New York (AFP) – Wall Street stocks rebounded on Friday as investors welcomed strong earnings reports by Amazon and Apple. But Europe and Asian stock markets mostly fell at the end of a fluctuating week as traders reacted to company earnings, central bank decisions, and a tentative US-China trade truce. Wall Street had ended lower on Thursday, with bloated AI spending by Meta reviving worries among investors.
However, US stocks rebounded on Friday, boosted by Amazon reporting better-than-expected earnings that were driven by surging demand for its cloud computing services. Shares of Amazon finished up 9.6 percent. Apple also posted quarterly sales that beat estimates, powered by iPhone and services revenue, while Netflix shares jumped after it announced a 10-for-one stock split.
“Investors remain bullish thanks to strong gains across tech and semiconductor stocks driven by optimism over the future of artificial intelligence,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services provider Trade Nation. Investor confidence in artificial intelligence lifted markets at the start of the week, pushing Nvidia to become the first firm with a $5 trillion market value and sending several stock markets to record highs. Sentiment was further boosted by a detente in the US-China trade war which has shaken global markets, although momentum faded as the two sides stopped short of producing a signed agreement.
While the Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates as expected, Chairman Jerome Powell’s follow-up comments that another reduction by the end of the year was not guaranteed dampened sentiment as investors had been expecting another cut at the US central bank meeting in December. The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan held their rates steady Thursday. The ECB’s stance was reinforced by data Friday showing inflation eased closer to the central bank’s two-percent target in October. European stocks ended the day lower.
In Asia, Tokyo’s main benchmark gained more than two percent on Friday while Seoul added half a percent, with both reaching record closes. Japan’s climb came despite a plunge in Nissan shares after the auto giant said it expected to suffer an operating loss in its current fiscal year ending in March.
– Key figures at around 2010 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 47,562.87 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,840.20 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 23,724.96 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,717.25 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,121.07 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 at 23,958.30 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 52,411.34 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 25,906.65 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,954.79 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1527 from $1.1565 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3139 from $1.3151
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.11 yen from 154.13 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.74 from 87.94 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $60.98 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $65.07 per barrel
burs-jmb/iv
© 2024 AFP
