Nvidia's record profit lifts Wall Street tech stocks as European markets mostly slide
Nvidia's 126% jump in second-quarter profit drove US tech stocks higher on Thursday, while most European indices fell; oil prices rose on hopes for progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
US technology stocks surged on Thursday after chipmaker Nvidia reported second-quarter profit up 126% from the same period last year. The results pushed Nvidia's own share price up nearly 9%, with additional support coming from Salesforce's reported earnings.
Trading outside the tech sector was more subdued, as investors awaited a speech from the US Federal Reserve chair on the outlook for the American economy. In recent sessions, inflation data and rising US government bond yields had dampened enthusiasm around the artificial intelligence boom, though Nvidia's strong results helped revive some optimism.
Index moves
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% on Thursday to 53,569.44 points, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to 7,730.99 points, and the Nasdaq Composite led gains, adding 1.6% to reach 26,541.35 points.
Europe told a different story. London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.8% to close at 10,792.54 points, and Paris's CAC 40 fell 1.7% to 8,319.87 points. Frankfurt's DAX 30 was the exception among major European indices, gaining 0.3% to finish at 26,367.24 points.
Oil and currencies
After several days of declines, oil prices rebounded on Thursday amid diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to tanker and cargo ship traffic. WTI crude rose 1.6% to $83.53 a barrel, while Brent crude in London gained 2.1% to $89.70 a barrel. Dutch TTF natural gas prices also increased, up 3.8% to €68.10 per megawatt-hour.
In currency markets, the euro slipped slightly against the dollar, from $1.1651 to $1.1649, while the British pound eased from $1.3595 to $1.3586 against the dollar. The dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising from 159.31 to 159.41 yen, and the euro edged up against the pound from 85.71 to 85.74 pence.
