Global shares are mixed after US stock rally, and oil prices gain more than 1%
Oil prices rose more than 1% after an attack on a major Saudi Arabia refinery by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday renewed supply concerns
Global stock markets experienced a mixed day on Wednesday, following an upward trend in US stocks driven by the performance of AI companies. The attack on a Saudi Arabian refinery by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday sparked concerns about oil supply, leading to a rise in oil prices. In European markets, Germany's DAX fell by 0.2% to 25,539.36, while the CAC 40 in Paris decreased by 0.1% to 7,882.52.
Britain's FTSE 100 dropped by 0.4% at 10,645.50. The S&P 500's future increased by 0.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a 0.2% decline. In Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose by 6.8% to close at 6,023.73, and memory chipmaker SK Hynix surged 11.4% to its highest level in two weeks after reporting record-high operating profits.
Samsung Electronics also gained 9.1%. Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed by 1.1% to 63,954.19, while Kioxia Holdings saw a 9.6% increase ahead of its quarterly earnings report. The Bank of Japan is set to hold its meeting on Thursday, with markets anticipating no change in the benchmark interest rate. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.3% to 23,104.91, and the Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.9% to 3,681.47.
Taiwan's Taiex increased by 2%. India's Sensex fell by 0.8%. Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom company, surged 21% during its market debut following the country's biggest initial public offering. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.3% to 8,847.30. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its interest rate at 2.75% amid a week of central bank activity.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index edged up by 0.1%. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose by 0.6%, nearing its all-time high set this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%. Most stocks within the S&P 500 fell, but influential AI stocks compensated for the losses. AI stocks continued to rise on the same day, following weeks of uncertainty about their boom due to high borrowing costs for data center construction and AI chip purchases.
Broadcom gained 4% after announcing a $63 billion financing deal to help Anthropic access its XPU AI accelerators and networking solutions. Nvidia added 0.9%, and CoreWeave, a company that borrowed money to purchase AI chips for cloud-based rental, jumped 7.9%. Overall, companies are under pressure to deliver significant profit growth, with high expectations from financial analysts and investors.
Although U.S. consumer confidence declined recently due to inflation and high interest rates, a report on Tuesday indicated an improvement in consumer confidence in October, contrary to expectations. In the bond market, Treasury yields remained stable a day before the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. The 10-year Treasury yield decreased to 4.99% from 5.00% on Monday.
Brent crude oil prices increased by 1.4% to $110.99 a barrel, while US benchmark crude gained 1.4% to $101.33 per barrel. The U.S. dollar weakened to 157.74 Japanese yen, and the euro traded at $1.1123.
Written by urgent.news from Hindu BusinessLine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
