NEW YORK :Global stock indexes edged lower on Wednesday as a disappointing forecast from Advanced Micro Devices weighed on chipmakers, while gold prices rose to a record high as uncertainty ahead of next week’s U.S. presidential election drove safe-haven demand.
British stocks hit their lowest level since August as UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said she would raise taxes by 40 billion pounds ($52 billion) a year in her first budget.
Shares of Alphabet rose 2.8 per cent after the company late on Tuesday reported quarterly revenue that beat estimates.
On the flip side, shares of semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices dropped 10.6 per cent after its revenue forecasts and artificial intelligence chip sales disappointed investors. Other chipmakers also slipped, with Nvidia down 1.4 per cent.
After the closing bell, shares of Facebook owner Meta Platforms were down 1.5 per cent after it beat analysts’ estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit but warned of “significant acceleration” in infrastructure expenses related to its AI buildout. The stock ended the regular session down 0.2 per cent. Apple and Amazon.com are due to report results on Thursday.
“The market is heavily focused on what these (megacap) companies are going to deliver, their guidance and any signal that perhaps their purchases of AI-related infrastructure could change,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Stocks are up sharply for the year so far, and Krosby said upbeat results from the megacap companies would help to support the overall market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.51 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 42,141.54, the S&P 500 fell 19.25 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 5,813.67 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 104.82 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 18,607.93.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 3.14 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 844.94.
Europe’s main
