US100 gains 0.7%🗽Salesforce rallies 8% on rising guidance and AI Agentforce optimism 📈

Sentiment of the U.S. stock market is unwaveringly positive. Although the financial, banking and energy industries are doing less well, technology companies are pulling up US indices. The Nasdaq100 (US100) contract is hitting historic highs, at 21,500 points. The US dollar loses 0.2% after a weaker services ISM; USDIDX retreats to 106.1. 

• Wall Street opened the session higher and U.S. indices are gaining; the standout is the US100 up more than 0.7% supported by a nearly 3% rebound in shares of Nvidia (NVDA.US), whose shares are already up 8% since November 27. Amazon (AMZN.US) is gaining nearly 2.5%.
• Salesforce (CRM.US) shares are rising after recommendations from institutions reacting to the company's raising of forecasts and early reports of the successful deployment of the company's AI agent, Agentforce.
• ServiceNow and other software companies including Fortinet, Adobe and Intuit are also gaining strongly. Shares of chemical, lithium and battery company Albemarle (ALB.US) lose
• US services ISM for November below forecast, price component up, but markets see reading as 'dovish'; 10-year bond yields fall 2 bps below 4.2%, putting pressure on the dollar.

Today, the software and semiconductor industries are clearly rebounding; the tech sector is dragging Wall Street up. Interestingly, a survey by Salesforce indicated considerable optimism around AI solutions at smaller and mid-sized companies, which largely attribute the increase in profits to the new technology. Source: xStation5

US macro 

US ISM Services (prelim for November) came in 52.1 vs 55.7 exp. and 56 previously

• ISM Prices Paid: 58.2 (Forecast 57, Previous 58.1)
• ISM Employment 51.5 (Forecast 53, Previous 53.0)
• ISM New Orders: 53.7 (Forecast 56.6, Previous 57.4)

US factory orders rose 0.2% MoM vs 0.2% exp. and 0.5% previously

• US durable goods has been revised to 0.3% MoM vs 0.2% previously; core durable goods revised to 0.2% MoM vs 0.1% previously

US100, D1 interval)

On the hourly interval, we see a definite preponderance of buying volume over the past few sessions in the US. US100 is behind the 1:1 corrections and is trading in the upper range of the upward price channel.

Source: xStation5

Salesforce in the spotlight for generative AI tred?

The company has been touted as “the best way to invest in AI,” thanks to its Customer 360 platform and customer base. A new set of AI autonomous agents according to the company has been available since October 25, with considerable interest from companies.  Salesforce's (CRM.US) share price has risen about 30% since the Dreamforce event in September. According to the company, '(...) The development of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing the global labor market, changing the way industries operate and grow.'

• Stifel analysts described Salesforce as currently “the best way to invest in AI” due to its multi-cloud customer base and its ability to “increase market penetration” with its Customer 360 platform. The analysts pointed out that Salesforce has only 15% market share, which gives room for further growth. Bank of America pointed to considerable interest in Agentforce AI.
• In the third quarter of the year, the company's revenue rose 8% y/y to $9.44 billion vs. a 25% y/y increase in earnings per share to $1.58 vs. $1.25 in Q3 2023. It raised the lower end of its full-year forecast range, estimating sales this year in the range of $37.8 billion to $38 billion vs. the previous estimate of $37 to $38 billion; earnings per share between $6.16 and $6.20 vs. $6.05 to $6.13 previously. Wall Street estimates $37.87 billion in full-year sales and $6.16 in earnings per share; quietly, it may still be hoping that Salesforce will beat those results.

Salesforce shares (CRM.US), D1 interval)

The stock is rising to new historic highs today and is up nearly 40% year-to-date.

Source: xStation5