New York Stock Market Slightly Down After Nvidia Earnings Announcement

The July core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.2% month-over-month, meeting market expectations. This indicates a stable inflation trend, following the previous month, and broadens the scope for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to maintain a freeze without further interest rate hikes. This can be interpreted as a sign of easing inflationary pressure, drawing significant attention from market participants.

As a result, many economists anticipate lower PCE figures in the future. Attention is focused on how changes in the measurement method will affect actual price levels, as this could be a crucial variable in the Fed's monetary policy decisions.

Nvidia announced Q2 earnings that surpassed market expectations. Revenue exceeded consensus, and operating profit also recorded a higher-than-expected figure. Notably, Earnings Per Share (EPS) recorded $2.46 against a consensus of $2.09, meeting market expectations. This strong performance is attributed to robust growth in the data center segment.

Furthermore, Nvidia presented an aggressive Q3 guidance that also exceeded market expectations. This is interpreted as reflecting confidence in the continued strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. Investors are watching closely to see if Nvidia's growth trajectory will remain solid.

This settlement will primarily be used for legal costs and state allocations. This agreement is expected to reignite discussions about the social responsibility of SNS platforms.

The settlement also includes measures to restrict Instagram use for adolescents under 18 to two hours per day and block nighttime use. This is interpreted as a measure to prevent digital device overuse among youth and encourage healthy internet usage habits. As the social role of platform companies becomes increasingly important, Meta's decision is being watched for its potential impact on other SNS companies.

Because market expectations for strong Nvidia earnings were already largely priced in, the actual strong earnings announcement may result in limited stock price appreciation. Nvidia has become the top company by market capitalization, but its stock price momentum has since slowed.

With the exchange rate currently stable, the need for sharp interest rate hikes is not considered high. A cautious approach, considering the overall situation of the Korean economy, is anticipated.

This is interpreted as a strategy to secure data based on mass-produced vehicle sales and utilize it for artificial intelligence (AI) technology development to strengthen future mobility competitiveness.

The strategy is to enhance its premium image through product improvements and flexibly respond to market trends regarding pricing. This is interpreted as a move towards qualitative growth, moving away from past emphasis on increasing sales volume.

This change appears to be Hyundai Motor's strategic choice to respond to intensifying global automotive market competition and accelerating electric vehicle transitions. The company aims to maximize profitability and enhance brand value by developing and selling high-value-added models. The market is watching whether these changes by Hyundai Motor will have a positive impact on its corporate value in the long term.

This initiative is driven by the aim to strengthen the competitiveness of regional manufacturing and reform the rational rate system. It is interpreted as serving the purpose of promoting balanced regional development and supporting industrial revitalization.

This policy is expected to be good news for manufacturers, where electricity costs constitute a significant portion of production costs. Especially for power-intensive industries, the effect of reduced production costs can be substantial, contributing to the revitalization of the regional economy. However, further discussion will be needed regarding measures to ensure stable power supply following the rate reduction and issues of regional equity.

This long-term outlook demonstrates Nvidia's confidence in sustained stable growth centered around data centers.

Especially with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and increasing demand for cloud computing, demand for Nvidia's high-performance GPUs is expected to steadily rise. With its unparalleled technological prowess and market dominance in the data center segment, Nvidia is projected to continue its robust growth trajectory.

Foreign investors continue to buy in the futures market even while selling domestic spot stocks. This is analyzed as likely being hedge trading through program and arbitrage transactions. Hedge trading typically does not cause sharp market downturns or upturns, and thus is interpreted as active supply and demand that does not induce significant market volatility.

Analysis suggests that SK Innovation's merger with its subsidiary SK On could negatively impact investors. SK On has previously faced controversy over shareholder value impairment and governance reform issues during the process of a physical spin-off and subsequent re-merger. Notably, SK On's stock price, which went public at 105,000 won after raising 80 trillion won in subscriptions, once surged to 250,000 won but has now plummeted to the 10,000 won range.

The merger price is set at approximately 14,700 won, about 1/7 of the IPO price, making losses for existing investors inevitable. This situation, coupled with the recurring issue of shareholder value dilution whenever a physical spin-off is followed by re-listing or merger, is increasing investor dissatisfaction. Moving forward, SK Innovation's shareholder-friendly policies and efforts to improve corporate governance will become even more crucial.

