Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.15%

Investing.com-- Softbank Group shares fell sharply on Thursday, leading losses across Japanese markets as mixed earnings and guidance from cloud major Oracle sparked renewed concerns over stretched spending on artificial intelligence. 

Softbank (TYO:9984) slid 7.7% to a one-week low of 17,210.0 yen by 22:34 ET (03:34 GMT), and was the biggest decliner on the Nikkei 225 index, which fell over 1%. 

Losses in Softbank came tracking an over 10% slide in Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), which tumbled following its fiscal second-quarter earnings. While the company did beat market expectations for its bottom-line, it missed on the top-line and presented a weaker-than-expected outlook for the current quarter. 

Oracle also hiked its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $50 billion from $35 billion. 

The mixed earnings, coupled with expectations of higher capex, sparked renewed concerns over just how Oracle plans to monetize its massive AI data center spending plans. Doubts over the company’s debt pile, following billions of issuances this year, as well as the company’s outsized exposure to OpenAI, also battered sentiment towards the stock. 

BMO analysts said Oracle’s exposure to OpenAI presented some long-term risk, given the size of the startup’s spending commitments and doubts over how it plans to meet said pledges. 

These concerns spilled over into Softbank, which is heavily invested in OpenAI. Softbank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto recently told Nikkei that the tech conglomerate remained focused squarely on OpenAI, and was not interested in funding its competitors. 

Softbank has pledged to invest up to $40 billion in OpenAI, and recently disclosed it had sold the entirety of its holdings in NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) to meet that pledge. 

Oracle has pledged to provide data center capacity to the ChatGPT maker, and embarked on a capital raising spree this year to build out the necessary infrastructure. 

But its earnings failed to assuage market concerns over already stretched AI spending, with the technology having so far yielded limited returns on investment for most major players. 

OpenAI in particular is seen burning large amounts of cash with few avenues for profitability, and also faces heightened competition from majors such as Alphabet’s Google. The company has committed to spend over $1 trillion on AI infrastructure in the next five years. 

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected and outlined plans for releasing more liquidity into markets.

But technology shares lagged, especially those with exposure to the U.S. artificial intelligence trade, following weak earnings and guidance from cloud major Oracle. The stock slid as much as 10% in aftermarket trade and sparked losses across major tech stocks, including Nvidia.

This in turn saw S&P 500 Futures fall 0.4% by 21:10 ET (02:10 GMT), while Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.7%. Japanese markets were the worst hit by tech and AI losses.

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Asia stocks buoyed by dovish Fed outlook

Non-tech sectors in Asia advanced, with Singapore’s Straits Times index up 0.5%, while South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.3% on strength in industrials.

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite index lagged with a 0.1% drop.

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.4% as softer-than-expected labor market data fueled some expectations that the Reserve Bank will be forced into cutting interest rates.

Regional markets took some positive cues from Wall Street, which rose following an as-expected 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell did flag a higher bar to cut interest rates further, he also announced that the bank will begin buying about $40 billion on Treasury notes from next month.

Such a move heralds looser monetary conditions in the coming months and bodes well for market liquidity.

Anticipation of the Fed meeting had spurred some cautious plays in Asian markets earlier this week.

Japanese shares lag on tech losses, China tensions

Japanese shares lagged their peers on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 index down 0.6%, while the TOPIX shed 0.4%.

The Nikkei was weighed chiefly by losses in AI-linked tech and industrial stocks, which fell after Oracle’s earnings and capex guidance sparked more concerns about stretched AI spending.

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), which is heavily exposed to Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and the AI trade through its OpenAI position, slid 6.4% and was the biggest decliner on the Nikkei.

Japanese stocks also remained under pressure from a continued diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing, over earlier comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan.

But losses in tech were somewhat soothed by optimism over NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) recently being allowed to sell more advanced AI chips in China. Japanese supplier Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) rose nearly 4%, while South Korean memory chip suppliers SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) fell 1% and rose 1%, respectively.

TSMC (TW:2330), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.3% in Taiwan trade, after it said on Wednesday that its sales in November fell from the prior month.

