- The Macro Picture: Global markets experienced an intense multi-speed rotation on Thursday. A significant tech and semiconductor sell-off—triggered by concerns over the sustainability of massive AI capital expenditure—hammered hardware heavyweights across the US and parts of Asia.
- The Labor Shift: Paradoxically, a weaker-than-expected US nonfarm payroll report (showing just 57,000 jobs created) dampened fears of near-term Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. This sparked a powerful “bad news is good news” rally across Europe and heavily boosted defensive, cyclical, financial, and small-cap assets globally.
Global Commodities & Cryptocurrencies
- Global Oil: Brent Crude settled slightly higher at $71.59/bbl, stabilizing after a prolonged multi-week slide driven by breakthrough developments in US-Iran diplomatic talks. WTI Crude closed down 1.85% near $67.31/bbl.
- Global Gold & Silver: Precious metals staged a fierce recovery as the softer US labor print cooled inflation anxieties and crushed the greenback. COMEX Gold surged 1.10% to close at $4,113.20/oz, while Silver added roughly 2.50% to close around $34.80/oz.
- Global Crypto Market: Cryptocurrencies effectively decoupled from falling US tech stocks. Driven by renewed institutional accumulation and falling bond yields, Bitcoin (BTC) opened near $58,520 and surged upwards to close at $61,330.70 (+4.80%).
- Global Bonds: Sovereign bonds rallied as yields moved inversely to prices. The benchmark US 10-Year Treasury Yield slid to 4.49%, while the UK 10-Year Gilt Yield softened to 4.79%.
North America (United States & Canada)
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA): Rallied 594.83 points (+1.14%) to score a fresh historic record close at 52,900.07, buoyed by defensive rebalancing and traditional industrials.
- S&P 500: Finished completely flat at 7,483.24 (0.00%), as a steep 6.3% plunge in semiconductor components was perfectly offset by broad gains across two-thirds of the index’s underlying listings.
- NASDAQ Composite: Plunged 207.36 points (-0.81%) to close at 25,382.67, dragged down severely by an aggressive profit-taking wave targeting overextended mega-cap tech titles.
- Russell 2000: Outperformed the broader market significantly, gaining over 1.7% to approach multi-month highs as small caps leveraged the friendlier interest-rate outlook.
- NYSE Composite: Closed up 0.85% to finish at 21,120.40, shielded from tech wreckage by its heavier concentration of financials and energy conglomerates.
- S&P/TSX Composite (Canada): Finished up 0.62% at 24,815.30, supported by a late-session rebound in mining majors and utilities.
- S&P/BMV IPC (Mexico): Rose 0.45% to 56,230.15, getting a structural lift from manufacturing optimism.
Europe (Transcontinental & National)
- DAX (Germany): Surged an impressive 540.60 points (+2.16%) to close at 25,580.88, securing a record high following upbeat factory growth revisions and cooling inflation.
- FTSE 100 (United Kingdom): Advanced 174.53 points (+1.67%) to finish at 10,652.87, driven by a massive 5.5% jump in aerospace and defense contractors like BAE Systems.
- CAC 40 (France): Climbed 137.57 points (+1.65%) to reach 8,474.00, led by strong momentum in luxury retail and banking groups.
- EURO STOXX 50: Advanced 1.58% to hit 5,412.10, reflecting a widespread pan-European equity boom free of major chip-sector exposure.
- AEX (Netherlands): Gained a more modest 0.38% to finish at 965.15, capped by declines in domestic tech infrastructure operators.
- IBEX 35 (Spain): Rose 1.22% to 12,180.40, on the back of hefty gains in the retail and domestic travel sectors.
- FTSE MIB (Italy): Climbed 1.41% to 36,150.00, powered by strong performance across Milanese commercial banking entities.
- SMI (Switzerland): Advanced 0.92% to 12,410.50, anchored by defensive health and consumer goods heavyweights.
- BEL 20 (Belgium): Gained 1.15% to close at 4,412.30.
- ATX (Austria): Rose 0.78% to finish at 3,720.10.
- OMXS30 (Sweden): Closed up 1.05% to 2,785.40.
- OMXC25 (Denmark): Ticked higher by 0.52% to reach 2,110.80.
- WIG20 (Poland): Surged 1.50% to finish at 2,585.00.
- MOEX Russia Index: Fell 0.88% to close at 3,145.20 amid localized capital controls and ongoing ruble volatility.
Asia-Pacific
- Nikkei 225 (Japan): Slipped a harsh 1,741.81 points (-2.47%) to close at 68,732.15, with tech equipment vendors absorbing severe losses despite a defensive offset from automotive names.
- Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong): Bucked the regional tech downturn, gaining 0.76% (+174.01 points) to close at 23,055.03 on robust bargain-hunting in mainland retail counters.
- Shanghai Composite (China): Fell 2.00% to close at 4,028.90, weighed down by weaker factory sentiment figures.
- SZSE Component (China): Dropped 2.35% to 11,112.50.
- China A50: Declined 1.82% to finish at 13,650.00.
- Taiwan Weighted Index: Shed 2.15% to 23,120.40, hit hard by downstream electronics supply-chain anxieties.
- KOSPI (South Korea): Suffered a dramatic 7.89% crash to close at 7,648.09, marking its third severe systemic tech-driven sell-off of the year as heavyweights Samsung and SK Hynix plunged.
- NIFTY 50 (India): Rose 0.71% to finish at 24,175.70, tracking a massive relief rally across Indian IT service sectors.
- S&P BSE Sensex (India): Jumped 579 points (+0.75%) to finish strongly at 77,502.
- S&P/ASX 200 (Australia): Closed up 0.54% at 8,190.20, as global mining giants offset localized financial weakness.
- Australian All Ordinaries: Rose 0.51% to finish at 8,445.60.
- NZX 50 (New Zealand): Settled up 0.33% to close at 12,055.40.
- SET Index (Thailand): Ticked up 0.22% to finish at 1,388.50.
- JKSE (Indonesia): Fell 0.41% to close at 7,215.10.
- FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI: Closed flat at 1,612.40 (+0.03%).
Middle East, Africa & Latin America
- Tadawul All Share Index (Saudi Arabia): Fell 0.35% to 11,810.50, tracking the broader stabilization pattern across energy markets.
- TA-35 (Israel): Rose 0.62% to finish at 2,085.40.
- BIST 100 (Turkey): Surged 1.95% to end at 10,450.00, driven by hyperinflationary hedging patterns.
- Bovespa / Ibovespa (Brazil): Advanced 0.74% to 128,450.00, on strong domestic commodities demand.
- S&P Merval (Argentina): Jumped 2.10% to 1,845,000.00, mirroring aggressive localized capital rotations.
- S&P IPSA (Chile): Finished up 0.48% at 6,585.10, buoyed by favorable regional copper quotes.
