Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 3 points higher at 7,730
- Oil prices at four-month high
- Eurozone inflation slows to 2.6%
Wall Street opens higher as tech stocks lift
US stocks have opened higher on Monday after gains from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) helped lift the leading indexes ahead of the Fed meeting later this week.
The Dow Jones lifted around 112 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained around 0.9% and 1.3% respectively.
Nvidia shares are 4% higher after a couple of negative sessions last week, with investors experiencing the early benefits of the AI chipmaker's week-long GTC conference.
Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) are up around 2%, while Google owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is trading 7% higher after reports revealed the two were in talks to bring the search engine's AI chatbot to iPhones.
Google is negotiating with Apple over plans to implement its Gemini chatbot into the iPhone's built-in AI tools such as Siri.
It would provide a huge boost for Google after its AI chatbot has come under criticism for it overly-diverse instructions which led to it producing images of black Nazis.
Apple is believed to also be working in-house on its own version of generative AI technology, aiming to provide Siri with similar capabilities to ChatGPT and Gemini.
Deloitte announces biggest shakeup in a decade
Deloitte has announced "the biggest overhaul of its global operations in a decade" leaving workers facing a shakeup of roles as the Big Four firm looks to cut costs.
As part of the changes, the accountancy group will cut its divisions from five to four: audit and assurance; strategy, risk and transactions; technology and transformation; and tax and legal.
The accountancy giant said the changes would help staff focus more on clients rather than managing colleagues.
An exact figure on the cost savings is yet to have been given, but reports say it will provide reductions across the firm's global operations, which covers more than 150 countries.
easyJet to launch new base at Birmingham Airport
easyJet (LON:EZJ) is launching its first new British base since 2012, with the airline expecting it to result in cheaper fares, extended travel options and more jobs.
The new base is set to be developed at Birmingham Airport and will see 140 new roles for pilots and crew members, while indirectly creating a further 1,200 support roles.
It represents easyJet's first new base since it launched at Southend Airport.
A new site will mean the airline no longer needs to use aeroplanes from other airports when flying to and from Birmingham.
Flights from the airport each week are expected to increase by 50% due to the changes, while 16 new routes will be added this summer including trips to Antalya in Turkey and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.
easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “This is going to provide a huge amount of additional connectivity, which not only will serve the holidays community, but also a very critical part of the business community as well.”
US stocks to open higher ahead of Fed meeting
Wall Street is set to open slightly higher on Monday ahead of the Fed's interest rate announcement on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones is set to open around 100 points higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also expected to jump.
Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged at 5.5%, with hotter-than-expected inflation data from last week leaving investors unsure about a June rate cut.
Nasdaq said it suffered an issue regarding connectivity and stock orders, however, this issue has now been resolved.
Nvidia shares are up around 3% in premarket trading ahead of its GTC conference, which will see leading figures in the AI community showcase their latest developments.
Google owner Alphabet lifted around 5% after reports said it was in talks with Apple to implement its Gemini AI chatbot into future iPhones.
Bitcoin starts week slowly after tough Sunday
Bitcoin has started the week 0.2% lower at around US$68,200 after it dropped to a 12-day low on Sunday.
The benchmark cryptocurrency, which has been on a rip in 2024 due to large-scale inflows into spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds, was under selling pressure at the end of last week amid a bout of profit taking.
It hit an all-time high of nearly $74,000 on Thursday before falling as low as $64,780 in weekend trades.
Matteo Greco, research analyst at Fineqia said: "Notably, the BTC halving is approximately one month away, historically preceding cycle peaks between 6 and 12 months later. If historical patterns repeat, the current cycle's peak could occur in late 2024 or the first half of 2025."