04.09.2024

US antitrust watchdogs have questions for Nvidia + Sales figures from the semiconductor sector shock investors + Cost savings at VW not a selling point

The dominance in chips for artificial intelligence has made the chip company Nvidia $NVDA (+0,23 %) into the sights of American competition authorities. The US Department of Justice has requested information from Nvidia and other companies with legally binding requests, the financial service Bloomberg reported. The antitrust watchdogs are concerned, among other things, that Nvidia could make it more difficult for customers to switch to the competition, according to sources close to the matter. Nvidia has benefited from the AI boom more than almost any other company. The company's chips have established themselves as the leading hardware for training software with artificial intelligence in data centers. This has brought Nvidia explosive growth in turnover, profit and share price. In addition to the chips, the company also earns money from software. Rivals such as AMD and Intel have so far found it difficult to seriously compete with Nvidia in this business.

Disappointing sales figures from the semiconductor industry sent shockwaves through the sector on Tuesday. Shares in the chip company Nvidia, for example, were hit hard, plummeting by almost seven percent in New York, making them one of the weakest stocks in the Nasdaq 100. The technology-heavy index recently fell by more than two percent. Nvidia shares had already come under heavy pressure recently following a disappointing outlook. Since the beginning of the year, however, they are still up more than 120 percent. This is by far the strongest increase in value of all stocks listed in the Nasdaq 100. In New York, the following also fell ARM Holdings $ARM (+0,24 %) , Intel $INTC (+0,56 %) and KLA Corporation fell between six and seven percent on Tuesday. Among the biggest losers in the leading European index EuroStoxx 50 were ASML $ASML (-0,34 %) fell by 4.4 percent, and in Paris STMicro $STMPA (-1,74 %) fell by 4.6 percent. In Frankfurt Infineon $IFX (-0,15 %) lost 4.7 percent, which put them in last place in the leading Dax index.

Car shares were also weak. The VW share $VOW3 (-0,57 %) slipped by 1.2 percent. The tightening of austerity measures is not seen as a reason to buy. DZ Bank, for example, said that the market's profit estimates for 2024 and 2025 could fall. This is because costs for restructuring and personnel measures could have a negative impact, and the news also implies a weak development of the VW brand. Other car stocks such as Mercedes $MBG (-0,9 %) and BMW $BMW (-0,99 %) fell by up to 1.9 percent.

Wednesday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

ex-dividend of individual stocks

Aegon EUR 0.16

Quarterly figures / company dates USA / Asia

22:05 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Quarterly figures

Quarterly figures / company dates Europe

09:30 Volkswagen works meeting at the main plant in Wolfsburg

14:00 Volkswagen Works Council meeting | Logitech H

Economic data

• 09:45 IT: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI non-manufacturing August PROGNOSIS: 52.4 previous: 51.7
• 09:50 FR: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI non-manufacturing (2nd release) August PROGNOSE: 55.0 1st release: 55.0 PREV: 50.1 Total Purchasing Managers' Index (2nd release) PROGNOSE: 52.7 1st release: 52.7 PREV: 49.1
• 09:55 DE: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI non-manufacturing (2nd release) August PROGNOSE: 51.4 1st release: 51.4 previous: 52.5 Total Purchasing Managers' Index PROGNOSE: 48.5 1st release: 48.5 previous: 49.1
• 10:00 EU: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI non-manufacturing euro area (2nd release) August PROGNOSE: 53.3 1st release: 53.3 previous: 51.9 Purchasing Managers' Index total PROGNOSE: 51.2 1st release: 51.2 previous: 50.2
• 10:30 UK: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI non-manufacturing (2nd release) August 1st release: 53.3 previous: 52.5
• 11:00 EU: Producer Prices July Eurozone PROGNOSE: +0.3% yoy/-2.5% yoy previous: +0.5% yoy/-3.2% yoy
• 14:30 US: July trade balance PROGNOSE: -79.0 bn USD previous: -73.11 bn USD
• 15:45 US: Purchasing Managers' Index/PMI Services (2nd release) August 1st release: 55.2 previous: 55.0
• 16:00 US: Industrial New Orders July PROGNOSE: +4.9% yoy previous: -3.3% yoy