Closing post
Time to wrap up…
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss has claimed that “a reckoning” is coming for central banks in the UK,, US and the eurozone.
Truss also backed Donald Trump’s attempts to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, telling Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast it was wrong that unelected central bankers could thwart elected politicians.
Trump’s bid to shake up the Fed faces a legal battle, though – Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook has filed a lawsuit claiming the US president has no authority to fire her.
But there was good news for the Trump White House today – US economic growth was faster than expected in April-June. The economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3% in April-June, lifted by investment in computer hardware for AI systems.
Tesla is still paying the price for Elon Musk’s brush with politics. Its sales across Europe tumbled by 40% in July, at a time when Chinese rival BYD is growing its market share.
The power generator Drax has revealed it is under investigation by the City watchdog over “historical statements” made about the sourcing of wood pellets for its biomass power station,, knocking its shares down almost 7%.
Updated
Nvidia shares dip after earnings report
Stocks have opened calmly on Wall Street, despite some disappointment with Nvidia after its financial results last night.
The S&P 500 share index has dipped by just one points, or 0.026%, in early trading while the tech-focused Nasdaq index is 0.2% higher.
Nvidia’s shares have dropped by around 2% in early trading, after it missed forecasts for data center revenue but also beat expectations for adjusted earnings per share.
Overall, revenues were up 56% compared with a year ago, which might calm concerns that the AI boom was fading.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, reports that there is disappointment that Nvidia didn’t report any sales of its H20 chip to China last quarter, even though China export restrictions were eased.
Brooks adds:
Ultimately, the market does not know how big the China market is for Nvidia, or the impact of the Chinese government encouraging a move away from Nvidia’s chips, especially for government systems.
Thus, this earnings report does not give us too much information on future sales growth to China, and it also fails to deliver what analysts want to know: the potential sales growth for Nvidia’s chip that has been designed specifically for the Chinese market.
Updated
