This photo shows the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). (AP Photo)
Investors this week are watching for more big corporate earnings results from the U.S., including Meta, Netflix, General Motors, Tesla and IBM.
Strong company earnings have been one factor that’s been keeping U.S. stocks robust lately.
A sell-off of technology shares from Asia to Wall Street recently put downward pressure on stock markets, as investor concerns grow over the sustainability of the artificial intelligence boom.
“We’ve been arguing for a while that volatility in tech stocks would pick up as the AI bubble continued to inflate: sharp and short-lived sell-offs were common as the ‘dotcom’ bubble inflated, for example, even as the market ultimately made very large gains on net,” Capital Economics Head of Markets for Asia Pacific Thomas Mathews wrote in a commentary on Oct. 19.
As technology shares face rising uncertainties, experts say government bonds might stand to benefit as investors look for relatively safe assets, though the bond market had also been turbulent over the past few weeks.
Also in view is next week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision, with bets on a second successive hike after forecast-topping U.S. inflation data. Higher rates hurt tech firms, as many rely on borrowing to fund their huge investments.
Oil prices slipped on Oct. 19, but Brent held above $100, Oil after U.S. President Donad Trump late on Oct. 16 signed an executive order to put new broad U.S. sanctions against Russia on hold just days before they were to come into effect.
But even with the decline, oil prices have remained elevated compared with those seen before the Iran war. Global oil supply risks are still high amid tensions in the Middle East, including uncertainty surrounding oil transport in the Strait of Hormuz, adding upward pressure to prices.
