CNBC Daily Open: The COP28 heat is on
An attendee checks a smartphone whilst walking past Al Wasl dome in the Blue Zone ahead of the COP28 climate conference at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. More than 70,000 politicians, diplomats, campaigners, financiers and business leaders will fly to Dubai to talk about arresting the world's slide toward environmental catastrophe.
November gains
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday near the flat line , but the major averages were on track for their biggest monthly gain in 2023. The 30-stock Dow rose 13.44 points, or 0.04%, to close at 35,430.42. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.09% to end at 4,550.58, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 0.16% to 14,258.49.
Of growth and rate cuts
The U.S. economy grew at an even stronger pace then previously indicated in the third quarter, helped by better-than-expected business investment and stronger government spending, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Gross domestic product accelerated at a 5.2% annualized pace, the department's second estimate showed. The acceleration topped the initial 4.9% reading and beat the 5% forecast from economists polled by Dow Jones. These are probably not conditions that would prompt monetary policy easing. After all, interest rate cuts don't happen during good times , something important for markets to remember as they anticipate easing next year from the Federal Reserve.
The force is rising
Salesforce shares rose 7% in extended trading on Wednesday after the cloud software vendor's third-quarter earnings topped analysts' estimates . Revenue increased 11% from $7.84 billion a year earlier. Salesforce revenue, which has historically rise by well over 20% a year, has seen growth rates slip in recent quarters as businesses have cut spending due to economic uncertainty and high interest rates.
Autos unionization
The United Auto Workers union is launching an unprecedented campaign to organize 13 non-unionized automakers in the U.S. after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers. The union said Wednesday the drive will cover nearly 150,000 autoworkers across BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Meanwhile, shares of General Motors popped 9% Wednesday after the company said it was working to regain Wall Street's confidence heading into 2024 with several investor-focused initiatives following a tumultuous year of labor strikes and setbacks in its plans for electric and autonomous vehicles.
Jensen says
U.S. chipmakers are at least a decade away from "supply chain independence" from China, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Nvidia warned in its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 21 that it expected a negative impact from U.S. export controls during the fourth quarter. Huang also added that artificial intelligence will be able to complete tests in a "fairly competitive" way compared with human intelligence within the next five years .
The S&P 500 is up more than 8% in November, putting it on track for its biggest monthly gain since July 2022. However, Morgan Stanley warned hedge funds were crowding into some names, raising the possibility of volatile moves in the near term. The bank has screened for stocks hedge funds are most partial toward within the Russell 1000 index, based on regulatory filings.
