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World Shares Mixed on Wall St. Losses 02/13 04:52
World shares were mixed on Friday, following sharp Wall Street losses on a
sell-off of technology-related stocks that investors fear could lose out from
artificial intelligence disruptions.
HONG KONG (AP) -- World shares were mixed on Friday, following sharp Wall
Street losses on a sell-off of technology-related stocks that investors fear
could lose out from artificial intelligence disruptions.
U.S. futures edged lower. The future for the S&P 500 fell less than 0.1%,
while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1% lower.
In Europe, Germany's DAX was up less than 0.1% to 24,860.94 in early
trading. Britain's FTSE gained 0.2% to 10,424.39, while the CAC 40 in Paris
lost 0.2% to 8,323.44.
Asia shares were trading lower. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 56,941.97.
SoftBank Group, which has a focus on AI, lost 8.9% even after the company
reported a $1.6 billion quarterly profit Thursday building on its investments
in OpenAI, among other gains.
South Korea's Kospi was down 0.3% to 5,507.01 despite earlier gains. Samsung
Electronics, the country's largest listed company, was up 1.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.7% to 26,567.12. The Shanghai Composite index
was down 1.3% to 4,082.07.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 1.4% lower, while India's Sensex was
down 1.1%.
On Thursday, Wall Street saw sharp losses as AI worries dampened sentiment.
The S&P 500 fell for its second-worst day since Thanksgiving, dropping 1.6%, or
108.71, to 6,832.76, but it's still near an all-time high that was set last
month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3%, or 669.42, to 49,451.98.
The Nasdaq composite lost 2%, or 469.32, to 22,597.15.
American technology giant Cisco Systems sank 12.3% even though it reported
better-than-expected quarterly results, as investors were concerned about its
ongoing profitability.
Shares of technology company AppLovin plunged 19.7% despite
better-than-expected quarterly profits as worries over AI undercutting its
business weighed on its stock price.
Fears of AI disruptions across industries in recent days have hit investor
confidence in companies, especially in software stocks. Some analysts say
uncertainties surrounding the AI disruption risk are likely to go on for a
while. Many remained concerned about whether massive AI investments by
companies will eventually pay off.
But other analysts are more optimistic. Economists at Capital Economics, for
example, argue that they still believe in the AI rally, and that this year will
be a "good year" for the S&P 500, building on the technology-led gains.
"Our sense remains that a sustained reversal of tech outperformance would
require a big slide in tech itself," Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia
Pacific at Capital Economics wrote in a recent note. "We think tech will fare
very well."
For other U.S. stocks, McDonald's was up 2.7% following
stronger-than-expected profits. Walmart gained 3.8%.
Investors and economists are also paying close attention to the U.S.
inflation data set to be released Friday, which could impact on the Federal
Reserve's interest rate moves. Some economists expect the likelihood of another
rate cut is low for the next few months.
In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 0.1% to $62.75
a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell less than 0.1% to
$67.46 per barrel.
Gold and silver prices gained. The price of gold -- which earlier fell back
below $5,000 per ounce -- was up 0.4% to $4,970.30. The price of silver rose 1%
to $76.45 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 153.38 Japanese yen from 152.72 yen. The euro was
trading at $1.1857, down from $1.1871.
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