Stocks Rise After Benign CPI Inflation Report as Investors Digest Latest News on US-China Trade Talks

Quantum Computing Stocks Jump After Nvidia CEO Comments

25 minutes ago

Quantum computing stocks jumped in early trading Wednesday after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said that the industry is “reaching an inflection point.”

Huang’s comments during his keynote speech at the chipmaker’s GTC Paris developer conference marked a more optimistic take by the Nvidia CEO, who said early this year that quantum computing technology is 15 to 30 years away. 

“Quantum computing is reaching an inflection point,” Huang said in the speech Wednesday. “We are within reach of being able to apply quantum computing, quantum classical computing, in areas that can solve some interesting problems in the coming years.”

Quantum computing involves qubits, which can exist in a multidimensional state, unlike a normal computer bit that can be in one state (either 0 or 1), making them capable of much more powerful computations than ordinary computers. 

Shares in Quantum Computing (QUBT) were up nearly 30% in recent trading, while Rigetti Computing (RGTI) surged 18% and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) shares added 2%. Shares in quantum computing firm IonQ (IONQ), which announced the acquisition of a U.K. rival Monday and has a collaboration with Nvidia, were up 8%.

IBM (IBM) shares, which hit an all-time high Tuesday after it showcased a “viable path” to building the world’s first large-scale, “fault-tolerant” quantum computer by the end of the decade, are little changed in premarket trading. 

–Nisha Gopalan

Musk Sets Robotaxi Launch Date, Regrets Some Trump Posts

2 hr 6 min ago

Tesla (TSLA) shares are rising in premarket trading Wednesday after three straight sessions of gains following new social media posts from CEO Elon Musk.

On Tuesday evening, Musk responded to a user asking questions about the launch of Tesla’s robotaxi program, saying it will launch “tentatively, June 22.”

“We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift,” Musk wrote. He added that the first Tesla that will drive itself from the factory directly to a customer’s door should be delivered about a week later, on June 28.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Tesla was targeting a June 12 launch for the autonomous ridesharing service, while Musk had previously only said the program was on track to launch sometime this month. In its own posts hours before Musk’s, the Tesla X account posted a robot and car emoji, and responded to another user sharing video of what appeared to be a Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat being tested on the roads of Austin, Texas.

Musk has also said Tesla’s plans for a more affordable Tesla model are on track to launch this month as well, but details about that potential launch have yet to be released.

In another post early Wednesday, Musk said he regrets some of the posts he made during his public split with President Donald Trump last week, saying they “went too far.” In a few posts, which have since been deleted, Musk accused Trump of being in the “Epstein files,” referencing the late convicted sex trafficker, and agreed with another user who said Trump should be impeached so Vice President JD Vance could take over.

Musk spent days criticizing the budget reconciliation bill currently working its way through Congress for adding to the deficit and national debt. Trump last week said he was “disappointed” in Musk for his comments, and the pair continued to exchange comments and insults on their own social media platforms for hours afterward.

Tesla shares were up nearly 3% in recent premarket trading, putting the stock in position to recover all of the ground that was lost after the fracas between Musk and Trump.

–Aaron McDade

Major Index Futures Slightly Lower

2 hr 22 min ago

Futures tied to each of the major U.S. indexes were down 0.2% in recent trading.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

S&P 500

Nasdaq 100