📉 Nvidia stock is teetering

Good morning.

Italian sprinter Alessandro Ossola attended the Paris 2024 Paralympics aiming to win a gold medal but instead won the moment as he proposed to his girlfriend beneath the stands at the Stade de France.

Love love 🫶 

- Ruchirr Sharma & Shatakshi Sharmaa

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 🇺🇦 Devastating Russian missile strike hits Ukrainian city

• 📉 Nvidia stock is teetering

• 🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

  • ⛈️ Gujarat to help rain-affected citizens

  • 🏭️ India needs more plants

  • 💰️ OpenAI cofounder raises $1B

• 🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

• 🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

MARKETS

🇮🇳 India

• Benchmark indices ended lower on Wednesday, with Nifty50 breaking a 14-day winning streak, falling 0.33%, and Sensex dropping 0.25%. Major laggards included Wipro, Coal India, and ONGC, while Asian Paints and Grasim Industries led gains. IT, PSU Bank, and Auto sectors saw declines, while FMCG and Pharma gained slightly.

🌍️ International

• U.S. stocks closed slightly lower following weak labour market data and dovish comments from the Federal Reserve. Job openings hit a 3.5-year low, suggesting potential interest rate cuts. Nvidia and other tech stocks fell, while Dow gained slightly, led by utilities and consumer staples.

GLOBAL NEWS

🇺🇦 Devastating Russian missile strike hits Ukrainian city

Russia launched a deadly missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Poltava, resulting in one of the war's most catastrophic single-day casualty counts. The strike targeted a military academy and a nearby hospital, killing over 50 people and wounding more than 200 others.

Key points:

• Two ballistic missiles hit the Poltava Military Institute of Communication, causing significant structural damage.

• The attack is considered one of the deadliest since the war began over 900 days ago.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered an investigation into the incident.

• International leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, strongly condemned the attack.

• The strike occurred as Ukrainian forces were attempting to establish a presence in Russia's Kursk border region.

In a separate incident on the following day, a Russian attack on Lviv in western Ukraine killed seven people, including three children.

President Zelenskyy renewed his appeal for the swift delivery of military aid from Western allies, emphasising the urgent need for air defence systems and long-range strike capabilities to counter Russian aggression.

Overall: The devastating attack in Poltava serves as a grim reminder of the ongoing human cost of the war in Ukraine, which has now entered its third year with no clear end in sight. As international tensions continue to escalate, the need for a diplomatic solution becomes increasingly urgent.

Read more: CBS

NVIDIA STOCK

📉 Nvidia stock is teetering

Nvidia, a leading chipmaker, has recently seen its market capitalisation drop by $279 billion, following a 9.53% decline in its share price. This sharp decrease, the largest single-day loss for a U.S. company, has left Nvidia's market value at $2.65 trillion.

Over the past week, Nvidia's shares have delivered a negative 13.65% return, reflecting growing investor concerns.

Several factors contribute to this decline:

• Firstly, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an antitrust probe into Nvidia, investigating allegations that the company has leveraged its market dominance to hinder competition in the AI chip sector. Nvidia denies any wrongdoing, highlighting its success based on merit.

• Additionally, Nvidia's recent earnings report fell short of analysts' expectations. Despite reporting second-quarter revenue of $30.04 billion, surpassing estimates of $28.70 billion, the company's forecast for the third quarter disappointed investors. 

• Nvidia projected an adjusted gross margin of 75%, slightly below the anticipated 75.5%, and predicted revenue of $32.5 billion, which, while above estimates, failed to instil confidence.

• Investor enthusiasm for AI has also waned, contributing to a broader sell-off in the chip sector. The weakening sentiment around AI's immediate returns has impacted not only Nvidia but also other major tech players like Microsoft and Meta.

Looking ahead: Nvidia's continued focus on AI, including potential investments in OpenAI, raises concerns about the delayed payoff from substantial AI investments. 

With its major customers like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta expected to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, the uncertainty around these expenditures has further pressured Nvidia's stock.

Read more: Economic Times

GENERAL OVERVIEW

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

⛈️ Gujarat to help rain-affected citizens - The Gujarat government has disbursed ₹8.04 crore in cash assistance to over 1.69 lakh citizens across 14 flood-affected districts following heavy rains. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has directed accelerated recovery efforts, including the distribution of household aid. A total of 2,230 kilometres of damaged roads are set to be repaired within 10 days, and electricity has been restored in most affected areas. Rescue operations have relocated over 42,000 people to safer locations. The government continues to assess damages and provide further assistance to affected families and communities.

🏭️ India needs more plants - India needs at least 10 more semiconductor fabrication plants over the next decade to establish itself as a major player in the global semiconductor industry, according to Ajit Manocha, president of SEMI. With the government's initial Rs 76,000 crore fund for creating a semiconductor ecosystem nearly exhausted, the next phase should focus on attracting a complete ecosystem of companies. Manocha emphasized the importance of encouraging outsourced assembly and testing units as catalysts for larger, capital-intensive projects. He also highlighted the need to develop India's semiconductor product market to attract foreign investment.

💰️ OpenAI cofounder raises $1B - Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, has launched a new AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), raising $1 billion to develop safe AI systems exceeding human capabilities. SSI, with 10 employees, aims to acquire computing power and talent, focusing on AI safety to prevent harmful AI behaviour. SSI plans to partner with cloud and chip companies for infrastructure needs.

HEADLINES

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

• India's beauty and personal care market to touch $34 billion by 2028.

• ISRO chairman Somanath to launch cybersecurity R&D centre near airport on Thursday.

• Zerodha’s Rainmatter invests Rs 10 crore each in Boson Whitewater, TruNativ.

• Amit Shah to release BJP's election manifesto in J-K on September 6.

• India remains the fastest growing paper market in the world.

CULTURE

🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

• Sinner sets Medvedev showdown in US Open QFs. All latest updates here.

• Rahul Dravid is set to be appointed Rajasthan Royals’ head coach for IPL 2025.

• Ishaan Khatter attends the premiere of his upcoming Netflix series The Perfect Couple in London.