The Nasdaq composite rose 1.5%, gaining 277 points on Monday afternoon, following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not run for re-election and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 also saw gains, adding 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
In the world of predictions, Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based betting platform, supports Harris as the likely Democratic nominee, while PredictIt from New Zealand forecasts her as America’s next president.
Nvidia’s stock saw a 4% increase after it was reported that the company is creating a new version of its Blackwell AI chips tailored for the Chinese market. The chipmaker is set to collaborate with local distributor Inspur, with the new chip, tentatively named “B20,” expected to ship in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has not commented on these developments.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s shares jumped nearly 5% ahead of its earnings report, where CEO Elon Musk is anticipated to address the much-anticipated robotaxi launch. Musk indicated plans for Tesla to have usable humanoid robots in limited production for internal purposes by next year, with a hope for wider production by 2026.
CrowdStrike continues to feel the effects of a recent significant global tech outage. The cybersecurity firm reported that while around 8.5 million Windows devices were impacted, many are gradually returning to operational status. However, CrowdStrike’s stock fell over 13% on Monday, trading at approximately $263.
Verizon experienced a nearly 6% drop in stock price following the release of its quarterly earnings report. The telecommunications giant missed revenue expectations as customers are opting to keep their old devices longer, affecting upgrade rates negatively. Verizon reported second-quarter revenue of $32.8 billion, slightly below the anticipated $33.06 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) meeting estimates at $1.15.