Global stock markets struggled to find direction on Thursday as investors digested a fresh wave of corporate earnings and monitored progress on a potential US-Iran deal over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude climbing back above $80 per barrel, as traders sought firm confirmation that negotiations over the key waterway were advancing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat in early Wall Street trading, while the broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq each added around 0.2 percent in a cautious session.
European markets were similarly subdued, with London’s FTSE 100 (^FTSE) flat, Frankfurt’s DAX edging just 0.1 percent higher, and Paris leading with a 0.8 percent gain.
Alcoholic drinks maker Diageo (DGE.L) surged seven percent to top the FTSE 100 after unveiling a major cost-cutting plan designed to help reverse sliding profits.
German industrial giant Siemens (SIE.DE) fell as much as five percent in Frankfurt before recovering around half of those losses, after profit forecasts disappointed investors.
Asian markets bore the brunt of renewed tech selling, with Seoul’s Kospi index plunging 4.6 percent, led by a 10 percent drop in SK Hynix and a loss of more than six percent for Samsung.
Tokyo’s Nikkei lost nearly one percent, with chipmaker Kioxia falling more than 10 percent and Tokyo Electron shedding more than five percent in a broad-based tech retreat.
Disappointing earnings from US firms SanDisk and Western Digital stoked wider concerns about the profitability of artificial intelligence investments across the sector.
A sharp fall in shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Wednesday also dampened sentiment, after results raised fresh worries about the scale of AI spending commitments.
Iran said on Wednesday it had agreed a transit route with Oman for ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz and was finalising arrangements for jointly managing the waterway.
Official sources briefing Iranian media said any reopening remained conditional on the United States fulfilling what Tehran regards as its commitment to end its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“Caution in the oil price today is a sign that the market needs confirmation from the White House that this is all true, and the prospects of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is not a false dawn,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.
Investors are also looking ahead to key US jobs data due on Friday, hoping for fresh signals on the health of the economy as the Federal Reserve weighs its next steps on interest rates.
Private sector hiring figures released on Wednesday showed US job creation fell significantly short of expectations in July, with sectors including leisure and hospitality cutting positions.