London (AFP) – Stock markets mostly retreated Thursday as traders digested a high-stakes meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, mixed company earnings, and uncertainty over further US interest rate cuts. US President Donald Trump described his meeting in South Korea with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — their first since 2019, during Trump’s first term — as “amazing”. The two leaders agreed to calm the US-China trade war that has roiled global markets, with Washington cutting some tariffs and Beijing committing to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.
But stock markets turned mostly lower after having hit new records in the run-up to the meeting and earnings reports by tech giants. “Doubts over the possible returns on investments planned for artificial general intelligence, the Fed’s ‘hawkish’ rate cut, and President Trump’s underwhelming trade deal with China have done little to boost sentiment,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services provider Trade Nation.
US big tech companies were in focus again Thursday, following a mixed reaction to earnings reports from Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft after Wall Street closed on Wednesday. Shares in Meta dove around 12 percent as trading got underway, while Microsoft shed 2.2 percent. Shares in Google-parent Alphabet rose 2.6 percent. “These latest results highlight the business models of the big technology firms are becoming more capital intensive, as they build out their AI capabilities,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. He added, however, that if AI fails to deliver revenue streams, “the effect on share prices could be brutal.” Shares in Nvidia gave up 2.3 percent a day after becoming the first company to reach a $5 trillion market value.
Seoul’s stock market got a lift from tech giant Samsung Electronics posting a 32 percent rise in on-year profits for the third quarter, driven by AI-fuelled market demand for memory chips. The European Central Bank held interest rates steady, as expected, as inflation hovers around its target and the eurozone economy holds up. Data on Thursday showed the eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of 2025. The Bank of Japan also held interest rates steady on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut. Fed chair Jerome Powell’s announcement, however, cast doubt on an additional cut in December, jolting US markets and lifting the value of the dollar on Wednesday.
Advertising giant WPP led losses in London, dropping more than 17 percent after it cut its annual outlook. Shares in auto giant Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Fiat, and Peugeot, sank over 10 percent despite rising sales as the group said it expects to incur charges in the second half of the year. Volkswagen shares fell nearly two percent after its first quarterly loss for five years, topping one billion euros. Danish weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk, owner of treatments Wegovy and Ozempic, saw its shares fall more than four percent after it launched a bidding war with US rival Pfizer for obesity treatment maker Metsera.
– Key figures at around 1330 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 47,450.07
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,850.87
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 23,764.12
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,701.29 points
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,135.14
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,083.79
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 51,325.61 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,282.69 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,986.90 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1571 from $1.1595 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3139 from $1.3187
Dollar/yen: UP at 154.33 yen from 152.82 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 88.07 from 87.94 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $63.64 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.1 percent at $59.81 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
