Magnificent Seven names came roaring back on Friday after a stretch of weakness. Today, we’re seeing some modest buying in equities to start the week off. Gold, silver, and Treasuries are flat, while crude oil and the dollar are a bit lower.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) cleared a key hurdle to boost its business in China. The Chinese government said TSLA could offer its driver-assistance system in that country’s market after it inked a mapping deal with Baidu Inc. (BIDU) and provided security assurances.
TSLA charges $8,000, or $99 per month, for the upgrade in the US. So approval to sell it in China would provide a meaningful revenue boost to the Electric Vehicle (EV) company. That’s Why Tesla shares jumped almost 10% in the early going.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
Japanese policymakers apparently had enough of the yen’s plunge. The yen reversed sharply and aggressively after tagging 160 yen to the dollar overnight – a not-so-subtle sign the finance ministry intervened to stem the slide. The currency had dropped more than 10% year-to-date, putting upward pressure on Japanese inflation and in the opinion of some analysts, US interest rates.
Finally, Republic First became the first US bank to fail in 2024 late Friday. Regulators oversaw a bidding war for the institution, which Fulton Financial Corp. (FULT) won. The bank had $6 billion in assets at the time the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities closed it. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) estimated the failure and transfer of branches and assets would cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $667 million.
