Global stock markets mostly advanced on Friday as traders reacted to central bank activity and easing concerns over the technology sector.
Equity markets, particularly on Wall Street, have come under pressure in recent weeks amid questions about when, if ever, investors will see returns on the colossal amounts of cash pumped into artificial intelligence.
But blockbuster earnings from chip firm Micron Technology helped soothe nerves over a tech bubble and the tech-heavy Nasdaq close with a gain of 1.4 percent on Thursday.
The Nasdaq added 0.5 percent as trading got underway Friday. Shares in Micron Technology rose by 4.3 percent.
Shares in the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks, which includes AI chip maker Nvidia and Google parent company Alphabet, gained 0.3 percent overall.
“Stocks in the tech sector have been boosted by yesterday’s bumper earnings from Micron,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at trading group Scope Markets.
“As we close out a week that has seen a huge amount of data and central bank announcements, there is an expectation that we start to see volumes and volatility ease off from here.”
– Russia cuts key interest rate –
However, Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, said trading volume should be huge today driven by the expiration of options.
“Today is a quadruple witching expiration day, which involves the expiration of stock index futures, single-stock futures, stock index options, and single-stock options,” he said.
As traders make purchases or sales to cover options volatility could spike.
“Participants are also waiting to see if yesterday’s AI-related bounce following Micron’s (MU) stellar report has legs,” added O’Hare.
Below-forecast US inflation data Thursday also boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates next month.
The yen fell against the dollar on profit-taking after the Bank of Japan on Friday hiked, as expected, its own borrowing costs to a three-decade high, hours after data showed prices had held steady.
Russia’s central bank said it was cutting its benchmark interest rate to 16 percent as the country’s economy sags under the financial burden of the Ukraine offensive and Western sanctions.
The Bank of England cut rates Thursday, when the European Central Bank left eurozone borrowing costs unchanged.
Germany’s central bank on Friday predicted a slower recovery for Europe’s biggest economy following three years of stagnation.
Shares in Oracle gained more than five percent as trading got underway in New York after TikTok said it has signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States.