Asian shares and U.S. futures were mixed Wednesday after the U.S. midterm elections yielded majorities for the Democrats in both houses of Congress.
asserted
elections → yield → Congress
The results were a decisive rebuke of Republican governance and will bring a new era of congressional resistance to U.S. President Donald Trump.
asserted
results → bring → Trump
Markets generally prefer that control of Washington be split between the Republicans and the Democrats.
asserted
control → prefer → Republicans
That is seen as offering less risk of sweeping policy changes that could reshape the economy.
uncertain
that → see → economy
“The magnitude of the gains for the Democrats in the midterms does not change too much for the near-term policy outlook, given the party still lacks a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and President Trump has veto power to block legislation,” Stephen Brown of Capital Economics said in an analysis.
asserted
Brown → change → analysis
Investors have mainly been preoccupied recently by issues related to artificial intelligence.
asserted
Investors → preoccupy → intelligence
Markets have been roiled by bouts of selling of technology shares by investors worried that AI-related share prices have shot too high.
asserted
prices → roil → investors
As election results filtered in Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 1.4% to 62,188.63.
asserted
Nikkei → filter → 62,188.63
Shares of OpenAI investor SoftBank Group dropped 3.2%.
asserted
Shares → drop → Group
Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings tumbled 5.4%, paring losses as its guidance for the October-December period missed market expectations.
asserted
guidance → tumble → expectations
South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.6% to 5,683.80, as memory chipmaker SK Hynix edged 0.1% lower, while Samsung Electronics slid 0.7%.
asserted
Electronics → rise → 5,683.80
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 1.1% to 23,791.61, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 2.2% to 3,686.17.
asserted
index → advance → 3,686.17
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6% to 8,834.50 after the central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday.
asserted
bank → fall → Tuesday
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.8%.
asserted
Taiex → lose → %
India’s Sensex edged 0.1% higher.
asserted
Sensex → edge → ?
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, even though most of the stocks within the index fell.
asserted
most → rise → index
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 197 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%.
asserted
composite → drop → ?
Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom were the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.
asserted
Nvidia → push → S&P
Also boosting the market were several companies that are spending heavily on AI.
asserted
that → boost → AI
Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms all rose more than 2%.
asserted
Microsoft → rise → ?
Apple was long seen on Wall Street as a Big Tech company that’s less dependent on AI.
asserted
that → see → AI
But it’s still feeling the effects of the AI boom.
asserted
it → feel → boom
Memory chips for computers have become more expensive because of the demand created by the rush to build AI data centers.
asserted
chips → become → centers
Those higher costs are hitting Apple, which said it expects to make less profit from each $1 of its revenue during the final three months of this year.
asserted
it → hit → year
On the winning side Tuesday were stocks of several companies that reported stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected.
asserted
analysts → win → summer
DuPont rallied 8.6% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, and Celanese climbed 5%.
asserted
Celanese → rally → S&P
Companies are expected to continue to deliver big gains in profits as the U.S. economy keeps chugging along, even with high inflation and elevated interest rates.
asserted
economy → expect → inflation
An encouraging report Tuesday on the U.S. job market said employers were advertising more job openings at the end of September than economists expected.
asserted
economists → say → September
That helped push the yield on the 10-year Treasury up to 4.96% from 4.91% late Monday.
asserted
That → push → %
In other dealings early Wednesday, the price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.2% to $103.84 a barrel.
asserted
price → rise → 103.84
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 0.2% to $96.28 per barrel.
asserted
oil → gain → barrel
The U.S. dollar fell to 158.13 Japanese yen from 158.69 yen.
asserted
dollar → fall → yen
The euro rose to $1.1229 from $1.1194.
asserted
euro → rise → 1.1194
The Aporia
