Global shares advance after the Dow hits a fresh record

Audio By Carbonatix

TOKYO (AP) — World shares have advanced, with markets in Europe and most of Asia higher after the Dow industrials hit a fresh record as technology shares appeared to recover from last week’s swoon over the future of artificial intelligence.

France's CAC 40 climbed 0.5% to 8,193.98, while the German DAX surged nearly 1.1% to 24,357.28. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 9,906.82.

The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 51,063.31.

SoftBank Group's shares fell 3.5%, plunging as much as 9% earlier in the day after it said Tuesday that it sold its entire stake in the AI chip company Nvidia for $5.83 billion last month, raising funds for other investments.

A big question has been whether investors will push the craze for AI stocks further. Their sensational growth has been one of the top reasons the U.S. market has hit records despite a slowing job market and still-high inflation. But their prices have shot so high that critics say they’re reminiscent of the 2000 dot-com bubble, which ultimately burst and dragged the S&P 500 down by nearly half.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9% to 26,922.73, while the Shanghai Composite edged down less than 0.1% to 4,000.14.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2% to 8,799.50. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.1% to 4,150.39.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.2%, bouncing a bit following a vigorous rebound Monday that followed its first losing week in four.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.2%, to a record close of 47,927.96, surpassing its prior all-time high set two weeks ago.

The Nasdaq composite lagged the market as Nvidia slipped 3% due to continued concerns that stocks caught up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy may have become too expensive.

In the U.S. bond market, trading was closed for the Veterans Day holiday.

What’s making the Federal Reserve's job potentially more difficult is that the U.S. government’s shutdown has delayed important updates on jobs and other areas of the economy. The Senate has made moves to end what’s become the longest-ever shutdown, but it’s not assured.

In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude declined 34 cents to $60.70 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 31 cents to $64.85 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar edged up to 154.76 Japanese yen from 154.16 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1579 from $1.1583.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama