US stocks strengthened today, led by technology companies that benefited from investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence (AI). The Dow Jones index, which includes shares of thirty leading US companies, gained 0.17 per cent today to end trading at 36,171.38 points. The broader S&P 500 index rose 0.80 per cent to 4,585.59 points and the Nasdaq Composite index, which includes many companies in the high-tech sector, rose as much as 1.37 per cent to 14,339.99 points.
Alphabet’s Surge
Shares of Alphabet, which owns internet firm Google, gained more than five per cent. Investors reacted to Wednesday’s presentation of a new artificial intelligence model called Gemini. Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) even gained nearly 10 percent on an upbeat outlook for demand for AI chips. Shares of other technology companies, such as chipmaker Nvidia and online retailer Amazon, also joined the rise.
Investors are now awaiting Friday’s report on November job creation and unemployment rates in the United States. The latter could influence expectations about when the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates, Reuters wrote.
Global Markets React
In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar and the euro weakened sharply against the Japanese yen today, benefiting from signs that an end to Japan’s ultra-easy monetary policy is near. At around 22:00 GMT, the dollar was losing around 2.4 percent against the yen to JPY143.77 and the euro was showing a decline of almost 2.2 percent against the yen to JPY155.15. Against the dollar, the single European currency gained about a quarter of a percent and was slightly below USD 1.08.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said today that managing monetary policy in Japan will become more difficult from the end of the year. Financial markets interpreted his words as a signal that a change in the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy is imminent. The latter currently keeps short-term interest rates in the negative zone.
“There is a big consensus that 2024 will be the year that brings the end of negative interest rates (in Japan),” analyst Michael Brown of TraderX said, according to Reuters.
Source: čtk
