World shares mixed after AI-linked fears start to fade

Hong Kong: US futures fell while global shares were mixed after strong-than-expected earnings from chipmaker Nvidia helped ease some investor worries over the artificial intelligence boom.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2 per cent to 10,824.90. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4 per cent to 8,593.83, while Germany’s DAX down 0.2 per cent to 25,133.39.

The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent. Asian shares mostly advanced.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 crossed the 59,000 mark for the first time, although it later gave up some gains, rising 0.3 per cent to 58,753.39. Shares of SoftBank Group, which has a focus on AI technology, rose 4 per cent.

Share prices also pushed higher after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appointed two economists viewed as favouring keeping interest rates low to the board of the central bank. The Bank of Japan has been gradually raising rates from near zero.

South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.7 per cent to 6,307.27, driven by gains for tech-related stocks. The index surpassed the 6,000 level for the first time on Wednesday. It has gained 46 per cent since the beginning of this year after enduring a year of political upheavals that ended with former President Yoon Suk Yeol being sentenced to life in prison.

Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest listed company, jumped 7.1 per cent. Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 8 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.4 per cent to 26,381.02. The Shanghai Composite index barely budged, closing at 4,146.63. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 per cent to 9,175.30.

Taiwan’s Taiex was flat, while India’s Sensex traded 0.1 per cent higher. Nvidia’s earnings influence global financial markets both because it is the world’s most valuable company and the biggest S&P 500 constituent and because it is benefiting from advances in AI-related technologies.

Its latest quarterly revenue jumped 73 per cent from a year earlier to $68 billion. The California-based company also gave a forecast of $78 billion for revenue in the current quarter, which exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Its CEO, Jensen Huang, said demand for Nvidia chips is still “skyrocketing”. “AI is here, AI is not going to go back,” Huang said during a conference call.

Nvidia rose 0.2 per cent in afterhours trading following its earnings announcement, which came after markets closed on Wednesday.