London (AFP) – The world’s main stock markets mostly climbed Monday as investors geared up for the week’s crucial run of central bank decisions and tech earnings, while oil prices retreated from a six-month high. Brazilian markets reeled meanwhile following the shock re-election of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the weekend. The real tumbled by more than 10 percent against the dollar, and the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange suspended trading for 30 minutes as share prices plummeted.
But AI remained on centre stage as Anthropic, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, on Monday made public its plans to sell shares on the stock market, a significant test of whether the AI boom can deliver profits. “The AI complex remains under a microscope ahead of what may be the most important stretch of earnings season so far,” noted SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.
“Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon are about to walk on stage, and this is not one of those quarters where a company can simply beat the number, raise the guidance by a whisker and expect applause. Investors want proof now,” Innes added. “They want to know whether the billions going into the compute buildout are building a durable earnings machine or just a shinier version of the same old capex furnace.”
This week also sees the release of earnings from South Korean chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung. Results from Tesla and Meta last week stoked spending worries that weighed on stock markets. Trading in Asia started in the red after Wall Street closed lower on Friday, but some markets staged a recovery. Europe’s main stock markets were higher in afternoon deals and Wall Street opened higher.
“The simple connection for the positive disposition is that oil prices are lower and that stocks operating under the umbrella of the ‘AI trade’ are on the rebound,” said Patrick O’Hare at Briefing.com. “It all feels a little forced, however, which is to say there is life in the buy-the-dip trade but not a lot of vigor — not at this point anyway,” he added.
Shares in Meta slid 1.3 percent after the parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced it was launching a stock offering that aims to raise $35 billion to fund its AI ambitions. It also announced plans to launch an additional stock offering of up to $60 billion, at a date yet to be determined. Oil prices dropped moderately following Friday’s surge of more than three percent fuelled by supply concerns heading into the northern hemisphere winter.
Also in view this week are monetary policy decisions from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of Japan (BoJ). While the Fed is expected to hold borrowing costs Wednesday, traders will be keen to get an insight into its thinking following last month’s hike and as inflation remains well above its two percent target. The ECB is set to keep interest rates on hold, having hiked twice this year, walking a fine line between tamping down inflation fuelled by the US-Iran war energy shock and supporting the eurozone economy. The BoJ is also forecast to sit tight this month, while the Bank of England is widely expected to hike in November after a jump for UK inflation ahead of the country’s annual budget announcement due Wednesday.
– Key figures at around 1330 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 52,366.71 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 7,647.86
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 26,021.97
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,752.41
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 7,845.42
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 25,429.52
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 62,189.65 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 23,211.81 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,697.52 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $115.80 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.4 percent at $101.87 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1185 from $1.1194 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3339 from $1.3372
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.47 yen from 156.87 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 83.85 pence from 83.71 pence
© 2024 AFP
