> it is 5:00 a.m. here at cnbc global headquarters. i'm frank holland and here is your "five@5." jay powell and the fed maintain the commitment to the rate cuts. the rally rippling through the markets. japan hits an all-time high. equity in the ipo markets as reddit gets set for the first trade which followed a rocket ship of a debut. stellar quarter for micron has the chip sector surging

ahead of the open. possible pressure for apple and anti-trust allegations. it's thursday, march 21st, 2024. you're watching "worldwide exchange" right here on cnbc. good morning and welcome to "worldwide exchange." thank you for being here with us. let's get you ready for the trading day ahead and the check of the u.s. stock futures with the dow, s&p and nasdaq all coming off record closing highs and looking to push deeper into the green this morning. the futures market is strong showing for all three. the nasdaq is opening up .75% higher. you see the dow looking like it would open up more than 100 points higher. we are paying attention to small caps with the russell indicating gains. you have to see small caps rising 2% with super micro in

the red today. and80 s&p 500 stocks set to open at 52-week highs. american express up in the pre-market. visa up as well as caterpillar as well. the fed maintained to cut rates by 75 basis points by the end of the year. with that, we are checking the bond market and yields with the highest level in four years. the benchmark at 4.23%. we will watch that this morning. we have to get a quick check of the money movers. micron shares surging from the pre-market after reporting the first profits since 2022. the chipmaker issuing a better outlook for the quarter citing strong demand for the a.i. products. projecting 6.6 bil$6.6 billion for the quarter. you see shares of micron up

16.5%. pay attention to this line here. big jump following that earnings report. week to date with the stock up 20%. earnings is the big catalyst there. we want to talk the ipo market and amazon backed maker astera labs. it is set to open higher this morning as investors get set for another ipo which is reddit. astera labs up in the pre-market. huge debut yesterday jumping 70% in the public debut. we will talk more about the ipo market and the markets in general in a moment. let's check on the overseas action with jp ong in singapore and karen tso in london. >> reporter: frank, a terrific thursday for most stock markets out here in asia. you saw gains from sydney to seoul today. a lot of this on of back of jay

powell issuing the words to soothe markets and they are expecting higher inflation to tick higher, but they are still seeing three rate hikes in the horizon. that sentiment is supportive across the region. japanese markets were offline yesterday. they came back online today. that weighs on equities in tokyo. no problems for the nikkei 225 which climbed to an all-time high with tech stocks and property stocks among the gainers in tokyo. the asx 200 with the boost from higher gold miners and prices in the session. spot prices supporting miners and commodities with a better thursday and supporting the sydney benchmark. we want to look the kospi. it is a big ben feficiary of th chip rally. you see the likes of samsung and sk is looking bullish.

at the conference yesterday, asm is seeing strong opportunities in a.i., but you see from the action today, sk is running away with everything and recording that strong surge. also, the possibility of the lower rate hikes supporting tech stocks. tsmc benefitting. not everyone was a winner in asia today. you will see the shanghai composite and shanghai 300 closed in the red. there are still questions in china over when we e will see meaningful stimulus for the economy. you see in hong kong with the hang seng is not dragged down by the mainland. keep an eye on property stocks in hong kong. the big component of the hang seng. lower rates in the future is supporting the outlook for property developers. that's what happened out here in asia. we will see if it continues heading into the last trading

day of the week. for now, it is back to you in new york. good morning. >> jp, thank you. we turn our tenattention to the early trade in europe and karen tso. >> reporter: thank you, frank. dominating from the outset. fresh records on the stoixx 600 with the reaction from the fed. cutting rates from 1.75% to 1.5% from the snb. the stoxx 600 record is up .60%. it is about the bank of england later on with the market perched above 7,800 points. the ftse 100 has struggled in it recent years. the focus on the smi thanks to the snb to loosen policy. it does not have an inflation problem. it is forecasting inflation of 1.4% this year instead of 1.9%.

