London (AFP) – Stock markets sought Friday to stabilise following the shock downfall of Nvidia’s chief Jensen Huang that battered tech stocks, but losses deepened. After opening higher, Wall Street’s main indices descended into the red during morning trading.
Equities initially got a bounce from the latest inflation reading in the United States. The Producer Price Index, which measures the prices that farms, factories, and other makers of goods receive, rose by 0.3 percent in October from the previous month, in line with analyst estimates. The report comes on the heels of a hot consumer prices reading earlier in the week that also highlighted the impact of increased energy costs due to the US–Iran war.
Following the report, US stock futures popped higher, while expectations of a 0.5-percentage-point hike in US interest rates next month receded. Investors still expect the US Federal Reserve to lift interest rates by at least a quarter percentage point next month to try to rein in stubborn inflation. US wholesale inflation data may have been better than some analysts had expected, but was “not necessarily as comforting as it appeared when taking into account the upward revisions for September,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. The September monthly gain was revised up to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent, and the annual reading for October hit 6.5 percent, the highest since November 2022.
“The key takeaway from the report is that inflation at the wholesale level is still a big problem,” O’Hare said. Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at online trading and investing platform IG, said the report reinforces “expectations that the Federal Reserve may need to deliver further rate hikes, adding another headwind for high-valued technology stocks.” Many technology firms borrow heavily to finance their investments, making them very sensitive to increases in interest rates. Tech stocks were down around 2.5 percent in midday trading in New York, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor sector index of chipmakers down nearly six percent. Shares in Nvidia fell 3.6 percent.
The chip titan has been at the centre of a storm after reports emerged that Huang — a pivotal figure in the AI explosion in recent years — had had extramarital affairs, including with a woman accused of spying for China. Huang stepped down as chief executive on Thursday in the face of a boardroom revolt, initially sending shares in the company down 14 percent before paring losses to end the day around four percent lower. Senior Trump administration officials began apportioning blame Friday for failing to blacklist Singapore company Megaspeed from buying advanced Nvidia chips, which it allegedly routed to China in violation of US export controls. The company is at the centre of the scandal that prompted Huang to resign.
A further tightening of US export controls on cutting-edge AI chips could slow the development of AI infrastructure, affecting valuations throughout the sector. Shares in Microsoft recovered from early losses after struggling to fix an issue that left users around the world without its Outlook email app. Asian and European stocks traded mixed. Oil prices wobbled after the International Energy Agency said global oil supplies were expected to exceed demand in the fourth quarter, as more tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz despite the ongoing conflict with Iran.
– Key figures at around 1630 GMT –
New York – DOW: DOWN 0.1 percent at 52,223.62 points
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,526.76
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.5 percent at 24,983.89
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,902.56 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,372.86 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 26,749.95 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 61,142.35 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: DOWN 1.0 percent at 5,290.53 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.6 percent at 23,637.60 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,634.35 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.7 percent at $96.48 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $89.10 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1036 from $1.1055 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3223 from $1.3235
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.87 yen from 159.84 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.49 from 83.53 pence
© 2024 AFP
