London (AFP) – Stock markets rose Wednesday as renewed optimism over the AI trade overshadowed forecast-topping US inflation data and the prospect of a bumper interest rate hike next month. Wall Street’s main indices opened higher with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbing 1.6 percent.
“The primary catalyst for the upside action is, ironically, one of the primary catalysts for the downside action that had been seen in the AI trade,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “That would be CoreWeave, which posted better-than-feared third quarter results and issued a reassuring outlook that has quieted some of the debt financing concerns surrounding its AI buildout plans,” he added.
The data centre operator said sales would come in at $13-$13.3 billion this year, beating estimates. The outlook soothed worries about its ability to finance its heavy debt burden, which had fuelled a sharp sell-off last month. Shares in CoreWeave rose more than seven percent at the start of trading in New York.
“This relief trade is carrying across the AI trade complex to include hardware, software, and semiconductor stocks,” said O’Hare. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the main players in the AI chipmaking sector, rose more than four percent.
Also lifting confidence was Anthropic’s filing showing it planned to raise up to $64 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, valuing it at as much as $1.4 trillion. Its stock market debut is being seen as a gauge of how long the AI spending boom can last.
After last week’s rout fuelled by fears that Democrats would ramp up regulation of AI, tech stocks have bounced this week on bargain-buying and hopes that fears may have been overdone. Chip giant Nvidia, however, also remained in focus following the bombshell revelation of an affair between CEO Jensen Huang and a woman reportedly suspected of being a Chinese spy. The firm is now the subject of an FBI investigation. Nvidia shares gained three percent at the start of trading but as of Tuesday had lost more than 30 percent from the record high set last month.
London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets all advanced after a largely positive day in Asia. Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei — where most of Asia’s leading AI-linked firms are listed — enjoyed big gains, with Shanghai also up. Hong Kong, however, fell. The dollar rose as traders weigh the possibility of a bigger-than-expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve when it next meets in December.
Oil prices rose after sinking Tuesday on hopes for a US-Iran agreement to end their war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz. In company news, Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank tumbled as much as eight percent in Tokyo after reporting a more than $7 billion loss in the fiscal second quarter. Shares in Siemens Energy jumped more than eight percent in Frankfurt after raising its long-term revenue targets, as demand for gas turbines and power-grid equipment surges.
– Key figures at around 1430 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 52,263.38 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 1.0 percent at 7,594.98
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.6 percent at 25,453.82
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,798.51
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,313.24
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 26,560.87
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 61,248.59 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 2.6 percent at 5,375.36 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,315.92 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,680.64 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.3 percent at $92.72 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $87.15 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1092 from $1.1164 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3273 from $1.3345
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.66 from 158.80 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.58 from 83.65 pence
© 2024 AFP