growth rates are slim at 1%. compare to the fed which is guiding higher. what we have across the board is strong reaction in the sectors. cyclicals are it. basic resources and retail and tech trading higher. you see how it plays out more than 2% to the upside. we are weathering weaker data. pmi out earlier. germany still with challenging. when it comes to the reaction of the swiss national bank, it was to see the move in june, but it moved ahead of time. the swiss are talking about standing by to intervene on foreignexchange markets. you are rounding out with ipos. we had one in germany today with douglas. back to you, frank. >> karen tso, thank you very much. we turn attention back to wall street.

u.s. stock futures pointing to a higher open. it is about jay powell doubling down for 75 basis points in cuts before the end of the year, but still leaving the door open for tweaks. >> we believe the policy rate is likely at the peak for this tightening cycle and if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. the economic outlook is uncertain and we remain attentive to inflation risks. we are prepared to maintain the current target range for longer if appropriate. >> joining me now is david waddell of waddell associates. >> good morning, frank. >> you cannot tell by the tone, but that got the markets excited. you liked what you heard and the

markets liked it as well. in the plans and you are focused on the gdp projection with a .7 increase this year. what does it say about the markets? >> it says the fed is bullish and you should be, too. the gdp market up of .7 means they upgrade td the growth estimate by 50% and upgrading the inflation perspective by8%. that's huge. they upgraded the long-run forecast for interest rate level the neutral rate at 2.6% which means the long-run bullish. lower growth, more inflation means more productive and more earnings. they increase the probability that the estimates for earnings growth is correct and maybe too l low. they increase the probability this level of valuation higher as they cut rates six times in

the next three years. it is hard for me e to standsti. >> you emailed me fly, markets, fly. i want to talk about the market. a lot of people tried to get excited about, but lagged. tom lee on cnbc calling for a 50% decrease. the gdp projection is generally a read into the small caps of a stronger economy. if we get the cuts, whether it is three or less, still benefitting the stocks, especially interest rate sensitive. what is the view on small caps? do you agree with tom lee's 50% rise? >> i was with you a few weeks back and we talked about equal weighting. that was a nod that we would move. since early february, the equal

weights outperformed. there will be 20% earnings growth for the s&p 500 over the next two years. 20% earnings growth in the midcaps over the next two years. 20% earnings growth in small caps in the next two years. how much do you want to pay? 21 times for large caps? 15 or 16 times for midcaps? you can pay 14 times for small caps. small caps get a tailwinds. you see the fed growth outlook rising. i think people have been waiting to push the money into small caps until they see the whites of the fed's eyes. the fed will cut rates in june. that is the all clear for small caps. it is better to be early to a trade than late. at this point, it was up in the opener 2% against 1% with the s&p yesterday. that is a significant move. i think it is time. the small cap run starts now.

>> we have to see if tom lee is right. keep in mind, small caps up 2% year to date so far. we are talking 48% possible rise for the year. >> i didn't endorse that. >> i know you didn't. you are bullish. david, thank you very much. >> thanks, frank. we have more to come on "worldwide exchange," including reddit looking to satisfy investor appetite ahead of the new york stock exchange debut. apple in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors and possible anti-trust lawsuit. later, a rough quarter for five below. we have more big money movers and busy hour when "worldwide exchange" returns. stay with us. (vo) what does it mean to be rich? maybe rich is less about reaching a magic number... and more about discovering magic. rich is being able to keep your loved ones close.

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time for the check of the corporate stories with silvana henao. silvana, big week for ipos. >> good morning, frank. reddit set for the public market debut on the new york stock exchange today. the social media company pricing shares at the top of the expected range at $34 a share giving the company a fully diluted value of $6.4 billion. still well below the $10 billion valuation hit in the private markets back in 2021. the department of justice reportedly set to five

anti-trust lawsuit against apple as soon as today according to bloo bloomberg. the suit will accuse the company of blocking rivals of accessing hardware and software features of the iphone. shares are down in the pre-market. and shares of paramount global are up in the pre-market. this after a report of apollo global management made an $11 billion to buy paramount global's hollywood studio. the offer detailed comes as the board reviews a bid from sky dance media for all of paramount global. >> silvana, thank you. keep the story train rolling. time for the big money movers. shares of five below sinking after missing earnings estimates after the higher incidence of theft.

