HONG KONG — Global shares were mixed and oil prices retreated Monday, falling sharply on renewed hopes for progress in diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. futures advanced after U.S. stocks fell Friday to their worst day since June as investors dumped artificial intelligence-related and other technology stocks. In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.1 per cent to 10,721.94. Germany’s DAX climbed 0.1 per cent to 25,849.98, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.1 per cent to 7,975.87. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gave up early gains, slipping 0.3 per cent to 63,081.86 as some major technology companies fell. Shares of OpenAI investor SoftBank Group dropped 1.6 per cent. Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings plunged 15.8 per cent as its earnings forecasts disappointed some analysts and investors. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index rose 2.2 per cent to 5,859.08. Samsung Electronics added 1.8 per cent, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix jumped 3.8 per cent. Technology stocks have wavered as investors fret that the AI buildup may prove to be a bubble. Apple is due to report its latest earnings results later in the day. Last week, earnings reports from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon rattled markets and raised fresh questions over whether their massive AI-related spending will bring profitable returns as quickly as hoped. While recent developments do not necessarily mean that the AI boom is beginning to unravel, the debate is entering another phase, Sunil Tirumalai at UBS Global Research wrote in a recent note. Investors have become “distinctly more nervous about a handful of companies with weaker balance sheets or bigger financial commitments,” he said, rather than the technology sector as a whole. “Some cracks have appeared,” said Tirumalai. “Increasingly, the question will be whether all the money being spent on it can generate adequate financial returns.” Over the past month, the Nikkei 225 has fallen more than seven per cent and the Kospi dropped more than 16 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.7 per cent lower, with leading chipmaker TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., shedding 1.7 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4 per cent to 23,393.32. The Shanghai Composite index was up 1.1 per cent to 3,638.03, despite China reporting over the weekend that its factory activity returned to contractionary territory in October. China’s central bank and its securities regulatory body met with financial institutions to discuss ways to support the markets, according to Chinese media reports. The Shanghai Composite index has fallen more than eight per cent since the beginning of this year and nearly 15 per cent from its highest level in the past year. The People’s Bank of China said Monday that around 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion) would be deployed under a new swap facility that will provide dozens of financial firms more liquidity that can then be used to invest in the market. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 per cent to 8,856.50. India’s Sensex rose one per cent. On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.8 per cent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 2.9 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.1 per cent. Investors are watching for the outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections. Voters across the political spectrum have shown increasing concerns about AI and data centres, along with inflation and other key issues. Oil prices dropped more than two per cent early Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, down 3.9 per cent to $109.01 per barrel. Still, that’s much higher than the roughly $72 a barrel level in late February before the war. Benchmark U.S. crude gave up 4.1 per cent, to $99.82 a barrel. Uncertainties surrounding the situation in the Middle East continued to pressure global oil supplies, particularly over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil transport. Iran’s top diplomat said in an interview shared on his Telegram channel over the weekend that Iranian negotiators were in Qatar for talks on a proposal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the U.S. meets several conditions. However, he said no direct talks were being held with the U.S. The final outcome of the diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to all-out war depends on answers provided by the United States to the “Iranian questions,” he said. In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.64 Japanese yen from 157.49 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1236, up from $1.1160. Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press
