It was all going so well on Wall Street overnight until the late afternoon, when big tech struck again, dragging the share market down with it.
Nevertheless, the Dow Jones rose by 0.6%, setting a new record high, driven by robust US economic growth data.
The S&P 500 index remained flat, while the Nasdaq, the index most impacted by tech, of course, declined by 0.2%.
ASX to rise
In response to these movements, ASX futures are pointing to a positive start for the Australian market, indicating a potential rise of 0.6%.
On Wall Street, Nvidia, the artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker, saw its shares drop 6.4% following a quarterly revenue forecast that failed to meet the market's lofty expectations.
Despite surpassing earnings estimates for its fiscal second quarter, Nvidia’s forecast was not well received by investors.
Conversely, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gained 1.5% after Citigroup named it its top AI pick, while CrowdStrike Holdings rose 2.8% following better-than-expected quarterly revenue results.
By contrast, Dollar General (NYSE:DG) plummeted 32.2% after lowering its annual sales and profit forecasts.
The economic outlook in the US improved as the Commerce Department revised its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth upward to 3%, up from the initial estimate of 2.8%.
This revision, driven by strong consumer spending, suggests that the US has narrowly avoided a recession.
European markets closed higher, with the continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.8%, as investors reacted to lower-than-expected inflation data across the region.
German annual inflation eased to 2.0% in August, down from 2.6% in July, while Spanish inflation dropped to 2.4% from 2.9%.
Currencies and commodities
Currencies were mixed against the US dollar during Thursday's trading in both European and US markets.
The Euro weakened, falling from US$1.1139 to US$1.1056, and was trading near US$1.1080 by the US close.
The Australian dollar also eased, falling from 68.23 US cents to 67.84 US cents, before stabilising near 68.00 US cents at the close.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen dipped from 144.45 yen per US dollar to JPY145.53, before recovering slightly to trade near JPY145.00 at the US close.
In commodities, global oil prices rose by over 1% due to supply disruptions in Libya and output reduction plans in Iraq. Brent crude increased by 1.6% to US$79.94 per barrel, while US Nymex crude gained 1.9% to US$75.91 per barrel.
Gold prices also saw an uptick, with futures rising by 0.9% to US$2,560.30 an ounce, driven by expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut in September.
What’s happening in small caps?
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