New York Stock Exchange Mixed Amid Tech Stock Rise

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

The U.S. stock market started mixed despite the rise in tech stocks.
Tesla and Nvidia showed strength, rising by 1% and 3.8%, respectively.
Experts emphasized the need to maintain a wait-and-see approach regarding future inflation figures.

Tesla Rises for Two Consecutive Days, Nvidia Also Up Over 3%

On the 13th (local time), the U.S. stock market started mixed amid a rise in tech stocks following a significant rebound the previous day.

As of 10:05 AM Eastern Standard Time, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.3%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell by 2 basis points (1bp = 0.01%) to 4.45%.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell by 0.3%. The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 147.79 yen per dollar.

Tesla started lower due to the announcement late the previous day by the Trump administration of a bill to abolish electric vehicle purchase tax credits by the end of 2025 but rose 1% to $321. Tesla surpassed a market capitalization of $1 trillion for the first time since late February the previous day.

Nvidia is trading at $127, up 3.8%, on expectations that the Trump administration might ease the AI expansion plan planned by the Biden administration, which limits global computing power. Coinbase, which will be included in the S&P 500 index from the 19th, surged 16.5%.

The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April, announced before the market opened, rose less than expected at an annual rate of 2.3%, the lowest since 2021, and the core CPI was 2.8% year-on-year, matching the previous month's figure and economists' expectations.

BMO Capital Markets' Vale Hartman, interviewed by Bloomberg, said, "April's core inflation figures reinforce the assumption that it could have been lower if there had been no trade war," and that it is an "encouraging starting point for consumer prices to absorb tariff pass-throughs" in the future.

Ellen Zentner of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management also stated, "The April CPI decline does not mean that tariffs have not affected the U.S. economy, but simply that it is not reflected in the statistics," emphasizing that maintaining a wait-and-see approach will be a task for the market and the Fed.

Guest reporter Jung-A Kim kja@hankyung.com