London (AFP) – Tech firms rose Tuesday for a second day as AI titan Anthropic’s IPO filing revived optimism over the sector. But gains were tempered as traders awaited key earnings reports and central bank meetings. In New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way, up more than 0.5 percent in early morning trading. The wider S&P 500 was also higher but not by as much, while the Dow was little changed.
In a share-launch filing Monday, Anthropic, the mother company for the AI product Claude, reported first-half revenue surged about 1,300 percent year-on-year but also flagged heavy capital spending ahead. “The fact that this five-year-old company could soon launch a record-breaking IPO helped boost investor confidence, following a decidedly rocky period across AI-adjacent corporations of late,” said David Morrison, an analyst at Trade Nation. Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft were all up in early trading.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was dragged down by HSBC, whose share price shed almost seven percent after its bumper profits undershot market expectations. Mercedes-Benz shed 3.5 percent in Frankfurt after the German carmaker cut its full-year outlook, underperforming the DAX index, which slightly rose overall in afternoon trading. Paris also rose.
Earlier, equities rose in Japan and Korea, also boosted by Anthropic’s IPO filing. The sale is seen as a crucial test of whether the AI boom can deliver profits, and a disappointing reception could dent enthusiasm further, with traders questioning the vast sums invested in the sector as well as several companies’ financial positions. The filing lays out risks for the AI industry that has faced a string of damaging reports in recent months.
Seoul’s stock market briefly jumped more than four percent Tuesday thanks to strong gains in chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung. Tokyo added 1.8 percent on spikes in Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank. “Sentiment towards technology has improved as investors assess Anthropic’s IPO filing at the start of a week packed with corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision,” said Fiona Cincotta at FOREX.com.
Investors are awaiting earnings this week from Magnificent Seven members Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon, as well as SK hynix and Samsung. Facebook parent Meta on Monday said it plans to raise $35 billion through a stock offering to fund artificial intelligence development. Google parent Alphabet recently raised $85 billion through equity offerings to fund its AI data center expansion.
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates on hold in a decision Wednesday, though CME Group’s FedWatch tool says there is a 70 percent chance of a hike when it meets in December as inflation rises. Those expectations have boosted the dollar. “While there’s only a 10 percent chance that the Fed will announce a rate hike tomorrow, investors remain convinced that there will be an increase in interest rates before year-end,” said Trade Nation’s Morrison. The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are also expected to hold tight in announcements on Thursday and Friday.
– Key figures at around 1335 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 52,361.85 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 7,700.93
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.6 percent at 26,315.65
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 10,670.43
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,873.19
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 25,481.67
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 63,268.37 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 3.1 percent at 5,638.34 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 23,041.32 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.3 percent at 3,650.47 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $109.98 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $100.92 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1145 from $1.1182 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3319 from $1.3349
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.83 yen from 157.45 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.67 pence from 83.78 pence
© 2024 AFP
