Stock Market Today: Global Stocks Fall After Wall Street Slump as Big Tech Retreats

TOKYO – Global stocks fell on Thursday, with Tokyo’s benchmark index losing more than 1,300 points at one point and closing down more than 3% as pessimism set in over the sharp drop on Wall Street.

France’s CAC 40 fell 1.5% in early trading to 7,400.08. Germany’s DAX fell 1.2% to 18,161.70, while Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.1% to 8,066.27.

The future of S&OP 500 fell 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

US stock indexes suffered their worst losses since 2022 following earnings reports from Tesla It is Alphabet helped suck momentum from Wall Street frenzy around artificial intelligence technology.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 3.3% to 37,869.51, the lowest since April.

The recently strengthened yen, which has recovered from trading above 160 Japanese yen to the dollar earlier this month, hurts profits for Japanese exporters as they are brought back to Japan. Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2.6%, while those of the Sony Group fell 5.4%.

In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 152.50 yen from 153.89 yen. The euro cost $1.0844, up from $1.0841.

The yen has been appreciating against the dollar, largely due to speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon raise its benchmark interest rate to close to zero. The central bank’s next monetary policy meeting ends on July 31.

“The biggest risk is that the Bank of Japan refuses to raise next week, causing the entire long-term yen trade to collapse. But this is probably just bad thinking,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Chinese stocks fell as investors questioned the central bank’s decision to cut another key interest rate after 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 reported that the economy contracted at a rate of 0.2% in the last quarter.

Among the region’s technology stocks, Samsung Electronics fell nearly 2%, while Nintendo lost 2.4%. Tokyo Electron fell almost 5%.

S of Australia&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3% to 7,861.20.

Wednesday on Wall Street, the S&OP 500 fell 2.3%, for the fifth drop in the last six days, closing at 5,427.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2% to 39,853.87 and the Nasdaq composite slid 3.6% to 17,342.41.

Earnings expectations are high for U.S. companies generally, but particularly for the small group of stocks known as “ Magnificent Seven.” Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla need to continue delivering powerful growth after being responsible for most of the S&OP 500 broke records this year.

Tesla was one of the market’s heaviest hitters and fell 12.3% after reporting a 45% drop in spring earnings, and its profits fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies on Wall Street, not only because of its electric vehicles, but also because of its AI initiatives, such as a robotaxi. It’s a difficult business to put a value on, according to UBS analysts led by Joseph Spak, and the “challenge is that the time frame and likelihood of success are unclear.”

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 59 cents to $77.00 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 56 cents to $81.26 a barrel.