Global stocks mostly fell on Tuesday, after shares of artificial intelligence companies fell in trading the previous night.
The French CAC 40 index fell 0.8 percent in early trading to 8,055.86 points, while the German DAX index fell 0.8 percent to 25,248.75 points. The British Financial Times 100 Index also fell by about 0.8 percent to 10,615.45 points, according to the Associated Press.
US stocks were heading to a lower opening; Dow Jones futures fell 0.7 percent to 52,505.00 points, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 0.6 percent to 7,650.50 points.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index jumped in morning trading, but gave up its previous gains during afternoon trading, ending the session largely stable, falling by less than 0.1 percent at 63,484.10 points.
The shares of SoftBank Group, the Japanese giant that is a major investor in OpenAI, jumped 7.5 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, recovering the losses it incurred during the previous night.
The decline came after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview with Fortune magazine published on Saturday that the company developing Chat GPT would likely wait until next year to offer its shares on Wall Street. This would postpone a potential flow of billions of dollars to SoftBank and other investors who participated early in OpenAI.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.9 percent to 8,672.50 points, while the South Korean KOSPI index fell 0.9 percent to 6,627.26 points. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 1.0 percent to 24,667.24 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to 3,864.28 points.
The markets were also affected by statements by other leaders in the artificial intelligence sector, in which they warned that slowing the pace of development of this technology has become necessary to ensure the safety of humanity.
Ng Jingwen, an analyst at Mizuho Bank, said in a report: “The prospects for a coordinated slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence remain uncertain, in light of the intense competition between American companies on the one hand, and between the United States and China on the other hand.”
Artificial intelligence stocks are under pressure due to fears that their prices have risen to exaggerated levels, amid the wave of great demand for this technology. These concerns escalated over the weekend after Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic and one of the industry's most prominent voices, called for a deliberate, global slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence.
In energy markets, West Texas Intermediate crude, the standard crude in the United States, rose 2.19 percent to $103.61 per barrel, while Brent crude, the global standard, rose 2.13 percent, to $107.93 per barrel.
Oil prices continued to rise as attacks in the Middle East continued to reduce global crude flows.
In the currency market, the US dollar rose slightly to 154.99 yen, compared to 154.30 yen, while the price of the euro reached $1.1533, down from $1.1557.
A senior executive at Thai PTT said on Tuesday that the company is looking for new sources of liquefied natural gas, such as the Sultanate of Oman, North America and West Africa, as part of its effort to diversify its portfolio in light of geopolitical turmoil, according to Reuters.
Thailand, the largest importer of liquefied natural gas in Southeast Asia, relies on spot supplies to meet 50 percent of its needs. The country increased its imports from the United States this year after exports from Qatar, its largest supplier, were severely disrupted when the Iran war led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are not relying solely on (one) supplier like Qatar, but we are still seeking to explore options,” said Pandit Thambrajamshit, the company’s executive director of operations for the oil and gas exploration and production sector, according to Reuters on the sidelines of the “Gastec” conference. He added: “We are also exploring the possibility of importing from Canada and Mexico,” noting that West Africa and other countries in the Middle East also represent potential sources, noting that Oman is located outside the Strait of Hormuz.
During the conference, Pandit explained that PTT seeks to secure guaranteed liquefied natural gas supplies in the near term for energy security.
Data issued by Kpler Analytics showed that Oman’s exports of liquefied natural gas reached their highest level ever at 1.167 million metric tons in August. The Sultanate exported 11,521 million tons of liquefied natural gas last year.
Pandit stated that the major government company is seeking to cooperate with its partners in order to jointly purchase or jointly load shipments. In order to reduce costs.
He said: “We are cooperating with our partners, especially those who buy LNG in Thailand, to see if we can, for example, joint purchase or joint loading, to save the cost of access and the cost of LNG,” but he refused to reveal the names of the partners.
PTT is working to expand its import capacity of liquefied natural gas to 27 million tons annually within 3 years, compared to about 19 million tons annually currently.
Pandit noted that the company aims to increase demand for liquefied natural gas by 10 million tons annually by 2030, and another 15 million tons annually by 2035.
The Chinese yuan fell slightly against the dollar on Tuesday, while stocks in China and Hong Kong steadied, amid a combination of weak economic data and a limited rebound in technology and artificial intelligence stocks.
The yuan opened in the local market at 6.7100 to the dollar, before trading near 6.7104, down by about 0.03 percent from the close of the previous session. This came as the dollar remained near its highest level in two weeks, supported by rising US Treasury bond yields and increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this week.
Analysts at Mitsubishi UFG said that the markets are still strongly affected by the rise in bond yields in advanced economies, the rise in oil prices with renewed tensions in the Middle East, in addition to fears of a slowdown in spending on artificial intelligence, which has prompted investors to be more cautious towards high-risk assets.
At home, August data showed an acceleration in the growth of industrial production, but weak consumption and a worsening decline in investment once again highlighted the fragility of domestic demand. New home prices also continued to decline, a further indication of continued pressure on the real estate market.
yuan between the trade surplus and the interest gap
Market participants believe that the yuan may maintain a stable path or tend to rise gradually, benefiting from China's large trade surplus, despite the widening difference in interest rates with the United States. The Chinese currency has risen by about 4.2 percent since the beginning of the year, while achieving slight gains this month. Before the market opened, the People's Bank of China set the daily reference rate at 6.7670 yuan to the dollar, the strongest level since February 2023, but it remained weaker than market estimates. The yuan was trading in the external market near 6.7112 to the dollar.
Stocks move sideways
In the stock market, the CSI 300 index of leading stocks remained almost stable, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell by about 0.1 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 percent. The greatest pressure came from the financial and real estate sectors. Each of them fell by about 1 percent, at a time when basic consumer goods stocks remained almost stable.
Analysts at Barclays said that activity data for August, along with weak demand for credit, confirm that the recovery of domestic demand is still far away. They kept their forecast for Chinese economic growth in 2026 at 4.5 percent, which is lower than the average market expectation.
Technology is partially recovering
On the other hand, technology stocks recorded some recovery. The Star 50 index jumped by as much as 3 percent, in its first rebound in a week after recording its lowest level in 4 and a half months. The semiconductor materials and equipment index also rose by 2.7 percent. Shares of major technology companies listed in Hong Kong rose 0.8 percent, with Tencent shares rising by about 3 percent. Guangdong Tianyu Semiconductor shares also jumped by more than 8 percent, supported by a plan to buy back shares.
But investor sentiment remained relatively weak after a wave of profit-taking that followed a strong rally led by the artificial intelligence sector earlier in the year. Liquidity also declined; Daily trading volume remained close to its lowest levels since April.
Tuesday's movements reflect a state of anticipation in Chinese markets. Investors are balancing limited support from technology and the trade surplus, and continued weakness in domestic demand and real estate pressures, awaiting clearer signals from the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.
