Asian stock markets traded unevenly on Thursday as investors reacted to disappointing revenue from Google parent Alphabet and weighed the outlook for interest rates following the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.
Alphabet shares fell about 10% in after-hours trading after the technology company reported quarterly revenue below investor expectations. The results raised questions about whether its sales growth can justify the substantial spending required to expand its artificial intelligence operations.
Microsoft shares moved in the opposite direction, gaining nearly 3% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. The contrasting performances highlighted investor sensitivity to results from major technology firms, whose valuations have been supported by expectations of strong growth from artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, US markets closed higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite also advanced 0.3%.
Government bond yields eased after rising earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell below 5%, having briefly reached about 5.04% on Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield steadied at 4.68%, down from above 4.77%.
The moves followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at the end of its meeting on Wednesday, as widely expected. Two officials supported raising rates, while analysts said another increase in December remained possible because inflation was still too high.
Investors were also awaiting the European Central Bank’s policy decision later on Thursday. The Bank of Japan was expected to keep rates unchanged when its meeting concludes on Friday.
Asian markets showed a mixed performance. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 64,073.17, although SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, fell 0.5%.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.2% to 5,880.25. Samsung Electronics fell 5.4% despite reporting strong quarterly results, as aspects of its latest shareholder return policy disappointed some investors. SK Hynix, another major chipmaker, gained 1.6% after its shares surged 10.9% on Wednesday following better-than-expected earnings.
Taiwan’s Taiex declined 1.9%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up less than 0.1% to 23,101.86. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9% to 3,647.12. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5% to 8,888.50.
Oil prices fell by more than 1% in early trading despite renewed concerns about tensions between Washington and Tehran. Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped 1.2% to $110.32 a barrel, while US crude declined 1.3% to $101.46. Both remained well above their pre-war levels of around $72 a barrel for Brent and reflect continuing disruption linked to the conflict that began in late February.
The US dollar slipped to 157.72 Japanese yen from 157.84 yen, while the euro eased to $1.1146 from $1.1154.
Markets remained alert to the possibility of renewed US military action against Iran after the 3 November congressional midterm elections, adding another source of uncertainty for investors already assessing corporate earnings, inflation and central bank policy.
