Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Dow highs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new intraday record and closed at a record high on Monday. The 30-stock index closed up 65.44 points, or 0.16%, after rallying more than 200 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite didn’t fare as well, falling 0.32% and 0.85%, respectively. Traders appeared to be favoring other sectors in the market and rotating out of tech. And AI darling Nvidia closed down 2.3% ahead of its earnings report due Wednesday afternoon. “I think there’s a little angst in the technology sector about the upcoming Nvidia earnings,” Baird analyst Ross Mayfield told CNBC. Follow live market updates.
2. Apple shakeup
Luca Maestri speaks to newly graduated students during the visit of the President of the Council, Giuseppe Conte, to Apple and Cisco Academy.
Marco Cantile | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Apple has named a new chief financial officer. The tech giant said on Monday that CFO Luca Maestri, who has been in the role since 2014, will be replaced on Jan. 1 with Kevan Parekh, currently the company’s vice president of financial planning and analysis. During Maestri’s time, the company more than doubled its annual sales and net income and expanded its gross margin. Apple stock has risen more than 800% since Maestri became CFO. Meanwhile, Apple also announced Monday that it will hold a press event on Sept. 9, where it’s expected to unveil new iPhones and Apple Watch models.
3. Inbound pricing
An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Eli Lilly on Tuesday released a cheaper version of its weight loss drug Zepbound. The new form of the drug is roughly half of its usual monthly list price: Eli Lilly is now selling 2.5-milligram and 5-milligram single-dose vials of Zepbound for $399 per month and $549 per month, respectively, via its direct-to-consumer website. That compares with current list prices of roughly $1,000 per month before insurance and other rebates for Zepbound and other weight loss drugs, such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. The company hopes to reach millions of patients who don’t have insurance coverage for the popular injection and to expand supply as demand grows.
4. Media bidding war ends
A view of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Sept. 26, 2023.
Mario Anzuoni | Reuters
The Paramount deal saga has entered another chapter. Veteran media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. dropped his $6 billion bid to buy Paramount Global on Monday, clearing the way for Skydance Media to take control of Shari Redstone’s media empire. The special committee of Paramount’s board that had been reviewing offers said it closed its “go-shop” period — or the time during which it could entertain competing offers — in light of Bronfman dropping out of the process. The company said it expects the deal with Skydance to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
5. Crypto cache
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images
The price of bitcoin has rallied this year, and so has the number of crypto millionaires. There are now 172,300 individuals worldwide holding more than $1 million in crypto assets, according to a report from New World Wealth and Henley & Partners. What’s more, the population of such wealth holders rose 95% over the past year. That’s thanks in part to the rapid growth of bitcoin ETFs, which launched in January and now have over $50 billion in assets.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Kif Leswing, Annika Kim Constantino, Robert Frank and Reuters contributed to this report.
