Global Stocks Higher, Driven by Tech
On Wednesday, global stocks reached record highs, driven by a tech share rally that has resulted in AI chipmaker Nvidia emerging as the most valuable company in the world, while the dollar was flat as soft U.S. retail sales data indicated rates may be cut this year.
MSCI’s global index was 0.15% higher at 805.12, after trading at an all-time high of 805.43.
On Tuesday, a push higher in U.S. tech stocks resulted in Nvidia dethroning Microsoft, which boosted chipmaker shares overnight in Asia.
U.S. stock index futures were also higher, with those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 0.23% higher and those on the S&P 500 0.1% higher. The STOXX 600 in Europe dropped 0.1%.
The pound was higher after data showed inflation in the UK in May returned to the Bank of England’s target of 2% for the first time since 2021.
Although both the BoE and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will welcome the drop in inflation, it has likely come too late either to lead to a rate cut by the central bank on Thursday or to change Sunak’s fate at next month’s election.
An economist Samy Chaar, Lombard Odier, said with UK inflation at 2% and inflation in the U.S. at 2.7%, this was not really disruptive.