Stock market today: World stocks track Wall St's gains with Nvidia report and bitcoin surge

[November 22, 2024]  By ZIMO ZHONG

HONG KONG (AP) — Global stocks rose on Friday following gains on Wall Street after market superstar Nvidia and other companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7% to 8,204.61. Germany’s DAX added 0.5% to 19,248.30, and the CAC 40 in Paris edged up 0.2% to 7,229.24.

The futures for the S&P 500 edged down 0.1% and those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were virtually unchanged.

Geopolitical tensions pushed oil prices higher. On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin further escalated the war, announcing that Russia had fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s use this week of American and British missiles capable of reaching deeper into Russia.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7% to 38,283.85 after the nation's inflation rate slowed to 2.3% in October from 2.5% in the prior month, reaching its lowest level since January. The data will be a key topic at the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting in December, where some investors expect an increase in the short-term policy rate to 0.5% from 0.25%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 8,393.80. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.8% at 2,501.24. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 1.9% to 19,229.97, and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 3.1% to 3,267.19, primarily driven by a drop in semiconductor stocks, which have been cooling from a surge following President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the Nov. 5 election.

The index tracking the semiconductor sector fell 4%, and shares of Empyrean Technology Co., China’s leading electronic design automation developer, sank 8.2% on Friday. Hong Kong-listed shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co., the largest semiconductor foundry company in mainland China, lost 6.7%.

In the crypto market, as of late Friday, Asia time, bitcoin was trading at $98,589.02.

Bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time Thursday before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin.

A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

On Thursday, the S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher to 5,948.71 after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1% to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 18,972.42.

Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology.

Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 advanced on Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%.

Bitcoin got a boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January. Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors.

Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 26 cents to $70.36 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 29 cents to $74.52 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 154.38 Japanese yen from 154.52 yen. The euro cost $1.0401, down from $1.0479.

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