TOKYO — Global stocks fell on Thursday, with Tokyo’s benchmark losing more than 1,300 points at one point and closing down more than 3%, as pessimism mounted over the plunge on Wall Street.
France’s CAC 40 fell 1.5% to 7,400.08 in early trading. Germany’s DAX fell 1.2% to 18,161.70, while Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 1.1% to 8,066.27.
The future for the S&The P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
US stock indexes suffered their biggest losses since 2022 after earnings reports from Tesla And Alphabet helped suck momentum away from Wall Street’s madness surrounding artificial intelligence technology.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 3.3% to 37,869.51, its lowest closing price since April.
The recently strengthening yen, which recovered from a level above 160 Japanese yen to the dollar earlier this month, is hurting the profits of Japanese exporters as they return to Japan. Toyota Motor Corp. shares fell 2.6 percent, while Sony Group’s fell 5.4 percent.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell slightly to 152.50 yen from 153.89 yen. The euro was worth $1.0844, up from $1.0841.
The yen has risen against the dollar, largely on speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon raise its near-zero benchmark interest rate. The central bank’s next policy meeting ends on July 31.
“The biggest risk is that the BOJ refuses to raise rates next week, causing the entire long yen trade to collapse. But that’s probably just a bad idea,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Chinese stocks fell as investors questioned the central bank’s decision to implement another rate cut. main interest rate following several similar moves earlier this week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7% to 17,021.91, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 2,886.74.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.7% to 2,710.65 after the government said the economy shrank 0.2% in the latest quarter.
Among the region’s technology stocks, Samsung Electronics fell nearly 2%, while Nintendo lost 2.4%. Tokyo Electron fell nearly 5%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3% to 7,861.20.
Wednesday on Wall Street, the S&The P 500 fell 2.3% for its fifth decline in the last six days to close at 5,427.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2% to 39,853.87 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.6% to 17,342.41.
Earnings expectations are high for U.S. companies in general, but especially for the small group of stocks known as the “ Beautiful Seven.” Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla should continue to deliver strong growth after accounting for the bulk of the S&The P 500s have become record holders this year.
Tesla was one of the heaviest stocks on the market, falling 12.3% after the company reported a 45% drop in profit for the spring, which also fell short of analysts’ forecasts.
Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies on Wall Street, not just for its electric vehicles but also for its AI initiatives, such as a robotaxi. It’s a tricky business to put a value on, according to UBS analysts led by Joseph Spak, and the “challenge is that the time frame and probability of success are not clear.”
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude lost 59 cents to $77.00 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 56 cents to $81.26 a barrel.