Wall Street mixed, European stocks gain as Broadcom drags tech; oil dips

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) – Global stocks inched higher in choppy trading on Thursday as European gains offset a mixed session on Wall Street, as investors weighed a snag in AI momentum and a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that pushed oil prices lower.

The benchmark S&P 500 was higher after reversing losses in early trade and the Dow hit a record high while the Nasdaq lost ground, with technology shares driving losses and healthcare stocks leading gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.79%, the S&P 500 rose 0.32%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.20%.

Shares in Broadcom tumbled more than 14%, pulling semiconductor stocks broadly lower, after the chipmaker’s results disappointed investors who had bet on surging demand for its custom AI chips.

Europe’s bourses rose 0.52%. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.06%.

“We saw a little pocket of weakness in the chip stocks with the disappointing news from Broadcom last night,” said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management.

“Today’s action in tech specifically is emblematic of how fragile sentiment can be for a group of stocks that experience massive gains in a short period of time.”

CRUDE OIL DIPS

U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to ​halt fighting in Lebanon were undermined after the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement rejected the new ceasefire and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives also approved a war powers resolution on Wednesday to block Trump from continuing the conflict against Iran. 

The measure is largely symbolic, however, as it must still pass the Senate and would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override an almost certain presidential veto.

“Those headlines are probably net positive on the geopolitical front and the market is embracing that for now. We’ve seen a lot of volatility around geopolitical headlines in both directions and I would say at the margins, it’s positive with the ceasefire agreement,” St. Aubin said.

Brent crude prices dropped 3% to around $95 a barrel.

YEN HOVERS AROUND 160

In currency markets, investors were watching out for possible official intervention as the Japanese yen hovered near the key 160 level.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara had said in Tokyo he expects the central bank to coordinate its moves with the government after BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda had given fresh hints that an interest rate hike is on the cards this month.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.06% against the greenback to 159.94 per dollar.

The euro was up 0.27% at $1.1626. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar  weakened 0.42% to 0.789.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.12% to 99.33.

U.S. Treasury yields were lower across the board. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3 basis points to 4.461%.

Spot gold rose 1.11% to $4,479.14 an ounce. Bitcoin fell 1.88% to $63,686.05.

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Nia Williams and Chris Reese)