five below is combats shrink and limiting the self checkout. shares down 12%. different story for shares of guess popping on strong earnings and guidance. the management calling this an inflection point as they acquire whp global. they are paying out a dividend of $2.25 in may. hong kong shares of xpeng as alibaba plans to sell 33 million of the u.s. traded shares. this is the third time in four months that alibaba is reducing the stake in the ev maker. it terminated an agreement to appoint an alibaba executive. shares down 6.5%. coming up on "worldwide exchange," fedex reports after thcle day e ostoand some say it

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welcome back to "worldwide exchange." look at the futures this morning. the dow would open up 100 points higher. nasdaq is up over .50%. we are looking at the gainers from the dow. intel is at the top with shares over 1%. big announcement with the chip act award that came yesterday giving the stock a boost.

behind it is boeing, microsoft and cisco systems. now to the laggards. apple at the top of the list with shares down 1%. we will talk more about apple in a bit. followed by verizon and coca-cola. one of your big money movers today is fedex. shares of that company moving higher ahead of earnings after the close. under performing the broader markets. the weather weighing on shares this year. wall street is expecting a muted holiday quarter. profits to grow 1.5%. this is the last quarter before fedex consolididates express, ground and freight to one unit. express air delivery is a major area for cost cutting. estimates have revenue falling year over year. look at the par bar chart.

keep in mind that dhl is citing weakness in air freight. joining me on the cnbc news line is ken huckster. >> good morning, frank. >> you have a price target of 313. that implies a 20% increase from where it is right now. what are you seeing in the stock? >> what we're seeing is this quarter with a lot of pressure from weather we're coming in looking for below consensus. it has pressure from the extra employees they hired from peak season. that's really the leverage we will see throughout the year. you have leftover cost from peak season and continued pressure on the volumes that weigh on express. we could see a quarter where

express margins are at break even. the worst quarter we have seen at express since we covered the company, but on ground, we move to double digits. that's the move as you mentioned is the move to the next step. blending the two together and continuing that $6 billion cost cutting program through drive and network 2.0. >> a lot of different initiatives. in june, they are consolidating the companies. if you look at the bar chart, the estimate for the quarter is 1.1% margin for express. close to breaking even. where do you see the turn around in the business? ecommerce is shifting from air delivery to ground delivery. that is where the money is made. >> two parts of express. you have international with tnt and they had integration issues. they are cutting costs from that

and getting that to break even and toward profitability. domestically is about parking old aircraft and reshaping that network. that was built for faster growth as you mentioned which is now decelerating and growing to flat or decelerating be helow gdp growth. that is pulling out costs and parking planes. that sis a big part of the driv. >> let's talk about the ground business for a second. some of the competitors have been cites softness with the logistics business and ecommerce. how do you see that impacting fed fedex? >> i saw the same reports where it looked like they broke off the negotiations and not moving the volumes for amazon. maybe that comes back and they reabsorb that. you remember before covid they

broke up with amazon and stopped moving packages for amazon. from their view, they are not paying enough to be on the network. ground margins have gotten back to double digits last quarter. we expect them to stay at double di digits. slight growth at the ground side as ecommerce continues to grow. they are more b2b with unit growth. >> is there anything else investors should look out for? fedex with leverage to china than u.p.s. how is that impacting the business? the macro environment that was called for a while ago. we have seen weakness in regions which impacted this business. >> that is a big part of that international that i was talking about. if express overall is near break even, u.p.s., on the international side shows 20% on business.

they are more european-oriented and asian-based. you have to reshape that network. if you are running a network carrying and flying aircraft and volumes are down, that is a negative leverage that we have seen in the negative volume period. you have to react to that. that's what they're doing. parking old md-11s and eliminating those. you are shrinking that network and that means reshaping the hubs. >> ken, great to hear target is >> thank you. coming up on the show, why this sector is a bullish one which has not been seen for years. and cnbc celebrates women's heritage months. we celebrate our change makers who are changing business.

