We could still close the year with a rally despite AI slump

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.84% Monday stateside as technology stocks were under pressure, with Apple, Meta and Oracle retreating more than 1% each.

Artificial intelligence lynchpin Nvidia performed worse, losing almost 2%. CEO Jensen Huang in October said the chipmaker had “half a trillion dollars” of business on the books for 2025 and 2026. When Nvidia reports its third-quarter earnings Wednesday stateside, investors will be combing through Huang’s comments for signs of strong 2026 growth, as suggested by that data point.

The problem with promises or expectations, especially for a company that is one of the two around which the artificial intelligence universe orbits (OpenAI being the other), is that any disappointment will be disproportionately painful.

“If they offer any even slightly muted guidance or forecast for demand for their chips, the market would take that poorly,” Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield said.

Despite the recent sell-off in tech over concerns about high valuations and capital expenditure, some analysts think we could still end the year with a rally.

 “We continue to see a balance of bullish and bearish signals heading into year-end, but our stance remains that a year-end rally is likely,” Michael Graham, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, wrote in a Monday note.

Likewise, HSBC’s chief multi-asset strategist Max Kettner on Monday said the bank thinks “the probability of a melt-up into year-end – particularly in equities – is much greater” than a potential AI bubble popping.

If their predictions prove true, investors will have much to celebrate during the festive season — and we can worry about AI in the new year.

The rich are ‘renting’ out their idle gold bars for income as prices remain at historic highs

Gold prices have been smashing new records this year, and a growing cadre of wealthy investors and family offices are no longer content to let their gold bars sit idle in vaults. They are leasing their bullion to refiners, jewelers, and fabricators for interest, defying gold’s reputation as a non-yielding asset.

Industry veterans whom CNBC spoke to said the appeal is intuitive: investors who already plan to hold gold can earn yields paid in gold through lease payments, while jewelers and fabricators use those leases to fund the gold they need for day-to-day production. 

— Lee Ying Shan