Updates with moves lower, India open

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks turned lower on Thursday as technology shares tumbled after middling earnings from Oracle sparked doubts over the broader artificial intelligence trade.

Losses in tech and doubts over AI largely overshadowed dovish signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates and signaled plans to increase its asset-buying activities.

Wall Street futures tumbled during the Asian session, despite a positive close on Wednesday. S&P 500 Futures fell 0.8% 23:41 ET (04:41 GMT), while Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 1.1%.

In Asia, Japanese markets were the worst hit by tech and AI losses.

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Asia stocks take limited support from dovish Fed outlook

Non-tech sectors in Asia advanced, with Singapore’s Straits Times index up 0.3%, while South Korea’s KOSPI was flat as losses in tech were offset by gains in industrials.

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index fell 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was flat.

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.2% as softer-than-expected labor market data fueled some expectations that the Reserve Bank will be forced into cutting interest rates.

India’s Nifty 50 index, which has a relatively smaller weightage of tech stocks, rose 0.2%.

Regional markets took some positive cues from Wall Street, which rose following an as-expected 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell did flag a higher bar to cut interest rates further, he also announced that the bank will begin buying about $40 billion on Treasury notes from next month.

Such a move heralds looser monetary conditions in the coming months and bodes well for market liquidity.

Anticipation of the Fed meeting had spurred some cautious plays in Asian markets earlier this week.

Japanese shares lag on tech losses, China tensions

Japanese shares lagged their peers on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 index down 0.8%, while the TOPIX shed 0.7%.

The Nikkei was weighed chiefly by losses in AI-linked tech and industrial stocks, which fell after Oracle’s earnings and capex guidance sparked more concerns about stretched AI spending.

Oracle slid over 10% in aftermarket trade on Wednesday, while major chips supplier Nvidia lost over 1%. Broader U.S. AI and tech stocks also fell.

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), which is heavily exposed to Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and the AI trade through its OpenAI position, slid over 8% and was the biggest decliner on the Nikkei.

Japanese stocks also remained under pressure from a continued diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing, over earlier comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan.

But losses in tech were somewhat soothed by optimism over NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) recently being allowed to sell more advanced AI chips in China. Japanese supplier Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) rose as much as 4%.

Chinese Chipmaking stocks extended losses into a third straight session as the prospect of Nvidia reentering the market pointed to heightened competition in the sector. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:0981), the country’s biggest chipmaker, and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (HK:1347), both lost about 2.5% each in Hong Kong trade.

TSMC (TW:2330), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 2.3% in Taiwan trade, after it said on Wednesday that its sales in November fell from the prior month.

Investing.com-- Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday evening as underwhelming earnings from Oracle sparked renewed concerns over artificial intelligence spending, offsetting some dovish signals from the Federal Reserve.

A sharp fall in Oracle’s shares and those of related AI and tech companies were a major drag on futures, as markets grew increasingly concerned over how the cloud computing giant will fund its data center plans.

Get more AI stock picks from top Wall Street analysts by upgrading to InvestingPro -- get 55% off today.

This largely offset dovish signals from the Fed, which cut interest rates and signaled plans to buy more bills in the market and boost liquidity levels.

S&P 500 Futures fell 0.2% to 6,877.75 points by 19:39 ET (00:39 GMT). Nasdaq 100 Futures fell nearly 0.4% to 25,702.75 points, while Dow Jones Futures were flat at 48,123.0 points.

Oracle slumps, Nvidia down as weak earnings spark AI doubts

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) slid as much as 10% in aftermarket trade, while related AI-linked stocks, including NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), also retreated.

This came after Oracle forecast disappointing earnings for the current quarter, and sharply hiked its capital expenditure outlook for fiscal 2026. Oracle’s fiscal second-quarter earnings also underwhelmed.

The weak earnings, coupled with plans for higher spending, sparked increased doubts over just how Oracle planned to convert its massive AI expenditures into revenue. This also spurred doubts over the company’s increasing debt pile, after it issued scores of bonds and notes this year to fund its AI buildout.

