Nvidia’s outlook fuels global tech stock rally
Investor euphoria over Nvidia’s upbeat outlook spurred a global rally in technology stocks, bolstering confidence in the artificial-intelligence (AI) trade that has powered the bull market.
Meanwhile, European share indices were pulled in different directions as falling French stocks dented the tech sector’s bounce.
DUBLIN
On low trading volumes, the Iseq index fell by 1.2 per cent, underperforming its European counterparts. Banks moved lower in line with a wider sectoral move across the Continent. AIB fell by 1.7 per cent to close at €10.79 per share and Bank of Ireland closed at €18.81, down 1. 1 per cent.
Among the index heavyweights, Ryanair shed 2.8 per cent to close at €23.26 per share. Airlines across Europe fell after Australia’s Qantas reported its lowest annual profit in four years amid surging fuel costs.
Meanwhile, Irish Continental Group moved 2.2 per cent higher to €7.34 after the Irish Ferries owner said it was considering adjourning Friday’s extraordinary general meeting on a €1.2 billion deal to sell the ferries operator to management.
LONDON
The UK’s main share benchmarks were mixed, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 off by 0.8 per cent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was little changed.
Among individual stocks, Halfords surged by almost 11 per cent to the top of the domestic-focused index after forecasting annual profit above market expectations.
Computacenter rose 7.8 per cent to the top of the FTSE 250 after Peel Hunt upgraded the stock to “buy” from “add” and raised its price target.
Meanwhile, tech stocks led sectoral gains on the back of Nvidia’s earnings report. Enterprise software group Sage jumped 3.8 per cent, while information analytics company Relx jumped by 3.1 per cent.
Weighing on the benchmark index, Lloyds tumbled by more than 2 per cent after Wednesday’s banking app outage. Other UK banks also faltered while industrial miners and oil majors Shell and BP dipped, tracking lower oil and minerals prices.
EUROPE
European stocks fell as wider AI optimism failed to offset market weaknesses, with French shares particularly subject to selling pressure. Both the blue-chip Stoxx 50 closed down by around 0.7 per cent.
Technology stocks led sectoral gains, rising 1.5 per cent, with shares of German software group SAP up 5.8 per cent. Chipmakers also benefited from the Nvidia-fuelled rally, with Infineon adding 3.1 per cent, although ASML bucked the trend, shedding 1 per cent.
Blue-chip French stocks, meanwhile, hit a one-month low on Thursday as investors fretted about upcoming budget and election risks, with the first presidential debate before next year’s election set to take place later on.
The move was led by banks, with BNP Paribas sinking by more than 5 per cent, while Credit Agricole fell by 4 per cent, and Société Générale losing 5.8 per cent.
NEW YORK
Reporting after hours on Wednesday, Nvidia’s blowout outlook propelled Wall Street higher. The world’s most valuable company jumped 7.8 per cent after saying revenue will grow about 70 per cent next fiscal year, bringing relief to investors worried about an AI bubble.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose about 1 per cent, outpacing the broader market. The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead by just over 0.2 per cent.
Salesforce surged 14.4 per cent after raising its annual revenue and profit forecasts, and rolling out a new plug-in integrated with Anthropic’s Claude AI models.
CrowdStrike climbed 14.5 per cent after the cybersecurity software provider also raised its annual revenue forecast and topped second-quarter earnings estimates.
Both reports calmed worries that advanced AI tools could upend the traditional software industry, boosting investor appetite for beaten-down software stocks and narrowing the gap with semiconductors, which are seen as the primary beneficiaries of the AI boom.
US chipmakers Micron Technology and Marvell Technology advanced about 1 per cent each. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters