The stock market saw positive movement on Monday afternoon, with the Nasdaq jumping by 1.5%, gaining 277 points. This surge came in the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he will not seek re-election and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 also experienced gains of 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
In related news, the crypto-driven betting platform Polymarket has placed its support behind Harris as the Democratic nominee, while PredictIt from 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 indicated the company is creating a specialized version of its new Blackwell AI chips for the Chinese market. Nvidia plans to partner with local distributor Inspur to launch the chip, known as the “B20,” with shipments expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025, although the company has not confirmed these details.
Tesla’s stock saw an increase of nearly 5% just one day before it is set to release its earnings report. CEO Elon Musk is anticipated to provide insights regarding the much-anticipated robotaxi and the company’s advancements with humanoid robots, aiming for low production in 2024 and higher production for external companies by 2026.
On a less favorable note, CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm involved in last week’s widespread tech outage, is still dealing with the repercussions. They reported that approximately 8.5 million Windows devices were affected, but many are gradually returning to operational status, despite the stock dropping over 13% to around $263.
Verizon’s shares fell nearly 6% following the announcement of its quarterly earnings report, which revealed a shortfall in revenue as fewer customers upgrade their devices. The company reported second-quarter revenues of $32.8 billion, falling short of analyst predictions of $33.06 billion, while its earnings per share (EPS) met expectations at $1.15 per share.