Considering that SKT promoted itself as a leading secondary battery separator stock during its IPO, garnering high expectations from many investors, this merger could bring significant disappointment to investors. A merger price significantly lower than the IPO price will inevitably lead to substantial losses for individual investors who decided to invest at that time. This case is likely to further deepen the market's negative perception of physical spin-offs.

Hyundai Motor's Investor Day was criticized for lacking specific mentions of robotics business or value-up policies that shareholders had expected. It mostly reinforced the existing image of a battery-centric automobile company, which was already somewhat known. This is pointed out as having diminished the Investor Day's effect as a catalyst for stock price growth.

This concentration of capital is especially pronounced in market environments where trading volume is low, below 30 trillion won.

Investment funds tend to move quickly to sectors with high upward momentum, indicating a sector rotation phenomenon. This can be seen as a process where limited funds are efficiently allocated, and investors should focus on understanding these trends to adjust their portfolios.

Sectors outside the main industries are inevitably sensitive to changes in overall market supply and demand. Therefore, when investing in such stocks, it is crucial to thoroughly analyze the industry's fundamentals along with the overall market capital flow. Currently, it is a time to observe whether these sectors will find new upward momentum after short-term profit-taking.

Particularly, growing expectations for Samsung SDI's ESS business have arisen from the prominent issue of ESS shortages for data centers.

From a technical perspective, the breakthrough of the 563,000 to 580,000 won support/resistance line is analyzed as a critical point. A successful breakthrough in this range could provide additional upward momentum. If it absorbs previous selling pressure and rises strongly, positive market evaluation is expected to further strengthen.

Samsung SDI is expanding its production capacity in the North American market through electric vehicle battery joint ventures and is strengthening its global competitiveness in the ESS business. As the need for power stabilization grows due to increasing data center demand, the importance of ESS is highlighted, making Samsung SDI's growth drivers even clearer.

These combined factors are positively influencing Samsung SDI's stock price, and if these growth drivers continue, further stock price appreciation can be expected. However, it is necessary to continuously monitor whether specific price levels are breached and the overall market supply and demand situation.

This is interpreted as part of Samsung SDI's strategic shift to move its industrial focus from its existing electric vehicle-centric business structure to ESS (Energy Storage Systems), which are energy security assets.

With resources secured from the GM joint venture liquidation, along with approximately 4.5 trillion won in cash obtained from the sale of Samsung Display shares, Samsung SDI plans to actively use these funds for ESS capacity expansion investments. The market expects that through such aggressive investments, Samsung SDI will rapidly expand its ESS production capacity and meet market expectations.

The ESS industry is growing rapidly due to increasing power demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the need for grid stabilization, and Samsung SDI is restructuring its business portfolio to align with these changes. Amid intensifying competition in the electric vehicle battery market, ESS is projected to become Samsung SDI's new growth engine.

These strategic decisions are serving as significant triggers for stock price increases, contributing to the expansion of Samsung SDI's gains. The combination of risk mitigation and securing new growth engines is eliciting positive evaluations from investors.

The painful performance of semiconductor stocks over the past month and a half has strongly highlighted the need for portfolio rebalancing among investors. While the semiconductor industry is not expected to completely collapse, the perception that its upside potential is limited for now is spreading, increasing demand to shift funds to other companies with rapidly growing earnings.

Moves to seek new investment opportunities are also observed, particularly from the perspective of Trump unwinding beneficiaries related to the U.S. midterm elections in November. Investors are tending to reduce reliance on a single sector and diversify investments into industries with various growth drivers.

The Chinese government is abolishing its policy of providing a 9% rebate (export tax refund) on battery exports for the past 11 years. The rebate, which was reduced to 6% in April this year, is scheduled to be fully abolished starting next January. This is expected to weaken the price competitiveness of Chinese battery companies, positively impacting Korean battery companies.

Previously, the Chinese government's export rebate policy played a significant role in enhancing the price competitiveness of Chinese-made batteries and expanding their global market share. Support was particularly concentrated in the solar and battery industries. However, with the termination of this policy, Chinese companies will no longer enjoy price advantages.

