Stock markets fell Thursday as traders digested a high-stakes meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, mixed company earnings and uncertainty over further US interest rate cuts.
US president Donald Trump described his meeting in South Korea with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping 鈥� their first since 2019, during Trump鈥檚 first term 鈥� as 鈥榓mazing鈥�.
The two leaders agreed to calm the US-China trade war that has roiled global markets, with Washington cutting some tariffs and Beijing committing to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.
Stock market reactions were subdued, with Asian and European markets lower on Thursday.
鈥楲ooking ahead, the main events today will be Apple and Amazon earnings, along with the ECB鈥檚 policy decision,鈥� said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.
The European Central Bank is expected to stand pat on interest rates, as inflation hovers around its target and the eurozone economy holds up.
Data on Thursday showed the eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of 2025.
The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut.
Fed chair Jerome Powell鈥檚 announcement, however, cast doubt on an additional cut in December, jolting US markets and lifting the value of the dollar on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq later recovered, finishing at a fourth straight record after another gain by artificial intelligence giant Nvidia, which became the first company to reach a $5 trillion market value.
US big tech companies were in focus again Thursday, following a mixed reaction to earnings reports from Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft after the Wall Street close.
鈥楾hese latest results highlight the business models of the big technology firms are becoming more capital intensive, as they build out their聽AI聽capabilities,鈥� said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
He added, however, that if AI fails to deliver revenue streams 鈥榯he effect on share prices could be brutal.鈥�
Seoul鈥檚 stock market got a lift from tech giant Samsung Electronics posting a 32 per cent rise in on-year third quarter profits, driven by AI-fuelled market demand for memory chips.
In London, shares in energy giant Shell were flat after its net profit jumped in the third quarter.
Advertising giant WPP led losses in London, dropping nearly 14 per cent after it cut its annual outlook.
Volkswagen shares fell more than one per cent after its first quarterly loss for five years, topping one billion euros.
Shares in auto giant Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot, sank six per cent despite rising sales as the group said it expects to incur charges in the second half of the year.
Danish weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk, owner of treatments Wegovy and Ozempic, saw its shares fall three per cent after it launched a bidding war with US rival Pfizer for obesity treatment maker Metsera.