Concerns over Oracle sparked losses in broader tech and AI stocks, including chipmakers. Nvidia fell 1.3%, while CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV) fell over 3%. Others, including AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), TSMC (NYSE:TSM), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Marvell Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MRVL), fell between 0.6% and 2% in aftermarket trade.

Wall St ends higher as Fed cuts rates, signals dovish

Wall Street indexes clocked a positive close on Wednesday, after the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected.

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell did outline a higher bar for future rate cuts, he also announced that the central bank will immediately begin buying short-dated government bonds to boost market liquidity levels. The Fed will initially buy about $40 billion of Treasury bills per month.

While Wednesday’s rate cut was priced in, the bond buying announcement pointed to looser monetary policy in the coming months, helping support risk appetite. This helped Wall Street close higher on Wednesday, following some cautious sessions ahead of the Fed meeting.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,886.80 points. The NASDAQ Composite rose 0.3% to 23,654.16 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 48,057.87 points.

Beyond Oracle, more key earnings are due this week and the next. Broadcom and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) will report on Thursday, while memory chip major Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) will report next week.

Updates with deeper losses in futures, analyst comments on Oracle

Investing.com-- Wall Street futures extended losses on Wednesday evening as underwhelming earnings from Oracle sparked renewed concerns over artificial intelligence spending, offsetting some dovish signals from the Federal Reserve.

A sharp fall in Oracle’s shares and those of related AI and tech companies were a major drag on futures, as markets grew increasingly concerned over how the cloud computing giant will fund its data center plans. This trend was furthered during the Asian session on Thursday.

Get more AI stock picks from top Wall Street analysts by upgrading to InvestingPro -- get 55% off today.

Concerns over AI largely offset dovish signals from the Fed, which cut interest rates and signaled plans to buy more bills in the market and boost liquidity levels.

S&P 500 Futures fell 0.9% to 6,832.50 points by 22:16 ET (03:16 GMT). Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 1.4% to 25,446.25 points, while Dow Jones Futures fell 0.4% to 47,916.0 points.

Oracle slumps, Nvidia down as mixed earnings spark AI doubts

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) slid as much as 10% in aftermarket trade, while related AI-linked stocks, including NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), also retreated.

This came after Oracle forecast disappointing earnings for the current quarter, and sharply hiked its capital expenditure outlook for fiscal 2026. Oracle’s fiscal second-quarter earnings also underwhelmed.

The weak earnings, coupled with plans for higher spending, sparked increased doubts over just how Oracle planned to convert its massive AI expenditures into revenue.

This also spurred doubts over the company’s increasing debt pile, after it issued billions in bonds and notes this year to fund its AI buildout.

Several brokerages cut their price targets on Oracle after its earnings. BMO analysts called its earnings "lackluster from a revenue perspective," although they still remained positive on Oracle’s "positioning in cloud and AI as well as its full stack application offering."

But BMO analysts noted that Oracle’s massive exposure to OpenAI created "some risk longer term given the size of the commitments."

BMO cut Oracle’s target price to $270 from $275, and maintained the stock at Buy.

Concerns over Oracle sparked losses in broader tech and AI stocks, including chipmakers. Nvidia fell 1.3%, while CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV) fell over 3%. Others, including AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), TSMC (NYSE:TSM), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Marvell Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MRVL), fell between 0.6% and 2% in aftermarket trade.

Wall St ends higher as Fed cuts rates, signals dovish

Wall Street indexes clocked a positive close on Wednesday, after the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected.

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell did outline a higher bar for future rate cuts, he also announced that the central bank will immediately begin buying short-dated government bonds to boost market liquidity levels. The Fed will initially buy about $40 billion of Treasury bills per month.

While Wednesday’s rate cut was priced in, the bond buying announcement pointed to looser monetary policy in the coming months, helping support risk appetite. This helped Wall Street close higher on Wednesday, following some cautious sessions ahead of the Fed meeting.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,886.80 points. The NASDAQ Composite rose 0.3% to 23,654.16 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 48,057.87 points.

Beyond Oracle, more key earnings are due this week and the next. Broadcom and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) will report on Thursday, while memory chip major Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) will report next week.