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World Shares Mixed, Oil Prices Surge 07/29 04:49
World shares were mixed while South Korea's Kospi stock index dropped 6%
Wednesday as doubts over massive investments in artificial intelligence once
again led investors to dump chipmakers' shares.
TOKYO (AP) -- World shares were mixed while South Korea's Kospi stock index
dropped 6% Wednesday as doubts over massive investments in artificial
intelligence once again led investors to dump chipmakers' shares.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.4% to 25,357.69, while the
CAC 40 in Paris skidded 0.8% to 8,395.21. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower
to 10,865.48.
The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average was little changed.
The latest rout in Seoul was led by a plunge in shares in chipmaker SK Hynix
after its operating profit in the last quarter fell short of analysts'
forecasts even though it soared nearly sixfold.
The Kospi fell more than 8% earlier in the day, but closed 6% lower, at
5,663.24. The benchmark only recently had topped 9,000 before bouncing back
down to its lowest level since early April.
SK Hynix sank 9.4% while shares in Samsung Electronics dropped 4.8%.
Markets have been stricken by spates of selling of AI-related stocks as
investors react to various developments including progress in China toward
cheaper, advanced AI models.
Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% to 61,434.19, giving up
early gains. Shares in chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron sank 10.6% and
chip measuring and inspection systems maker Lasertec Corp. fell 8.3%.
Japanese stocks were mixed in their reaction to a major earthquake that
rattled the southern Kyushu region a day earlier. A previous earthquake in the
region caused severe damage and disruptions for automakers and other
manufacturers.
Shares in Nippon Paper, owner of a mill in the disaster zone that was
severely damaged by Tuesday's quake, fell 2.1%.
Taiwan's Taiex shed 3.8%.
The Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses to pick up 0.4%. It
closed at 3,830.02.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2% to 25,807.92.
In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 1% to 9,038.60 after the government
reported that inflation has remained moderate, relieving pressure on the
central bank to raise interest rates.
India's Sensex added 1.1%.
In other trading, oil prices that had eased from the two-month high that
they hit last week rebounded as a brief pause in fighting in the Iran war was
shattered. Jordan's air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran
early Wednesday, the country's military said, hours after the U.S. military
said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American
forces in the Middle East.
The calm persisted for about three days following weeks of escalation over
the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint
through which 20% of the world's traded oil normally flows.
Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.3% to $84.77 a barrel.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 3.4% to $81.93 a barrel.
On Tuesday, shares were mixed on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 added 0.2% and the Dow industrials jumped 1%. The Nasdaq
composite slipped 0.2%.
The majority of U.S. stocks rose after more companies delivered stronger
profits for the spring than analysts expected. Coca-Cola climbed 5% after its
revenue rose 7%.
Expectations for stellar earnings reports are weighing particularly heavily
on stocks of chipmakers and other companies that have been huge winners from
the boom in artificial-intelligence technology.
Micron Technology's stock came into the day having more than tripled for the
year following gangbuster growth, but its shares sank 8.9%.
Other tech companies helping to keep the market in check were Advanced Micro
Devices, down 8.1%, and Applied Materials, down 7.8%.
In currency trading early Wednesday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 163.54
Japanese yen from 163.81 yen. The euro cost $1.1395, up from $1.1391.
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