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it is 5:30 here in the new york city area. there is more ahead on "worldwide exchange." a hat trick of records as the big three hit new highs. records could be broken again today with futures pointing to a move even higher. stocks seeing a boost from the fed which is signaling rate cuts. why jim cramer says jay powell and company is no longer the focus for markets moving forward. and reddit prepares to finally go public, but will investors be ready to dive in and add fresh fuel to the tech trade? it is thursday, march 21st,

2024. are you are watching "worldwide exchange" here on cnbc. welcome back to "worldwide exchange." i'm frank holland. let's get you ready for the trading day ahead with the check of the stock futures after the dow, s&p and nasdaq had a record closing high. you see in the green in the futures market. looking to push deeper into record territory at the open. it looks like the dow would open up 80 points higher off the highs of earlier. the nasdaq firmly in the green. the best performer over a .50% is the s&p which is in the green. we will talk about the small caps with the russell coming off a 2% gain. you see it is indicated higher this morning. yesterday, it closed 2% higher. again, indicated higher this morning as well. for the week, up 2%.

ahead of the open, some 80 s&p 500 stocks set to open at 52-week or all-time highs which includes dow's american express and visa and caterpillar. all three in the green. of course, all of this comes after the fed maintains 75 basis point cuts by the end of the year despite inflation. >> we believe it is likely at its peak for the tightening cycle and if the economy evolves as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. the economic outlook is uncertain, however, and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks. we are prepared to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for longer, if approappropriate. >> with that, we are checking the bond market and yields are at the highest in four weeks.

the benchmark at 4.23%. we will look at yields and talk about them throughout the show. let's see how the overseas markets are reacting with silvia amaro with more on the early action. silvia, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frank. it is an exciting morning if you are following european markets. at this stage, the stoxx 600 is trading up .55%. earlier, we did see the stoxx 600 actually hitting a record high. a couple of developments out of europe this morning. we did hear from the swiss national bank announcing a surprise rate cut. they became the first major economy to go ahead with a rate cut. i have to say the european stocks were rallying before that announcement. i want to show you how we are trading in terms of the geographic divide. we see the announcement by the

situ swiss national bank with the moves significant. we see the ftse 100 up by .80%. we also wait to hear from the p bank of england in a couple of hours. we have been seeing momentum when it comes to basic res resources. this after the fed's comments yesterday which state they are committed to three rate cuts this year. the overall narrative across the major economies, frank, are driving real estate, tech stocks. back to you. >> silvia, thank you. so much at play in the markets today. let's get more insight from jeff kilburg from kkm financial and cnbc contributor and gunjan

banerji who is the lead writer at "the wall street journal." her latest piece in the journal is "investors have not been this bullish in years." that's a great place to start as we talk about the s&p and nasdaq hitting record highs. after the fed's press conference maintaining the idea we are getting three rate cuts -- are investors more bullish than they have been? >> it seems like that with the simultaneous records in the handling or indexes and zooming out a bit when i talk to investors across a range of assets are embracing the rally. embracing what powell said about higher economic growth this year and lower inflation in the future. as less of a risk of higher unemployment is what we are seeing across the futures market and derivatives market and stock market where futures positioning across.

the nasdaq shows asset managers have not been this bullish since 2019. net bullish positions are highest in years. >> jeff, over to you. a lot of bullishness in the market. the question people are trying to figure out is do you want to play the broadening of the market? 80 s&p companies hitting an all-time high. >> it is fascinating, frank. i'm optimistic. the input into the recent bullishness. let's think with the s&p going up to 4,800. it took two years to get to 4,900. tho now it looks like it will trade 5,300 in 53 trading days. this is more chasing. you are seeing $7 trillion cash chasing the market higher. with powell green lighting the market place, we are seeing

march madness. i take pause with the s&p with the new all-time highs and the vix at 13. you have to be cautious. frank, we do not see markets move straight higher. that is what we have seen since november. >> we also have seen that in the chips market. much better than p expected earnings when the street was expecting a loss. what are these results from micron with the chips sector and the a.i. trade? >> i think micron and i know you read my cnbc pro article last friday, frank. what is interesting is anything a.i. is seeing high tides lift all boats. with the new all-time high looking to move higher is one tenth the size of nvidia, but still in the semiconductor space and central to the theme as we

