The Japan Times - Stock markets rise as tech sector buoyed by fresh AI deal

Investors began November on the front foot after an upbeat end to October that saw easing China-US tensions, a cut to US interest rates and healthy earnings from market darlings including technology giant Amazon.

"Tech and AI remain a huge theme for investors as we move into the final months of the year," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

Last week's positive momentum carried into the new week, with fresh news driving AI stocks higher.

Wall Street rose, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite adding one percent.

Shares in Amazon jumped 4.9 percent after ChatGPT-maker OpenAI signed a $38 billion deal with Amazon's AWS cloud computing arm.

The deal will give OpenAI, which is partly owned by AWS's arch-rival Microsoft, access to computing resources including hundreds of thousands of state-of-the-art Nvidia GPUs, the crucial component of the generative artificial intelligence revolution.

Shares in Nvidia -- whose chips are key for many companies' AI growth and became the first $5-trillion firm last week -- rose three percent.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said Nvidia's performance was due to a Financial Times report that the United States will allow Microsoft to ship Nvidia semiconductors to the United Arab Emirates for the first time.

Shares in Nvidia are up just over 50 percent since the start of the year.

Frankfurt led gains in Europe, rising 0.9 percent in afternoon deals.

Shares in European carmakers raced higher after China said on Saturday it will exempt some Nexperia chips from an export ban that was imposed over a row with Dutch authorities.

Anxiety over chip shortages began when the Netherlands invoked a Cold War-era law in late September to effectively take control of Nexperia, whose parent company Wingtech is backed by the Chinese government.

Shares in German automakers Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen gained 2.1 percent in afternoon trading.

Shares in global automaker Stellantis, which has European brands Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen in its stable of brands, rose by 1.5 percent in Paris.

Shares in Ryanair climbed 3.2 percent after the no-frills airline announced a 20-percent gain in quarterly profit on the back of increased ticket prices.

In Asia, Seoul piled on 2.8 percent, reaching a fresh record-high, as investors cheered a thawing of ties between South Korea and China.

Tokyo was closed for a holiday.

Investors were keeping tabs on any new trade developments after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met last week and agreed a deal to ease China's rare earth curbs and lower US tariffs.

Still, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday warned that the White House could again hike levies on China should it block rare earth exports.

Oil prices edged higher after the OPEC+ alliance announced at the weekend that it would lift output again in December, but then hold production steady in the first quarter of 2026.

- Key figures at around 1430 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 47,599.69 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,874.62

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 23,956.99

London - FTSE 100: UP less than 0.1 percent at 9,721.53

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,108.13

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 24,179.04

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 26,158.36 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,976.52 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1509 from $1.1527 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3117 from $1.3139

Dollar/yen: UP at 154.23 yen from 154.11 yen

Euro/pound: UNCHANGED at 87.74 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP less than 0.1 percent at $64.83 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP less than 0.1 percent at $61.01 per barrel

burs-rl/lth

H.Takahashi--JT