By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) – Global stocks rose slightly in a choppy session on Thursday, with European gains followed by a mixed session on Wall Street as investors weighed a hurdle in the AI push, while oil prices fell, dragged down by a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
In the United States, the benchmark S&P 500 index reversed early losses to finish higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record close, while the Nasdaq fell, as technology stocks led losses and financial and healthcare stocks led gains.
The Dow Jones rose 1.73%, the S&P 500 rose 0.41%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.09%.
Broadcom shares fell more than 12%, sending semiconductor stocks broadly lower, after the chipmaker’s results disappointed investors who had bet on rising demand for its custom AI chips. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 2.2%.
European stock markets rose 0.52%. MSCI’s gauge of global stocks rose 0.09%.
“We saw a small pocket of weakness in chip stocks with the disappointing Broadcom news last night,” said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management.
“Today’s action in the technology sector is specifically emblematic of how fragile sentiment can be for a group of stocks experiencing massive gains in a short period of time.”
CRUDE OIL LOWERS
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop fighting in Lebanon were undermined after the pro-Iran movement Hezbollah rejected the new ceasefire and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country.
The Republican-led US House of Representatives also passed a war powers resolution on Wednesday “to prevent Trump from continuing the conflict against Iran.”
The measure is largely symbolic, however, as it must still be approved by the Senate and would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override an almost certain presidential veto.
“Those headlines are probably net positive on the geopolitical front and the market is embracing that for now. We’ve seen a lot of volatility around the geopolitical headlines in both directions and I would say at the margins, it’s positive with the ceasefire agreement,” St. Aubin said.
Brent crude oil prices fell almost 3% to settle at $95.03 a barrel.
The yen is around 160
In currency markets, investors were watching for possible official intervention as the Japanese yen hovered around the key 160 level.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara had said in Tokyo that he expects the central bank to coordinate its actions with the government after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda gave fresh indications that an interest rate hike is expected this month.