LONDON: Oil prices slipped and stock markets were mixed Friday as traders reacted to Mideast war developments and concerns over the AI sector.
The US dollar retreated against main rivals ahead of key US jobs data later in the day.
European stock markets gained after losses in Asia and on Wall Street caused by weakness among some technology companies.
“The focus in the oil market remains on developments in the Persian Gulf, but the market’s reaction to news has recently been somewhat more subdued than in recent weeks,” said Commerzbank analyst Norman Liebke.
Israel’s air force struck a Lebanese village on Friday following warnings for several areas of imminent attacks against Hezbollah, after the Iran-backed militants rejected a truce brokered by the US.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the Feb 28 killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Markets brushed off official data showing a contraction in eurozone economic growth in the first quarter, which was dragged down by a sharp decline in Irish output.
After pushing equity markets to record highs this year, technology firms are facing selling pressure on concerns that the eye-watering sums pumped into artificial intelligence may have been overdone and stock valuations are too high.
US chipmaker Broadcom sparked concern this week after its revenue forecast for the third quarter undershot expectations.
South Korea’s tech-heavy stock market tanked almost 7% at one point Friday, before ending down 5.5%.
The Nikkei in Tokyo was off more than 1%, matching Thursday’s retreat.
The losses come as investors anticipate the coming IPO by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is aiming to raise US$75 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering.
“Broadcom’s revenue miss sparked profit-taking across the semiconductor sector and gave investors a reason to pause after the recent AI-driven rally,” said City Index’s Fiona Cincotta.
She added that “Broadcom’s results suggest investor expectations may have run ahead of fundamentals”.
Attention turns later Friday to official US jobs data following forecast-topping private figures indicating that the world’s biggest economy remained healthy.
That fanned bets on the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates as higher energy prices push up inflation.
Brent crude fell 0.2% to US$94.86 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.3% to US$92.73.
