On Monday afternoon, the Nasdaq index climbed by 1.5%, gaining 277 points, following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would withdraw from the presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. In the same trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 increased by 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
The crypto betting platform Polymarket has declared Harris as the Democratic nominee for president, while PredictIt, based in New Zealand, forecasts that she will become the 47th president of the United States.
In the tech sector, Nvidia shares rose by 4% after reports emerged that the company is creating a variant of its new Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market. The chipmaker plans to collaborate with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to launch the new chip, tentatively named the “B20,” expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not commented on this development.
Tesla’s stock experienced a nearly 5% increase just one day ahead of its earnings report, where CEO Elon Musk is anticipated to give updates about the highly awaited robotaxi launch. Musk stated on social media that the company aims to have functions for humanoid robots available for its internal use next year, with hopes for broader production for other companies by 2026.
Meanwhile, CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm associated with a recent significant global technology outage, continued to address the aftermath. The company reported that many of the approximately 8.5 million Windows devices affected are beginning to come back online. However, CrowdStrike’s stock was down more than 13% in afternoon trading, hovering around $263.
Verizon faced a nearly 6% drop in its stock price following the release of its quarterly earnings report, as it fell short of revenue expectations. The telecommunications giant indicated that consumers are delaying the upgrade of their mobile phones, negatively impacting upgrade rates tied to promotional offers. Verizon’s second-quarter revenue stood at $32.8 billion, slightly under the analysts’ average estimate of $33.06 billion, while earnings per share matched predictions at $1.15.