**London (AFP)** – Stock markets mostly rose Wednesday, with sentiment boosted by news that Elon Musk’s SpaceX reported its first quarterly profit as a public company. The announcement, which followed the close of Tuesday’s trading on Wall Street, helped push up technology stocks in particular. Amid gains for share prices across much of Europe and following advances in Asia, “US futures point to a positive start on Wall Street after strong numbers from SpaceX,” noted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Alongside the SpaceX results, Musk said he would back a merger of his rocket and AI company with electric car giant Tesla, which he also runs. “The next test of market sentiment will come tonight with earnings from (Facebook parent) Meta and Tesla,” Mould added. SpaceX’s net profit of $4.4 billion for July-September was more than double that expected and compared with a loss of $1.1 billion a year earlier. Revenue at the firm, which listed after a world-record initial public offering in June, soared 161 percent to $14.6 billion.
Server-maker Super Micro Computer also provided a fillip to buying sentiment when it said preliminary quarterly earnings had come in better than forecast. The developments soothed worries on trading floors about the outlook for the AI boom, which has seen companies pump hundreds of billions into research and development of software, data centers, and other hardware. “Clear earnings beats and constructive corporate updates are helping to ease some of the AI anxiety that has surfaced in recent sessions,” said KCM Trade analyst Tim Waterer. “If (Meta and Tesla’s) reports deliver similarly strong results and guidance, it could go some way toward reigniting broader AI enthusiasm and giving the sector more sustained momentum.”
In Seoul, the stock price of infrastructure firm Elice soared nearly 30 percent, having tanked on its trading debut Tuesday. The Paris stock market was higher overall in midday deals amid some extreme movement among individual stocks. EssilorLuxottica soared 14 percent after the world’s top maker of eyeglasses announced late Tuesday a 24-percent jump in sales of lenses that help slow short-sightedness in children. However, supermarket giant Carrefour plunged 14 percent after it warned that the recent violent protests across France would dent profits. Chief executive Alexandre Bompard said around 50 Carrefour stores were looted over the weekend, and it expects operating profit will be cut this year by 80 million to 200 million euros ($90-$225 million) as a result.
The yield on France’s benchmark 10-year government bond meanwhile surpassed five percent, its highest level since 2002, as investors demanded a higher return for holding the country’s debt amid a budget standoff and the protests. In foreign exchange, the British pound firmed against the dollar and euro as analysts said a bigger than expected jump for UK inflation last month had increased the likelihood of the Bank of England raising its benchmark interest rate next month.
**Key figures at around 1045 GMT:**
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,743.52 points
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 7,884.30
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 25,487.93
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 64,621.24 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 3.3 percent at 5,735.66 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 23,651.87 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,713.03 (close)
New York – Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 52,495.88 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.7 percent at $110.70 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.0 percent at $99.79 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1227 from $1.1235 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3393 from $1.3378
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.07 yen from 158.23 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.86 pence from 83.98 pence.
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© 2024 AFP
