New York:Wall Street's main stock indices experienced declines as shares of Google's parent company were sold off following disappointing results, raising concerns about the sustainability of the global technology boom.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, European stock markets advanced despite a largely negative performance in Asia. The European Central Bank opted to keep interest rates unchanged, mirroring the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain US borrowing costs.
The euro weakened following the announcement by Christine Lagarde that she will step down as president of the ECB in February. Meanwhile, strong corporate earnings bolstered European markets, particularly with oil giants Shell and TotalEnergies reporting significant profits due to disruptions in Middle East oil and gas supplies.
The Nasdaq Composite, a tech-heavy index, fell by 1.4 percent as Alphabet's shares plunged over 10 percent after reporting lower-than-expected profits and continued high spending on artificial intelligence. Concerns were also raised about the impact of AI on Google's search engine and advertising business.
Additionally, Samsung Electronics' underwhelming semiconductor division results contributed to doubts about AI investments. Despite record quarterly profits, South Korea's Kospi index closed down by 1.2 percent, and Hong Kong and Shanghai markets also fell, while Tokyo gained.
In contrast, Microsoft reported strong revenue and profit from its Azure cloud computing division, resulting in a 0.8 percent increase in its share price. Market focus remains on upcoming reports from Amazon and Intel.
The Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates had little impact, with most investors anticipating a rate hike in December. US economic growth exceeded expectations, with a 3.4 percent annualized rate in the third quarter.
Key figures at around 1330 GMT showed declines in New York indices while European markets saw gains. Crude prices also dropped due to renewed diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran.
The euro/dollar and pound/dollar rates experienced slight declines, while the dollar/yen rate also fell.