A day after conservative statements by Federal Reserve leaders cast a shadow over markets, key Wall Street indices rose on Thursday on the back of rising stocks of energy companies and financial institutions sensitive to economic indicators.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 93.66 points, or 0.27%, at 3,4261.75.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 30.65 points, or 0.70%, at 4380.58 points, while the Nasdaq joint index was up 168.87 points, or 1.25%, at 13710.99 points.

Europe

European stocks fell on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell raised interest rates in March and tightened monetary policy to control inflation.

The Pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.6%, with most sectors and markets in the region falling.

Powell said the US Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates in March after a meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. He confirmed plans to complete his bond purchases this month.

Technology stocks caused losses in European stocks, while yields on US two-year Treasury bills, which reflect interest expectations, soared to a 23-month high in early Asian trade.

Shares of French “SD Micro Electronics” rose 4.7%, announcing its intention to double its investments this year.

Shares of the German software group “SAP” fell 5.6%, saying it wanted to buy a majority stake in US financial technology Tolia.

Shares of Deutsche Bank rose 4.1%, recording its biggest annual profit since 2011.

Japan

On Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei index closed at a 14-month low, which was hit by a technical heavyweight fall, with the Federal Reserve chief pointing to his desire to raise interest rates steadily.

The Nikkei ended 3.11% lower at 26,170 points, its lowest level since November 24, 2020. The index, which fell for the third day in a row, recorded the biggest daily decline since June 21, 2021.

The broader Topics Index was down 2.61% at 1842.44 points. Both indicators were over-opened.

Shares of electric motor maker Nidec fell 6.17%, giving up previous gains after operating profit fell in the third quarter. Advantest shares fell 6.97%, while shares of Sony Group in the gaming sector fell 6.74%.

Softbank’s share price fell more than 9% as investors left their positions in Asian technology stocks.

Shares of the giant group, which has invested billions of dollars in technology companies around the world, fell 9.8% to 4,652 yen ($ 40.39) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the biggest drop since March 2020.

The decline coincided with the disappointing day of trading for Alibaba, SoftBank’s largest investor, which saw its share price fall more than 7% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It comes amid reports that SoftBank chip design company ARM could not sell Nvidia for $ 40 billion due to ongoing ongoing regulatory investigations.

Shares of Funuk rose 1.1% after the robotics maker raised its annual operating profit forecast.

(Reuters)