Nasdaq rises, led by NVIDIA shares on the New York Stock Exchange

NVIDIA, AMD, and Rising Chinese Tech Stocks

CPI, Vessent Treasury, Powell Replacement Process Mentioned, Leading to Higher Bond Yields

On June 15 (local time), the S&P 500 and Nasdaq showed gains on the New York Stock Exchange, driven by a surge in tech stocks led by NVIDIA, which resumed mass exports to China, and a June CPI that did not significantly deviate from expectations. However, rising Treasury yields limited the gains.

As of 10:20 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 had risen 0.14% to 6,277 points while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Early in the session, the S&P 500 even surpassed 6,300 points at one point.

The 2-year Treasury yield, which is particularly sensitive to policy, soared by 5 basis points (1bp=0.01%) to 3.95%, reflecting the view that the impact of tariffs on June consumer prices is beginning to show. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 3.8bp to 4.465%. Treasury Secretary Vessent's comment that day, saying that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would need to step down as both Chair and Board member next year when his term ends, also accelerated bond selling. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch, rate futures traders continue to see a 97.4% chance of a rate hold in July and a 58.2% chance of a cut in September.

The June CPI released by the Department of Labor rose by 0.3%p, as expected by economists, reflecting the emerging impact of tariffs. However, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose just 0.2%p, less than anticipated. Softer rises in housing costs as well as declines in used car prices and airfares offset other price increases.

NVIDIA announced that it will resume exports of its H20 AI chips to China, which had been restricted by the Trump administration since April. AMD also said it will resume exports of its China-only MI308 chips. Following this news, NVIDIA jumped 4%, and AMD surged 7.9%.

Chinese tech stock ADRs listed in the U.S., such as Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, also rose more than 5%, 7%, and 2%, respectively.

Bitcoin, which topped $123,000 the previous day, was trading at $117,764.17 as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern Time, down 2% following profit-taking after breaking new highs. Ether was up 0.8% to $3,028.15.

As quarterly earnings season hits full swing, JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, and Citigroup both reported second-quarter results that beat expectations, buoyed by strong trading and investment banking revenues. Still, JPMorgan's stock fell 0.3%, and Citigroup’s edged up slightly.

According to CNBC, S&P 500 companies are expected to report mixed earnings growth of 4.3% compared to the same period last year this quarter. This is the lowest growth rate since Q4 2023.

Treasury Secretary Scott Vessent told Bloomberg that "when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026, he must step down from both the chair and the central bank’s board.” Asked whether President Trump had directly requested Vessent to take on the Fed chairmanship, he replied, “I’m participating in the decision-making process” and added, “It is the president’s decision, and it will proceed at his pace."

Jung-a Kim, Contributing Reporter kja@hankyung.com