This policy change is expected to bring significant shifts in the competitive landscape of the global battery market. Korean battery companies will be able to alleviate the burden of price competition with Chinese companies and seize the opportunity to slow down the decline in market share based on their technological prowess and quality. This is expected to act as a factor strengthening the competitiveness of the Korean battery industry in the long term.

However, to achieve tangible effects, the possibility of further support policies from the Chinese government and efforts by Korean companies to develop technology and improve productivity must be accompanied. Therefore, Korean battery companies will need to formulate strategies and respond to these changes.

A sector analyst evaluated that, beyond simple preference for large-cap stocks, Samsung SDI's growth potential is the highest when considering its Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth rate and anticipated new orders.

Furthermore, the analyst emphasized that despite being a large-cap stock, Samsung SDI offers sufficient valuation appeal, stating it is the stock with the greatest upside potential. This indicates that Samsung SDI is being adequately recognized in the market not only for its current performance but also for its future growth possibilities.

Samsung SDI has recently restructured its business efficiently, for example, by resolving risks through the liquidation of its joint venture with GM and focusing on ESS investments. These strategic changes are expected to lead to future EPS growth and an increase in new orders.

Gold spot investment primarily aims for capital gains, but investing in gold mining companies can be used for trading purposes, making it effective for portfolio diversification.

Domestic gold spot investment can be started with a relatively small amount and offers the security of holding physical gold. In contrast, overseas gold ETFs provide a more efficient tax structure and dividend income for large asset holders, which is advantageous for long-term wealth accumulation. This shows that gold investment can be utilized in various ways to suit one's investment size and purpose.

Investing in gold mining companies can offer leverage effects from gold price fluctuations, but individual company performance and operational risks must also be considered. Therefore, it is important to combine various forms of gold investment, such as spot, ETFs, and mining companies, to pursue both portfolio stability and profitability.

At the beginning of 2024, the price of gold, which was around $2,060 per ounce, reached a historic high of $5,417 on January 28, 2026, in approximately two years. This represents explosive growth over 25 years from around $300 per ounce in 2001, with global economic uncertainty and increased geopolitical risks cited as major factors.

In particular, the diversification strategies of central banks' reserve assets and structural gold buying are driving the increase in gold prices. The movement to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar and the re-evaluation of gold's value as an inflation hedge are significant. Additionally, when geopolitical risks escalate, the preference for safe-haven assets strengthens, leading to increased gold demand.

This trend is likely to continue. As long as global economic instability persists and governments worldwide seek to diversify their asset portfolios, gold will remain an attractive investment asset. Investors may consider adjusting their gold holdings within their portfolios, paying attention to the long-term upward trend in gold prices.

This is because gold has a low correlation coefficient during stock downturns, offering excellent portfolio defense.

Gold demonstrates its value as a safe-haven asset during economic recessions or geopolitical risks, enhancing portfolio stability. Therefore, including a certain portion of gold in a portfolio, rather than solely comprising stocks and bonds, can lead to better long-term performance.

This analysis provides important implications for investors in managing portfolio risk and improving returns in an uncertain market environment. It emphasizes that gold should be recognized not merely as an inflation hedge but as a core asset for portfolio diversification.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for July recorded 3.7%, exceeding market forecasts. However, investors, considering that this figure reflects inflation after the collapse of the truce, are forming a 'peak inflation' sentiment, believing that inflation has already topped out. This is analyzed as one reason why the market's reaction to higher-than-expected inflation data was limited.

Furthermore, profit-taking by long-term holders has led to adjustments across the asset market, including Bitcoin. These adjustments can be interpreted as a process of relieving market overheating and laying the groundwork for healthy future growth.

Market participants are focusing more on long-term trends and the Fed's monetary policy direction rather than short-term fluctuations in inflation data. Notably, the fact that July inflation did not significantly increase compared to June, maintaining a similar level, strengthens the perception that 'PCE around 4% is the peak.'

While market movements may change depending on future economic indicators and Fed comments, currently, investors appear to have a dominant sentiment of expecting stable trends rather than excessive inflation concerns.