A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during opening bell in New York City on August 21, 2023.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Markets’ last burst for August
U.S. stocks started the final week of August on an upbeat note, with all three major indexes closing in the green. All but one sector in the S&P 500 were positive. Asia-Pacific markets followed Wall Street higher Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index extended gains from yesterday and added around 1.87%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.34% even as the country’s unemployment rate for July was a higher-than-expected 2.7%, compared with the 2.5% consensus.
Goldman offloads another acquisition
Goldman Sachs is selling its personal financial management unit to Creative Planning, a wealth management firm. In May 2019, Goldman acquired United Capital Financial Partners for $750 million. CEO David Solomon heralded the deal as a way to reach high net worth clientele (Goldman focuses on ultra high net worth clientele) — but the bank only captured around 1% of that market by February.
Artificial intelligence, human control
Artificial intelligence must be “subject to human control,” Microsoft’s president and vice-chairman Brad Smith told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “We need to ensure that we have humans in control,” Smith said. It follows, then, that AI won’t replace jobs, but will serve as a tool to help the humans doing the work, Smith added.
Monetizing Google Maps data
Google is planning to license solar and environment data to companies, CNBC has learned. Google has energy data on over 350 million buildings, according to documents CNBC viewed, and sees opportunity to sell the data to companies like Tesla Energy, Aurora Solar and Zillow. The tech giant hopes revenue can hit $100 million in the first year.
[PRO] ‘Absolutely formidable’ semiconductor firm
With a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, Nvidia is the world’s most valuable chipmaker and has been the focus of this year’s AI-fueled frenzy. But there’s a semiconductor company that’s “absolutely formidable” in terms of its dominance in the foundry business, according to an analyst from asset management firm Sanlam Investments UK.
The bottom line
“There’s an old adage amongst people who cover consumer markets,” said Michael Zdinak, an economist who leads the U.S. consumer markets service at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Never bet against the U.S. consumer because we’re always willing to spend money we don’t have.”
Analysts at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, however, aren’t so optimistic about the consumer.
“The consumer is less healthy than it appears,” wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman. Consumers are spending more on services than goods, according to Gutman, which isn’t good news for consumer retailers. Indeed, the retail sector’s been roiled by volatility the last two weeks amid choppy earnings, said Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai. And investors should expect more turmoil ahead.
Maybe that warning comes from an overabundance of caution. After all, retail rallied Monday, along with nine other sectors in the S&P 500 (only utilities dipped by 0.04%). Markets broadly rose: The S&P added 0.63%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.84%.
Markets are trying to make up for a dismal August — so far, the S&P has shed around 3.4%, the Dow 2.8% and the Nasdaq 4.5% — but that might prove a difficult feat. Monday’s rally was just one data point. Moreover, there are more obstacles ahead.
“The ‘Wall of Worry’ that had all but disappeared by July is being rebuilt – U.S. 10 year yields above 4%, anxiety rising in China, Europe’s economy slumps, and a more sober tone from some U.S. retailers,” Evercore ISI senior managing director Julian Emanuel wrote in a Sunday note.
That’s not news investors want to hear heading into September, a historically bad month for stocks. Hence, even if markets manage to claw back some losses by the end of this week, it’d be prudent to brace for another trying month.
