London, England – European stocks experienced a volatile start to Thursday’s trading session as a wave of earnings reports flooded the market, causing major exchanges to trade with mixed results. The Stoxx 600 index, an important benchmark, initially saw gains but later dropped by 0.14% in London. The FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose by 0.45%, while France’s CAC 40 fell by 0.8% and Germany’s DAX was down by 0.1%.
High-bandwidth memory chip supplier SK Hynix announced that its chips were nearly sold out for 2025 due to the increasing demand driven by the AI boom. The South Korean company revealed that its HBM chips were completely sold out for 2024 and that it would start mass production of the latest generation of HBM chips in the third quarter. SK Hynix shares experienced a 0.4% decline on Thursday.
Singaporean bank DBS Group reported a 15% increase in first-quarter net profit compared to the previous year, reaching a record S$2.96 billion. The bank’s CEO expressed optimism that total income and earnings would surpass previous estimates, leading to another year of strong shareholder returns. Following the earnings report, shares of DBS rose by over 2.32%.
In Hong Kong, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc saw a 20% surge in its shares as it reported a significant increase in EV deliveries for April. The company delivered 15,620 vehicles, marking a 134.6% year-over-year growth. Nio has delivered a total of 45,673 vehicles so far this year, a 21.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
The Japanese yen strengthened to 155 against the U.S. dollar, reaching its highest level in 11 days. Japanese authorities were suspected of intervening to support the currency after it hit fresh 34-year lows against the greenback. Japan’s stock market, represented by the Nikkei 225, was down by 0.3% on the day.
Renowned investor Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital predicted that the Federal Reserve would only cut rates once this year, citing concerns about progress in inflation rates. His comments followed the Fed’s decision to keep rates steady, with Chair Jerome Powell hinting that a rate hike was unlikely in the near future.
As the trading week progressed, the three major stock indices – S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow – were on track to end the week with losses ranging from over 1% to about 2%. Despite the Dow being the only index to close the previous day in positive territory, it was still poised for a 0.9% decline by the end of the week.
In the after-hours trading session, several companies experienced notable movements. DoorDash shares plummeted by 13% after reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter, while Carvana’s stock soared by 30% after exceeding revenue expectations. eBay, on the other hand, dropped by 4% after providing lower-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter.
Stock futures showed gains shortly after 6 p.m. ET, with Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 futures all increasing by 0.2% to 0.3%. The positive movement in futures hinted at a potentially positive start for the following trading day in the stock market.