Top stories for the morning: Wall Street is at a high, Dell weakens, Intel got $5.7 billion from the U.S.

Wall Street hit all-time highs amid upward revisions to US GDP and expectations of a Fed rate cut, but investors are cautiously awaiting key inflation data. Meanwhile, Dell shares fell more than 5% after a weak earnings forecast despite a rise in AI server sales. Intel said it received $5.7 billion from the U.S. government in a deal that is raising questions among investors. About these and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of August 29.

The U.S. stock market has renewed historic highs after the revision of U.S. GDP in the second quarter - the economy grew by 3.3% per annum instead of the previously announced 3%, Bloomberg reports. The main driver remains strong consumer demand, which strengthens investor confidence, although it increases concerns about inflation. The S&P 500 index exceeded 6500 points, the market was supported by technology stocks, including Nvidia and Dell.

Traders' attention is focused on Friday's release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which is a key indicator for the Fed. The core index is forecast to rise to 2.9% in annualized terms - the maximum in five months. Lower values could reinforce expectations of a rate cut as early as September, while higher values could cool sentiment on Wall Street.

The yield on two-year government bonds rose to 3.63%, with rate futures laying two Fed rate cuts before the end of the year. Analysts note: the market has already "built" September easing into quotations, and the continuation of growth will depend on inflation data. Despite concerns about valuations, most experts believe the "bull market" is sustainable - and it will take a serious trigger like a recession to reverse it.

Despite revenue and profit growth above analysts' expectations, Dell Technologies shares were down more than 5% in extended trading Thursday due to a disappointing third-quarter earnings forecast, CNBC writes. The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.32 per share against expectations of $2.30 and revenue of $29.78 billion against a forecast of $29.17 billion. Dell also raised its full-year guidance: it now expects $107 billion in revenue and $9.55 in earnings per share, above consensus.

However, EPS guidance for the third quarter was $2.45, below market expectations of $2.55, although revenue guidance of $27 billion topped the $26.1 billion forecast. Dell explained that much of the profit traditionally comes in the fourth quarter due to seasonality, especially in the storage segment. However, in the second quarter, revenue grew 19% year-over-year, primarily due to the server and networking equipment segment, where sales (including AI servers) jumped 69% to $12.9 billion.

The company said it shipped $10 billion worth of AI servers in the last two quarters and plans to double that figure in fiscal 2026, to $20 billion. Meanwhile, storage revenue fell 3%, to $3.86 billion, below the $4.1 billion forecast. Sales of client solutions (including PCs) grew only 1%, to $12.5 billion, much slower than data center growth. Dell spent $1.3 billion on share repurchases and dividends during the quarter.

Intel CFO David Zinser said the company has received $5.7 billion from the U.S. government as part of the White House's decision to buy a 10% stake in the chip maker, CNBC reports. However, a White House spokeswoman clarified that the deal is still "in the approval process" and has not been finalized.

Zinser also noted that Intel may attract outside investment to develop its foundry business, which has been a concern for investors. Despite strong second-quarter results, the company's shares fell 8% due to weakness in this area.

In a corporate report, the company warned that the agreement with the government could cause negative reactions from investors, employees and partners, as well as increase political and public attention. In addition, Intel has not ruled out litigation related to the deal.

Microsoft has announced the start of public testing of its first major artificial intelligence model, MAI-1-preview, which could enhance the capabilities of the Copilot assistant, CNBC writes. The testing is taking place on the LMArena platform, and in the coming weeks the model will begin to be plugged into individual Copilot scenarios. The company has also opened a form for developers who want early access.

Although Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and uses its models for Bing, Windows and other products, the companies are increasingly becoming rivals. OpenAI is expanding its collaboration with other cloud providers, and Microsoft's reporting already lists the startup as a rival along with Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta.

MAI-1-preview is the first fully trained baseline model inside Microsoft. It was trained using about 15,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, as well as a cluster of the latest GB200s. Microsoft's AI division head Mustafa Suleiman said the company intends to develop its own models and infrastructure to reach billions of users through its products.

Shares of Etsy and eBay fell sharply amid the Donald Trump administration's decision to repeal the "de minimis" rule, which allowed duty-free importation of parcels worth up to $800 into the U.S., MarketWatch writes. The exemption was closed to China back in May, and now it's being discontinued for other countries as well. Over the past week, Etsy lost 14%, eBay lost 6%, while the Nasdaq rose 1%.

Analysts note that Etsy, eBay and Shopify have a direct dependence on this channel. The companies are preparing sellers for the new conditions: Etsy promises to help with adaptation, while eBay CEO Jamie Iannone acknowledged rising costs but said the company is "relatively resilient."

Evercore ISI estimates that the overall effect on the U.S. economy will be limited, with "de minimis" shipments of about $65 billion per year (2% of imports). However, consumers will face price increases, especially tangible for low-income households. The White House believes that the measures will help reduce the flow of counterfeit goods and drugs, as well as bring up to $10 billion in additional tariff revenues to the budget.

- Japan's broad Topix index was falling 0.45 percent.

- The benchmark Nikkei 225 was falling 0.37%.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was down 0.21 percent and the Kosdaq small-company index was down 0.25 percent.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was falling 0.17 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500 were down 0.11 percent, the Nasdaq 100 was down 0.19 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor