By bizn_fun 
Key events
Introduction: SoftBank shares slide after Nvidia stake sale
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Shares in Japanese tech investor SoftBank have taken a knock, after it revealed it has sold its stake in chipmaker Nvidia.
SoftBank surprised investors yesterday by revealing it sold its shares in Nvidia last month, raising $5.8bn, to fund its other investments in artificial intelligence pioneers, such as ChatGPT parent OpenAI.
And the market verdict today has been decisive. SoftBank’s shares touched a one-month low when trading opened in Tokyo – down as much as 10% at one stage – before closing down 3.5%.
Although SoftBank insisted there wasn’t a “specific” reason to sell its Nvidia shares in October, the move has raised more questions about whether the sky-high valuations given to companies in the AI sector are solid.
It also highlights the growing funding demands SoftBank faces to bankroll its bet on OpenAI and other investments.
Shares in Nvidia, whose high-speed chips are used to power AI data centres, fell 3% yesterday, amid a wider drop in tech shares.
Analysts have suggested SoftBank’s move shouldn’t cause alarm, though, as it isn’t giving up on AI.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, explains:
It appears SoftBank is looking to boost its bets further down the AI chain — toward companies that actually use AI, like OpenAI and ABB Robotics.
For those unhappy with the circularity of current AI deals, this is good news. These are the companies that should bring real money into the ecosystem and allow it to grow beyond the seven giants that are “sending fake dollars back and forth to each other” to keep the stock rally going. So the fact that Nvidia fell 3% shouldn’t be alarming – the company and US Big Tech are now growing beyond borders.
Meta, for instance, signed a deal with Dutch cloud provider Nebius, which predicted rapid growth next year – and when I say rapid, it’s rapid: their sales soared by more than 300% last quarter. Their share price? It tanked 7% yesterday, along with CoreWeave, which fell 16%.
The agenda
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7am GMT: German inflation report for October
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Noon GMT: US weekly mortgage approval data
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2.15pm GMT: Treasury Committee hearing on property taxes ahead of the budget