California’s recent implementation of a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers has reportedly not led to job losses, according to a new study.
On the stock market front, Nasdaq increased by 1.5%, gaining 277 points on Monday afternoon, following President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 experienced slight increases of 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
In predictions surrounding the presidential race, the crypto-based betting platform Polymarket backs Harris as the Democratic nominee, while the New Zealand-based PredictIt forecasts her to become the 47th president of the United States.
Shares of Nvidia climbed by 4% after Reuters reported the company is working on a version of its Blackwell AI chips tailored for the Chinese market. The new chip, referred to as the “B20,” is expected to be developed in collaboration with the local distributor Inspur and is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not commented on this development.
Tesla’s stock rose nearly 5% ahead of its earnings report, during which CEO Elon Musk is anticipated to address the company’s delayed robotaxi launch. Musk mentioned on X that Tesla plans to have functional humanoid robots in low production for internal use next year, with hopes for high production for external companies by 2026.
Meanwhile, CrowdStrike continues to deal with the aftermath of a major global tech outage, initially affecting about 8.5 million Windows devices. The company reported that a significant number of these devices are now back online. However, CrowdStrike saw its stock decline by over 13%, trading around $263 by Monday afternoon.
Verizon’s stock dropped nearly 6% after the company reported its quarterly earnings, missing revenue expectations as customers are reportedly keeping their old phones longer, affecting upgrade rates. Verizon reported second-quarter revenue of $32.8 billion, slightly under the analysts’ forecast of $33.06 billion, with earnings per share of $1.15 in line with expectations.