embraced in 2023 and 2024. i have a target of $120. that is not much higher after the 20% pop on earnings. >> gunjan, chips are a cyclical businesses. the one we watched closely is tr trading close to the youall-tim high. what to you make of the chips? >> there is a lot of fomo in trading. you see that in the options market and stocks markets. >> is it frothy? >> everyone wonders when this will fall out. take a look at micron earnings. they had a huge beat. shares were soaring after hours. it has been a big week for the chip trade for the semiconductor trade and a.i. trade. these companies are delivering. nvidia revealed the new

technology and expectations were high leading into that. that's what is driving a lot of the chasing and fomo. >> i think that's a clear consensus right now. gunjan, you stick around. jeff, you stick around. we will have more with both of you later on in the show. we will talk about the post-fed pop and what the 72% surge in the trading debut may signal in the investor appetite for reddit. we will get to the top trending stories. sou sotheby's announcing a sale in a kobe jersey set a new global auction record earlier this year. you also heard of pizza and beer, but pizza in beer?

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(jen) now we're even smarter and ready for what's next. (vo) achieve enterprise intelligence. it's your vision, it's your verizon. welcome back to "worldwide exchange." we start with the stock broadcom. it is confident in the growth and potential upside. key bang with microsoft and overweight rating and $190 price target. it is an early benefit of a.i. and can capitalize with the boom. and bank of america cutting the target on boeing to 210 per share. shares are rang bound due to the risk in the short-to-medium term. time now for the global briefing.

economists are expecting the fed to maintain rates. this after a surprise this morning from the swiss national bank cutting rates by 25 basis points. economists expected it to hold rates steady. apple opening the flagship shore in shanghai today. tim cook says there is no supply chain in the world more critical to us than china. his visit comes as apple sales face pressure from huawei. turning attention now to washington, d.c. congress is racing to approve a deal to fund part of the federal government, but the clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to do so as lawmakers trs try to a a government shutdown. emily wilkins is joining us with more. emily, where do we stand? >> good morning, frank. two days left until the partial

shutdown and lawmakers have taken another step to fully funding the government. early this morning, 3:00 a.m., they released the details of the package to fund the government through the fiscal year. not kicking the can down the road. the bill is likely to pass with bipartisan majorities in each chamber. the shutdown is not a question of support right now, but a question of time. the top two senators on the government funding pat ty murra and susan collins says there is zero need for a shutdown or chaos and members should waste no time in passing these six bills. speaker mike johnson is considering waving a rule to require three days to review the bills before a vote. that means the house could pass the bill today if they want to get a jump start on it. in the senate, where the process is just naturally longer, all 100 senators will need to come to agreement on time to avoid a

shutdown. otherwise, government runs out of funding at the end of the day on friday. so let's get into what is in the package. $1.1 trillion of funding which is 5.% of funding for pay raises for members and it trims down foreign aid programs. it funds the u.s. obligation to defend israel. it would bolster border security and increasing the number of bol d border agents. for anyone worried that the government is coming for the gas stove, the bill prevents that. for now, your stove is safe. on a serious note, afghanistan, who helped the u.s. government, with 12,000 immigrant el cerrito visas. we will see if they vote today or tomorrow. we will get clarity as speaker

johnson is set to join us. >> emily wilkins, thank you. we will get clarity. mike johnson will have more on the race to get a funding deal coming up on "squawk box" at 8:10 a.m. coming up on "worldwide exchange," the fed-fueled rally is set to continue. what jim cramer says is the focus and spoiler is not the fed or rate cuts. stay with us. your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right?

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a busy morning of the economic data and manufacturing and services pmi figures and existing home sales are on tap. we get earnings from fedex and nike and lululemon and darden restaurants. janet yellen testifies before the senate finance committee and reddit begins trading on the new york stock exchange. ahead of the debut, catch steve huffman at 9:00 a.m. you can also catch more conversation with cnbc's convec jim cramer with jensen huang. the dow would open up 100 points higher. let's bring back jeff kilburg of kkm financial and cnbc contributor and gunjan banerji. >> you know it.

