U.S. markets were mixed early Wednesday as technology stocks stabilized following another selloff.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% before the opening bell. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which had the biggest decline on Tuesday, ticked down 0.2%.
Two of Tuesday's biggest drags on markets, Nvidia and Microsoft, each inched up less than 1% in premarket trading.
Software makers, which were hit extremely hard Tuesday on fresh anxiety over disruption from artificial intelligence, also steadied. Adobe and Salesforce were down less than 1% before the bell. They each lost about 7% on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Anthropic said it was adding new functionality to its Cowork assistant to help automate legal research and drafting work. It hammered a number of software company's like Legalzoom and London Stock Exchange, which provide similar services.
Investors have rotated in and out of the technology sector both because they feel some companies are now overvalued, and because of the enormous amount of money being spent on AI and whether that will pay off.
Uber slid close to 5% after the ride-hailing app badly missed Wall Street's profit targets and issued first-quarter guidance that disappointed investors.
Walmart shares are still rising after becoming the first traditional retailer to reach a $1 trillion valuation on Tuesday.
With Friday's scheduled jobs report delayed due to the partial government shutdown that ended Tuesday, markets will be leaning more into corporate earnings reports to gauge where the the economy might be heading.
Google parent company Alphabet reports after the bell Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.9% by midday, while Germany's DAX slipped 0.4% and Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.2%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8% to 54,293.36, falling back from a record high set Tuesday. Shares of chipmaker Tokyo Electron fell 2.1%, while testing equipment maker Advantest also lost 2.1%. SoftBank Group shed 2.2%.
Shares of Nintendo plunged 11%, even as the Japanese video-game maker posted strong profits on Tuesday, as investors and analysts expressed concern about whether sales momentum can be maintained for the Switch 2 game console that was rolled out last year.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6% to 5,371.10. Samsung Electronics rose nearly 1%, while chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 0.8%.
The index has been setting records nearly daily.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged less than 0.1% higher to 26,847.32. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.9% to 4,102.20.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher at 8,927.80.
Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.3%, while India's Sensex edged up more than 0.2%.
Gold and silver prices extended gains as investors continued to shift funds into safe haven assets given uncertainties over geopolitical crises and U.S. trade policies.
Gold rose 2.8% to $5,075, while the price of silver jumped nearly 8%, bouncing back to near $90 an ounce after tumbling in recent days.
“After plunging from record highs amid elevated volatility, precious metals attracted renewed buying interest,” ING Bank analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note.
“Safe haven demand is among factors that will remain supportive of gold prices over the medium term," they said.
In energy markets, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost gained 24 cents to $63.45 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 17 cents to $67.50 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 156.64 Japanese yen from 155.77 yen. The euro was up slightly at $1.1823.
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