Seoul Gazette - US stocks bounce following downcast sessions

Tech shares were lifted following results from chip company Nvidia, which surged 12 percent.

It came despite the company reporting lower profits as its first-quarter revenue outlook topped estimates and executives expressed confidence about the growth of artificial intelligence technology.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.9 percent to 11,605.01 about 15 minutes into the trading day.

Stocks have been on the back foot since the middle of last week following inflation data that revived worries about additional interest rate hikes.

Minutes from a Federal Reserve policy meeting had indicated US interest rates would keep rising for longer than investors had been expecting.

A blockbuster US jobs report and sticky inflation data this month have dealt a hammer blow to earlier expectations that the Fed could soon pause its monetary tightening campaign or even cut borrowing costs before year's end.

US unemployment claims came in lower than anticipated Thursday, which "will contribute to expectations for another strong gain in nonfarm payrolls and the Fed sticking to its tightening ways", according to Briefing.com analyst Patrick J. O'Hare.

Several Fed officials had lined up to warn traders they were too optimistic and that with the labour market still strong, rates would need to keep rising until it had weakened and prices were under control.

In Europe, both Frankfurt and Paris stocks were moving higher.

But London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dipped despite shares in Rolls-Royce soaring more than 20 percent after the maker of aircraft engines promised greater efficiency under its new chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic.

Meanwhile the European Commission has banned TikTok on official devices used by staff amid concerns over data protection as the EU seeks to bolster its cybersecurity.

TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has faced increasing Western scrutiny in recent months over fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.

TikTok said the decision was based on mistaken ideas about its platform.

- Key figures around 1430 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 33,169.40 points

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,919.17

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 15,487.33

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,326.25

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 4,266.96

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 20,351.35 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,287.48 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: FLAT at $1.0609

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2052 from $1.2046 on Wednesday

Euro/pound: UP at 88.03 pence from 87.99 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 135.09 yen from 134.71 yen

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.0 percent at $81.58 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $75.01 per barrel

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M. Taylor--BTZ