Daily brief - 29 Dec 2023

Stock markets shine brightly as the year wraps up

Stock markets have ended the year on a high, much to everyone's surprise. Despite gloomy economic predictions, including fears of recession and the impacts of high inflation and interest rate hikes, both US and European markets are finishing near record levels.

Japanese stocks have hit their highest point in over 40 years. A key part of this success seems to be companies managing costs smartly, even as interest rates remain high.

Adding to the excitement, the US market saw a boost from the tech sector, especially after Microsoft's major investment in OpenAI, sparking a rush towards AI-related stocks.

SpaceX’s Falcon heavy lofts secretive US military spaceplane

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket has successfully launched a secretive space plane, the X-37B, for the US Space Force from Florida. This marks the seventh mission for the X-37B, an uncrewed and reusable craft designed for experimental testing. The X-37B, looking like a mini space shuttle, previously set a record by staying in orbit for 908 days.

Its exact activities in space are mostly unknown, but it has conducted experiments, including ones for NASA. The current mission's details are scarce, but it aims to broaden knowledge about space for future technologies.

This is the second time the X-37B has launched aboard a SpaceX vehicle, the first being on a Falcon 9 in 2017.

Nvidia's China-specific gaming chip

Nvidia, a leading chipmaker, is now offering a less powerful version of its top gaming chip, the GTX 4090 D, in China. This move comes after the US government tightened export restrictions to China.

The Chinese version of the chip has about 10% fewer processing cores and reduced AI processing abilities compared to the international version. These changes are to comply with US rules aimed at slowing China's advancement in artificial intelligence.

Nvidia's adaptation to these regulations reflects ongoing tensions between US technology exports and China's tech growth. Despite this, Nvidia's stock continues to soar, marking it as a standout performer in the semiconductor industry.