>> lead writer for "the wall street journal." guys, we were talking about the micron pre-market rally. another stock to check is astera labs and then another big debut today. jeff, i'll start with you. astera had a big debut up over 70%. >> a $9.5 billion market cap after the ipo. you really saw the appetite as the market thawed. it seized up after covid. yesterday was telling that the a.i. appetite was there. if you look at asteralabs as the biggest customers, nvidia and some of the big players. reddit is a different ipo today. i don't see, despite the fact it is priced high at $34, i don't see that matching. it is comparing apples to potatoes.

it is another social media platform. anything a.i. is gobbled up by investors. >> gunjan, a lot of people see reddit as an a.i. play because of the data you get from reddit from large language models. >> i hope i'm wrong. sorry, gunjan. >> i'm hearing animal spirits are back in a big way. that pop in astera yesterday reminded me of 2021 where the fervor was sweeping through the markets. reddit priced at the high end of the range. it will be interesting to see how it trades today. these animal spirits, with not just the ipo market, but bond market, too. companies rushing to issue debt. investors are eating it up. there is a lot of money to put to work. we are seeing that in the ipo market and bond market. >> jeff, back to you.

let's talk about lululemon. earnings coming up later today. what is your view on lululemon and retail? >> lululemon had a tremendous year. you have to talk about nike as well. lululemon is the stock to own. relatively speaking, it is trading 32 times forward pe. on the five-year average, that is inexpensive. lululemon is continuing to bring a quality product to the market. i think leululemon will continu to move higher. >> you mentioned nike as well. some questions about competition from upstarts and what others call a lack of innovation. >> if you look at the one-year, lululemon is up 1% and nike down. i have a couple of teenage kids and everyone wants to wear nike.

you will see the laggard come back. it has been rough sledding for nike. it provides opportunity to buy from an investor perspective. >> gunjan, what about the retail consumer and sector? >> that is the big question moving forward. wall street has a high expectation for the consumer and earnings. that's what has driven the rally in the stock market. the consumer spending got off to a slow start at the start of the year. powell did not seem so concerned about that yesterday. that is a giant question looming over markets. was that seasonal softness or is that the start of the bigger weakness to continue? that is one key thing to watch as we head to the next earnings season. >> you know, speaking of earnings season, jim cramer on "mad money" yesterday was talking about the earnings.

he was talking about it himself. >> we don't care about rate cuts. we care that the fed's is no longer the enemy. the fed is important, but the specifics of when we get rate cuts or how many has become small potatoes. we can think about earnings again rather than worrying endlessly about the fed's next move. >> to both of you. we have to hit this quick. gunjan, you first. does cramer have right? >> we have seen a huge shift in markets over the past few months for almost two years with the game of chicken with the market and fed. the market would say we think we're getting six or seven. the fed was saying no. now the fed saying we will get three and it doesn't matter for investors. i hear a lot less about the fed these days from investors. >> jeff, last word.

>> you know, i love jim cramer, but he has this one wrong. the fed is driving the boat here. if you look at the sensitivity to the fed's road ahead, we really saw last december that we were expecting 150 basis points in cuts. now we have three. the fed is absolutely in the position. i'm really surprised we are giving them so much credibility. the fed was talking about the inflation being transitory years ago and now i think they're wrong. tt ll do it for us on "worldwide exchange." thank you for watching. "squawk box" is coming up next.

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good morning. markets in rally mode. bigly. after the fed signals rate cuts are on the table this year. three. we breakdown chairman powell's comments. apple may find itself in the middle of the anti-trust battle with the government. we will have the latest. is reddit ready for primetime? the social media company going public at the high end of the range. it's thursday, march 21st, 2024.

spring should start anytime. is it march 21st? >> it was yesterday. the 20th. >> are you sure? good morning. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen. andrew is off today. the fed's signal of three interest rate cuts ahead this year is sparking a record-breaking rally for equities. the futures are indicated higher again after yesterday's strong gains as well. looks like dow futures are up triple digits. s&p up 16. nasdaq indicated up 125. that comes after the dow and s&p and