London (AFP) – Wall Street stocks opened higher Thursday as the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell back after earlier hitting the highest level since the dot-com bust in 2002. The US 10-year yield hit as much as 5.34 percent, with renewed advances for oil prices adding to the inflation fears as Brent crude once again surpassed $100 a barrel. But it fell back, trading at around 5.31 percent as stock trading began in New York. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all rose at the start of trading.
Record results by chip maker Micron Technology provided a much-needed boost to investors amid lingering worries about the vast sums pumped into the AI sector in recent years, and when companies will see returns. “Today’s early gains came after Micron Technology released a strong set of quarterly numbers after yesterday’s US close, while it signalled robust demand for AI memory chips,” said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison. “While the response from Micron’s share price was mixed, its results helped to lift other semiconductor stocks, along with those of AI-adjacent companies,” he added. Micron shares opened 0.2 percent lower in New York, after climbing around 12 percent over the past month.
European stocks were lower in afternoon trading, with French and UK 10-year yields also striking their highest levels since the 2000s, while 30-year bonds also hit multi-decade peaks on growing inflation fears. “It looks like the relentless rout in the bond market is sending investors running for cover,” said Neil Wilson, a market strategist at Saxo UK. Paris stocks were down 0.8 percent, with sentiment also being hit by the French government indicating it plans to raise taxes and cut spending to bring down its deficit.
In Asia, Tokyo and Seoul stock markets closed with strong gains thanks to the Micron announcement as well as other AI news. “Asian stocks with links to AI still managed strong gains as they reacted to a blockbuster set of earnings from US memory chip outfit Micron,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. Traders are meanwhile awaiting Friday’s US jobs data for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will follow up last month’s interest rate hike, aimed at combatting elevated inflation, with another round of tightening in October. The prospect of back-to-back increases eased Wednesday after the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge came in at 3.4 percent year-on-year in August, unchanged from July.
– Key figures at around 1330 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 50,984.47 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 7,667.04
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 26,972.54
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 10,500.87
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 7,905.06
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 25,159.94
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 3.3 percent at 68,956.72 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday
Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holiday
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.0 percent at $100.03 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $90.82 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1286 from $1.1325 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3219 from $1.3257
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.60 yen from 157.38 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.37 pence from 85.41 pence
© 2024 AFP
