Microsoft exit package
Tesla, Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft were all trading higher.
Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, the company said on Tuesday NZT, roughly a quarter of its workforce, as the tech giant seeks to cut costs while pouring money into artificial intelligence.
Staff on select teams in the United States, Canada, India and Britain at vice president level and below will be eligible, a Microsoft spokesperson said, while some groups of employees, including some working on data centres, sales and marketing, are excluded.
It’s the second voluntary buyout offer that Microsoft has offered employees this year.
In April, the company reportedly offered around 7% of its US workforce the option to retire early.
Around 30% of those eligible took the voluntary retirement plan, according to CNBC.
FTSE dragged down by HSBC
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was dragged down by HSBC, whose share price fell 5.4% after its bumper profits undershot market expectations.
Mercedes-Benz shed 3.8% in Frankfurt after the German carmaker cut its full-year outlook, underperforming the DAX index which slightly rose overall in afternoon trading. Paris also rose.
Earlier, equities rose in Japan and Korea, also boosted by Anthropic’s IPO filing.
The sale is seen as a crucial test of whether the AI boom can deliver profits, and a disappointing reception could dent enthusiasm further, with traders questioning the vast sums invested in the sector as well as several companies’ financial positions.
The filing lays out risks for the AI industry, which has faced a string of damaging reports in recent months.
Seoul’s stock market briefly jumped more than 4% Tuesday thanks to strong gains in chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung.
Tokyo added 1.8% on spikes in Tokyo Electron, Advantest and SoftBank.
“Sentiment towards technology has improved as investors assess Anthropic’s IPO filing at the start of a week packed with corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision,” Fiona Cincotta, at FOREX.com, said.
IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said, “There remains hope that this is a more durable rally than those we saw last week, with the caveat that there is still an abundance of macro risk to navigate this week”.
Investors are awaiting earnings this week from Magnificent Seven members Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon as well as SK hynix and Samsung.
Facebook parent Meta on Monday said it plans to raise $35 billion through a stock offering to fund artificial intelligence development.
Google parent Alphabet recently raised $85 billion through equity offerings to fund its AI data centre expansion.
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates on hold in a decision on Wednesday, though CME Group’s FedWatch tool says there is a 70% chance of a hike when it meets in December as inflation rises.
Those expectations have boosted the dollar.
The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are also expected to hold tight in announcements on Thursday and Friday.
Oil prices fell amid renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict and as Israelis went to the polls in parliamentary elections.
Key figures around 3.30pm GMT
New York – Dow: FLAT at 52,382.94 points
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.7% at 7,726.34
New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.3% at 26,504.59
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8% at 10,686.54 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7% at 7,887.14 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7% at 25,590.77 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7% at 63,268.37 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 3.1% at 5638.34 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7% at 23,041.32 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.3% at 3650.47 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.5% at $114.08 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6% at $100.09 per barrel
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3308 from $1.3349
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.87 yen from 157.45 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.77 pence from 83.78 pence
– AFP