The Nasdaq index increased by 1.5%, adding 277 points on Monday afternoon, following President Joe Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from the presidential race and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 also saw gains, increasing by 0.3% and 1.1% respectively.
Market insights from the crypto-based betting platform Polymarket suggest that Harris is likely to be the Democratic nominee for president, while PredictIt, based in New Zealand, predicts she could become the 47th president of the United States.
In corporate news, shares of Nvidia rose by 4% after reports indicated that the company is developing a version of its new Blackwell AI chips tailored for the Chinese market. Nvidia is expected to collaborate with a local distributor, Inspur, to launch a chip tentatively called the “B20,” which is planned to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
Tesla’s stock saw an increase of nearly 5% ahead of its earnings report, with CEO Elon Musk indicating that the company expects to have functional humanoid robots for internal use next year and potentially in high production for external companies by 2026.
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that faced backlash after a significant tech outage last week, reported that many of the approximately 8.5 million Windows devices affected are now operational again. However, the company’s stock fell over 13% on Monday afternoon, trading around $263.
Verizon experienced a nearly 6% drop in its stock price after announcing its quarterly earnings. The telecommunications company failed to meet revenue expectations as more customers delay upgrading their phones, which has adversely affected promotional plan uptake. For the second quarter, Verizon reported revenues of $32.8 billion, falling slightly short of analysts’ average estimate of $33.06 billion, with earnings per share remaining at $1.15, aligning with forecasts.