①NVIDIA’s market capitalization approaches $5 trillion; ②Microsoft signs new agreement with OpenAI; ③Intel rises over 5%, Broadcom up 3%; ④Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falls 1.23%.
Cailian Press, October 29 (Editor: Zhao Hao) – On Tuesday (October 28), the three major U.S. stock indices collectively rose, closing at new all-time highs.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.34%, reaching 47,706.37 points; the S&P 500 Index rose 0.23% to 6,890.89 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8% to 23,827.49 points, all setting fresh records from Monday’s previous highs.
“The world’s largest stock by value,” NVIDIA, closed 4.98% higher at $201.03, bringing its total market capitalization near $4.9 trillion. During the mid-day GTC conference, Jensen Huang showcased an ambitious blueprint of AI empowering various industries, covering multiple technology themes that have been hot topics in the capital markets.
NVIDIA’s surge also drove some semiconductor stocks higher, with Intel rising 5.03% and Broadcom gaining 3.02%. Nokia surged 22.84% after NVIDIA announced a $1 billion investment in the company to accelerate AI-RAN innovation and lead the transition from 5G to 6G.
Microsoft rose 1.98% to close at a record high, with its market capitalization surpassing $4 trillion. Earlier in the day, Microsoft and OpenAI announced a new agreement supporting OpenAI in advancing the establishment and recapitalization of its for-profit division, with a diluted share conversion ratio of approximately 27%.
Apple gained 0.07%, also setting a new closing record, with its market capitalization briefly exceeding $4 trillion during trading. Optimism about its new iPhone models and easing tariff pressures jointly pushed the stock higher. Earlier in the day, Tim Cook attended a Trump-hosted dinner in Tokyo.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Apple, and Amazon will release their earnings reports. Mike Dickson, Head of Research and Quantitative Strategy at Horizon Investments, stated that so far, the earnings season has started “very well.”
“By historical standards, equity valuations are already quite high, and we may have received nearly all the help we can expect from the Federal Reserve,” Dickson noted. “We need to see what these tech giants will say.”
Investors anticipate that the Federal Reserve will cut the benchmark interest rate again during trading on Wednesday. The CME Group’s “FedWatch” tool shows that markets currently predict a 99.9% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut to a range of 3.75%-4.00%.
Performance of Key Stocks
Most other large technology stocks rose, with (ranked by market capitalization) Google C down 0.56%, Amazon up 1%, Meta up 0.08%, and Tesla up 1.8%.
On the Chinese stock front, the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 1.23%.
Popular Chinese stocks showed mixed performance, with Pony AI up 11.13%, Bilibili up 5.37%, XPeng Motors up 1.39%, JD.com up 0.96%, Nio up 0.71%, and PDD Holdings up 0.2%.
New Oriental Education & Technology Group fell 3.35%, Tencent Music fell 2.95%, TAL Education fell 2.39%, Alibaba fell 1.52%, Baidu fell 1.43%, and Li Auto fell 1.07%.
Company News
[NVIDIA Unveils New Quantum Device to Enable Interconnection Between Quantum Processors and NVIDIA Chips]
NVIDIA has introduced a new quantum device to enable interconnection between quantum processors and NVIDIA chips. NVIDIA has launched NVQLink, which connects 17 quantum computing companies and 9 research laboratories to link quantum computing with GPU computing. NVQLink is an open system architecture that tightly couples the extreme performance of GPU computing with quantum processors to build accelerated quantum supercomputers.
[NVIDIA: Projects Business Scale to Reach $500 Billion Over the Next Six Quarters]
NVIDIA expects its business scale to reach $500 billion over the next six quarters, with plans to ship 20 million Blackwell Ruben graphics processing units (GPUs). Jensen Huang stated that Blackwell is now ‘fully in production’ in Arizona.
[Microsoft signs new agreement with OpenAI, which will purchase an additional $250 billion in Azure services.]
Microsoft has signed a new agreement with OpenAI. OpenAI has contracted to purchase an additional $250 billion worth of Azure services, while Microsoft will no longer hold preferential rights as OpenAI’s computing power provider. OpenAI is now allowed to co-develop products with third parties, with API-based products remaining exclusive to Azure, while non-API products can be deployed on any cloud platform. Microsoft supports the establishment of a public benefit company by OpenAI’s board, with Microsoft holding investment rights valued at approximately $135 billion in OpenAI Group’s public benefit entity.
[Apple plans to upgrade displays across the MacBook Air and iPad product lines.]
Apple plans to upgrade the displays for its MacBook Air and iPad product lines. The company will incorporate OLED display technology, similar to that used in the iPhone, into the MacBook Air and iPad. This design change may lead to a $100 price increase for the iPad mini.
[Visa: Fourth-quarter net revenue of $10.7 billion, up 11% year-over-year, surpassing market expectations.]
Visa’s fourth-quarter payment transaction volume reached $3.73 trillion, estimated at $3.71 trillion; fourth-quarter net revenue was $10.7 billion, representing an 11% year-over-year increase, with estimates at $10.62 billion; fourth-quarter adjusted net profit was $5.8 billion, up 6.9% year-over-year, estimated at $5.77 billion; fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $2.98, marking a 9.96% year-over-year increase, with estimates at $2.97.
