World shares are mixed and US futures slip after Nvidia earnings beat
expectations
[February 26, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — U.S. futures fell while global shares were mixed on
Thursday after strong-than-expected earnings from chipmaker Nvidia
helped ease some investor worries over the artificial intelligence boom.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 10,824.90.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 8,593.83, while Germany's DAX down 0.2% to
25,133.39.
The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while that for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average was down 0.2%.
Asian shares mostly advanced. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 crossed the 59,000 mark
for the first time, although it later gave up some gains, rising 0.3% to
58,753.39. Shares of SoftBank Group, which has a focus on AI technology,
rose 4%.
Share prices also pushed higher after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae
Takaichi appointed two economists viewed as favoring keeping interest
rates low to the board of the central bank. The Bank of Japan has been
gradually raising rates from near zero.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.7% to 6,307.27, driven by gains for
tech-related stocks. The index surpassed the 6,000 level for the first
time on Wednesday. It has gained 46% since the beginning of this year
after enduring a year of political upheavals that ended with former
President Yoon Suk Yeol being sentenced to life in prison.
Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest listed company,
jumped 7.1%. Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 8%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.4% to 26,381.02. The Shanghai Composite
index barely budged, closing at 4,146.63.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 9,175.30.
Taiwan's Taiex was flat, while India's Sensex traded 0.1% higher.
Nvidia’s earnings influence global financial markets both because it is
the world’s most valuable company and the biggest S&P 500 constituent
and because it is benefiting from advances in AI-related technologies.
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A person stands as a vehicle passes by in front of an electronic
stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 Its latest quarterly revenue jumped
73% from a year earlier to $68 billion. The California-based company
also gave a forecast of $78 billion for revenue in the current
quarter, which exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Its CEO, Jensen Huang, said demand for Nvidia chips is still
“skyrocketing.”
“AI is here, AI is not going to go back,” Huang said during a
conference call.
Nvidia rose 0.2% in afterhours trading following its earnings
announcement, which came after markets closed on Wednesday.
Its robust earnings helped alleviate some concerns over whether the
AI craze is real and whether huge investments will pay off. But many
investors remain cautious.
Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital
Economics, however argued in a research note on Thursday that
“strong profit growth, as emphasized by recent earnings reports”,
including Nvidia’s, is a key reason to think the S&P 500 will do
well in 2026. He forecast the S&P 500 at 8,000 by the year's end.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Dow industrials climbed
0.6%. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.3%.
In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 53
cents to $64.89 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard,
gave up 44 cents to $70.25 a barrel.
Gold and silver prices fell on Thursday. The price of gold lost 0.5%
and the price of silver fell 4.1%.
The U.S. dollar fell to 156.09 Japanese yen from 156.39 yen. The
euro fell to $1.1800 from $1.1812.
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