Justin Tallis | AFP (via Getty Images)
This report is from today’s international market newsletter CNBC Daily Open. The CNBC Daily Open provides investors with everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see?You can subscribe here.
Stock price rise
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as Wall Street tried to recover from the previous session. The S&P 500 ended up 0.23% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.07%. The Dow 30 rose 0.37% as the market continued to digest the latest corporate earnings.
silver lining
Silver is expected to have a “great year,” with prices potentially reaching 10-year highs. Like gold, silver prices also tend to be inversely related to interest rates. Silver prices could rise on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates later this year.
snap slump
Snap shares fell 30% in after-hours trading after the company announced sales that were lower than analysts expected. The company blamed some of its revenue slump on the Middle East war, saying the conflict created a headwind to year-over-year growth despite progress on advertising.
joint sports streaming
ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to launch a joint sports streaming platform later this year. Consumers can subscribe directly using the new app. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement that the service is “a huge win for sports fans and an important step forward for our media business.”
[PRO] Bet on BYD
Jason Hsu, chairman and chief investment officer of Rayliant Global Advisors, expects Hong Kong-listed BYD to dominate the electric vehicle race. BYD “will definitely be the winner,” Su said, adding, “I can easily imagine BYD being twice its current price in three to five years.”
Silicon Valley’s march toward downsizing, or rather “rightsizing”, appears unabated.
Since the beginning of 2024, the number of technical staff reductions has continued to increase. DocuSign is the latest company to cut about 6% of its workforce, or about 440 people.
Amazon is also cutting “hundreds of roles” across its One Medical and Pharmacy divisions, the company confirmed to CNBC.
The announcement comes a day after Snap said it would cut about 10% of its global workforce, or about 500 people. Okta and Zoom have already announced layoffs this month.
The ferocious pace of layoffs is an attempt by Silicon Valley, which overexpanded during the peak of the pandemic, to slim down.
High interest rates and inflationary pressures are also prompting companies to tighten as costs rise.
On top of that, some tech companies want to jump on the AI bandwagon, cutting back on headcount and investing more in developing those products. This clearly applies to big tech companies, as Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft have recently downsized rapidly.
But Wall Street seems to think the layoffs are a good thing. Investors have rewarded cost discipline in companies, especially big tech companies.
As long as investors remain bullish on technology, the drumbeat of layoffs will continue to gain momentum.