World shares were a mixed bag on Thursday, following Wall Street's worst loss since September, as the Federal Reserve indicated that interest rate cuts may not happen anytime soon. Germany's DAX slipped by 0.3% to 16,857.43, while the CAC 40 in Paris sank 0.8% to 7,594.59. Britain's FTSE 100 also gave up 0.4% to 7,658.84.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng made some gains but later relinquished them, ending up 0.5% at 15,566.21. On the other hand, the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6% to 2,770.74. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 went down by 0.8% to 36,011.46, while the Kospi in Seoul climbed 1.8% to 2,542.46. India's Sensex edged 0.1% lower to 71,662.39 following the government's announcement of a short-term budget to cover spending until national elections are held by May. The budget plan includes increased spending on construction projects and housing for poor villagers, while simultaneously cutting the government's deficit by reducing subsidies. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia also saw a decline of 1.2% to 7,588.20.
Meanwhile, Bangkok's SET rose slightly by 0.4%.
The previous day, Big Tech stocks suffered due to high expectations, resulting in a sharp slide that dragged the Nasdaq composite to a market-leading loss of 2.2%. The S&P 500 also dropped 1.6%, experiencing its worst day since September, while the Dow industrials fell 0.8%. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, shed 7.5% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. Analysts raised concerns about the declining advertising revenue. Microsoft fell 2.7% despite outperforming profit and revenue expectations. Tesla, another member of the 'Magnificent Seven' tech stocks, also experienced a 2.2% decline. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, was recently denied a landmark compensation package by a judge in Delaware.
The market will closely watch the upcoming earnings reports from three more Big Tech giants on Thursday: Amazon, Apple, and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve left its main interest rate unchanged and clarified that it does not expect to cut rates until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward its goal of 2%. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell explained that more months of data confirming a sustained decrease in inflation are needed before any action is taken. Treasury yields in the bond market reacted to the Fed's announcement, fluctuating up and down. They had initially decreased following softer-than-expected reports on the economy.
The US benchmark crude oil gained 72 cents to reach $76.57 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 71 cents to $81.26 per barrel.
In currency markets, the US dollar slipped slightly to 146.83 Japanese yen from 146.92 yen. The euro also fell to $1.0801 from $1.0817.
