Monday after the Bank of Japan governor declined to give specific guidance on the timing of rate hikes.

03:50 ET traded 0.4% higher at 154.88, pulling away from Friday’s low of 153.86 after Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato warned of possible intervention.

Ueda, speaking directly on monetary policy for the first time since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, reiterated that interest rates will continue to rise gradually if the economy develops in line with the central bank’s outlook.

However, he did not mention whether there would be a walk in December, disappointing those who thought his speech had been staged so he could make a political point.

4. has “a long way to go”

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular digital currency, continued to trade above $90,000 on Monday, benefiting from Donald Trump’s election victory and the prospect of a lighter regulatory environment.

By 3:50 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading 1.2% higher at $91,996.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has become one of the most eye-catching movements of the week since the election, gaining over 30% since November 5, after climbing as high as a record $93,480.

A one-time crypto-skeptic, President-elect Donald Trump has promised to create a national Bitcoin reserve and make the US a global hub for the industry.

The cryptocurrency still has a “long way to go,” according to ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood, in a Nov. 15 CNBC interview, who pointed out that Ark was the first public asset manager to gain exposure to Bitcoin in 2015 at $250.

Wood said the continued momentum would be driven by “regulatory easing”, one of the main things expected from the new US administration.

“We have a 2030 target in our base case, it’s about $650,000, in our bull case it’s between $1 million and $1.5 million,” Wood said, repeating his price prediction over the next five years.

5. Crude gives back previous gains

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, giving back earlier gains after fighting between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend on continued concerns about a supply glut next year.

At 3:50 a.m. ET, futures (WTI) were down 0.2% at $66.81 a barrel. barrel, while the contract fell 0.1% to $71.03 a barrel. barrel.

President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, according to reports Sunday, in response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces.

There has been little impact on Russian oil exports from the war so far, but if Ukraine were to target more oil infrastructure, oil markets could add a more geopolitical bid.

Benchmark contracts fell more than 3% last week on weak data from China, and the International Energy Agency forecast global oil supply will easily exceed demand in 2025, even as cuts remain in place from a group of top producers.