Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Marching on
The Nasdaq Composite notched a new record close Thursday for the first time since November 2021. The index gained almost 1%, boosted by a late rally in chip stocks, and ended the trading session at 16,091.92. The S&P 500 also finished at a fresh record after rising about 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.12%. The gains close out a winning February, the fourth positive month in a row for each of the major averages. The Nasdaq climbed more than 6% over the month, the S&P rose more than 5% and the Dow added more than 2%. Follow live market updates from the first trading day of March.
2. Internal controls
The New York Community Bank (NYCB) headquarters in Hicksville, New York, US, on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
New York Community Bancorp on Thursday said it had identified “material weaknesses in the Company’s internal controls,” extending a tumultuous few months for the regional bank. Alessandro DiNello, who was appointed executive chairman in early February following a credit rating downgrade, is now stepping in as president and CEO, effective immediately. NYCB shares fell more than 20% in extended trading. The stock has been under pressure amid concerns around the bank’s commercial real estate exposure and operations.
3. AI at odds
Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk reacts during an in-conversation event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Nov. 2, 2023.
Kirsty Wigglesworth | Reuters
Elon Musk is suing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, claiming he broke a 2015 agreement to form a nonprofit lab and develop artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity broadly.” Now, Musk claims, Altman and others have abandoned that mission and ChatGPT parent OpenAI “has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft.” Lawyers for Musk, who co-founded OpenAI almost…
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