Traders work the floor during morning trading at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE) ahead of the US Federal Reserve's decision on lending rates, in New York on January 31, 2024.Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Markets tumble
Wall Street ended in the red after the latest consumer price index released Tuesday, showed U.S. inflation rose more than expected in January. The massive sell-off saw the Dow plunge 1.35% for its worst day since March 2023. The S&P 500 lost 1.37% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.8%. The Russell 2000 also plunged nearly 4% for its worst session since June 2022.
Nvidia surpasses Amazon
Nvidia overtook Amazon in market capitalization on Tuesday. This reflects growing demand for semiconductors that power artificial intelligence as well as appetite for the companies that produce the chips. Nvidia closed at $721.28 per share, with a market value of $1.78 trillion to Amazon's $1.75 trillion market cap.
Paramount axes staff
Paramount Global is slashing about 800 employees, or roughly 3% of its workforce, according to a person familiar with the matter. Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish, in an internal memo to employees, said the cuts will help the company to “execute our strategic vision for the year ahead.”
Bitcoin retreats
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday tracking the broader market sell-off. Bitcoin was last down by 0.8% at $49,658.57 according to Coin Metrics. “Bitcoin is an aspirational store of value … and therefore its price is in part influenced by monetary policy,” said Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity Investments' director of global macro.
[PRO] Japan's bull case
Japan is fast emerging on investors' radar, and this has been reflected in the stock market's recent bull run. Morgan Stanley highlighted there's a “rising likelihood” of its bull case target of 2,800 for the Topix index coming into play, implying an upside of more than 7%.
The bottom line
January's hotter read on U.S. inflation wasn't what Wall Street hoped to see.
Investors were obviously disappointed as the data reflected inflation's stubborn staying power.
The dismal news jolted markets as bond yields spiked. The Dow saw its biggest decline since March 2023 and even the Russell 2000 was hammered, sinking nearly 4% for its worst session since June 2022.
Nearly all metrics in the latest consumer price index surprised markets on the upside.
Overall CPI rose at an annual rate of 3.1% in January, compared with estimates for 2.9%. But core CPI — a measure that strips out food and energy prices and is considered a better gauge of underlying inflation — rose 3.9%, above the 3.7% forecast.
While inflation has been on a downward trend since its pandemic-era peak, the latest data certainly won't be welcome news for the Fed.
It showed getting to the central bank's 2% inflation target may prove tougher than expected, which could result in elevated interest rates for longer.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently noted that the central bank wants to see more evidence that inflation is firmly under control before the Fed would consider lowering interest rates.
Tuesday's CPI report underscores the Fed's concerns and muddies the water on the timing of rate cuts.
Whether the latest data is a one-off reading or signals lingering price pressures within the broader economy remains to be seen.
But it does stoke worries that beating inflation isn't going to be easy and it will be a bumpy ride.
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