New York (AFP) – The Nasdaq fell for the fourth straight session Thursday, driven by weakness in Apple and other tech giants, while oil prices pushed higher after a cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. The cargo ship was damaged by an unknown projectile off the Omani coast in the strategic strait on Thursday, prompting the International Maritime Organization to halt an evacuation of crews trapped by the US-Iran war. Oil prices, which have been in retreat following the US-Iran announcement of a peace deal, rose more than two percent.
Wall Street indices finished mixed following a choppy session. US stocks had opened higher following blowout results from chip company Micron but later hit a speedbump after Apple announced price hikes on laptops, tablets, and other products, citing spiraling memory and storage costs sparked by the rise of artificial intelligence. Shares of Apple slid by 6.2 percent. Both Amazon and Microsoft also fell after EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera stated that the tech giants should face tougher digital competition rules in Europe due to their dominant position in cloud computing. Other tech companies in the so-called “Magnificent Seven” also fell, but by smaller percentages.
Micron soared 15.8 percent after it reported profits of $28.2 billion on revenues of $41.5 billion, staggering figures that underscored robust demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Briefing.com described the outcome as “divergent tech performance,” adding that the gains “continue to broaden” to other sectors. These include industrial companies such as Caterpillar, which surged by 6.3 percent. The Micron earnings had also given a lift to South Korea’s Kospi, which soared more than five percent due to tech share strength. Tokyo’s Nikkei also had a good day, jumping 4.6 percent.
US data included an upward revision in first-quarter growth to 2.1 percent, while a key inflation reading in May showed personal consumption expenditures rising 4.1 percent from a year ago. While this marks a three-year high for the inflation reading, analysts noted that with oil prices falling, the figure made it unlikely the Fed would raise interest rates further than already expected in the coming months. “The lack of an upside surprise allows investors to focus on nearer-term catalysts, including renewed strength in technology stocks on the back of Micron’s powerful earnings-driven reaction,” said Bret Kenwell, investment analyst at eToro.
Among individual companies, Bayer surged 18.7 percent after the US Supreme Court handed the German pharmaceutical and agriculture company a significant win in long-running litigation over claims in US courts that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer. Ford climbed two percent after a prominent US consumer survey extolled the Michigan auto giant’s quality performance, rating it first among mass-market brands in a quality survey conducted with carmakers in the first 90 days of ownership.
– Key figures around 2030 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 51,920.62 (close)
New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 7,357.56 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,358.60 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 10,529.89 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 8,431.61 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 24,994.83 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 5.4 percent at 8,930.30 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 4.6 percent at 72,366.34 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 23,076.91 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 4,120.28 (close)
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.1 percent at $75.26 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $71.92 a barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1374 from $1.1358 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3199 from $1.3168
Dollar/yen: UP at 161.81 yen from 161.78 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.18 pence from 86.26 pence.
© 2024 AFP
