AP – Wall Street is largely unchanged before the opening bell, a day after retreating from record highs as technology slipped and companies in the oil sector tumbled in tandem with oil prices.
Futures for the S&P 500 are up less than 0.1 per cent yesterday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average are flat.
Oil prices are retreating for the fourth straight day and have declined about seven per cent this week. Morgan Stanley shares rose two per cent after the New York investment bank topped Wall Street’s third-quarter revenue and profit targets on the strength of a red-hot stock market and its wealth management segment.
Trucking company JB Hunt soared after it easily beat sales and profit projections, even as both declined from a year ago. Investors were encouraged by the Arkansas company’s improved profit margins and sent shares up 7.4 per cent before the bell.
United Airlines ticked up about 1.2 per cent in extended hours trading after the carrier easily beat third-quarter profit forecasts and announced a USD1.5 billion share buyback.
In Europe at midday, Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7 per cent after the government reported that inflation in the United Kingdom (UK) fell to 1.7 per cent in September, its lowest level in more than three years. That reinforced expectations that the Bank of England (BoE) will cut interest rates at its next policy meeting.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.5 per cent, while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.3 per cent.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.8 per cent to 39,180.30, leading the declines, as tech stocks fell after Dutch computer chip equipment supplier ASML warned of a slower recovery in demand for semiconductors outside of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Chip maker Tokyo Electron sank 9.2 per cent and Lasertec Corp, which makes equipment to inspect chips, lost 13.4 per cent.
In reporting ASML’s latest quarterly results, its CEO Christophe Fouquet said AI continues to offer strong upside potential, but “other market segments are taking longer to recover”.
ASML’s stock traded in the United States (US) fell 16.3 per cent.
“Anxiety has also intensified with reports that the US is considering new restrictions on chip exports to specific countries, particularly targeting Nvidia and AMD, citing national security concerns,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary.
Traders are watching for an earnings report from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, due today. TMSC’s shares fell 2.3 per cent yesterday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 per cent to 8,284.70.
In Seoul, the Kospi shed 0.9 per cent to 2,610.36, while Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 1.2 per cent. India’s Sensex lost 0.5 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bounced between gains and losses and closed 0.2 per cent lower, at 20,286.85, while the Shanghai Composite index edged less than 0.1 per cent higher, to 3,202.95.
The central banks in the Philippines and Thailand cut their benchmark interest rates, moving to relieve pressure on their economies.
The SET in Bangkok rose 1.3 per cent after the Bank of Thailand cut its main rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.25 per cent, saying it intended to help alleviate the growing burden of household debt that has been weighing on the economy.
Oil slipped back into losses early yesterday, with benchmark US crude oil giving up 29 cents to USD70.29 per barrel. Brent crude declined 30 cents to USD73.95 per barrel.
The dollar inched down to JPY149.19 from JPY149.22. The euro rose modestly, to USD1.0896 from USD1.0892.
