Stock Rally to Ease as Nvidia Tepid After Results: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A rebound in global equities following the so-called “AI scare trade” that rattled Wall Street earlier this week showed signs of losing momentum, as investors delivered a muted response to Nvidia Corp.’s earnings despite results that topped estimates.
Equity-index futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index retreated 0.3% and contracts indicated slight losses for European stocks at the open. Nvidia shares erased most of their post-earnings gains to edge up 0.2% in extended trading. In contrast, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.9%, although the region’s chip stocks slipped.
The world’s most valuable company signaled concerns about an overheated artificial intelligence economy, after Wall Street closed for trading on Wednesday. Nvidia’s shares have run up 4.9% this year, beating the gains for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes.
“Traders’ expectations for Nvidia were already highly priced in, leaving little room for further upside,” said Dilin Wu, a research strategist at Pepperstone Group. While Nvidia emphasized robust growth in AI computing demand and temporarily resilient margins, “the potential threat to market share from proprietary chips” was not fully addressed, she said.
Nvidia’s failure to wow investors sets up a new test for traders after equity markets rebounded from Monday’s tumble, which was driven by concerns over AI-driven disruption. With sentiment still fragile, the muted reaction suggests investors may demand clearer evidence that earnings growth can justify elevated multiples before extending the AI-fueled rally.
In other corners of the market, the dollar weakened for a second day. Gold rose to trade close to $5,200 an ounce as traders weighed tensions in the Middle East and the impact of US tariffs on global trade. Bitcoin fell 1% and Treasuries gained, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year falling one basis point to 4.04%.
Meanwhile, Japan’s currency gained 0.3% to 155.91 per dollar, alongside gains in short-end domestic government bond yields. The yen led gains among Group-of-10 currencies after Bank of Japan board member Hajime Takata, the most hawkish voice on the panel, renewed calls for further rate increases.
Elsewhere, President Donald Trump will sign a directive in the coming days raising his global tariff to 15% “where appropriate” and is seeking “continuity” with nations that struck trade deals, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.
What Bloomberg strategists say…
Nvidia’s much-anticipated earnings were solid, but some on Wall Street were disappointed about the lack of details on the outlook and what’s driving it. While this should temper some AI-related anxiety, concerns about competition and the sustainability of infrastructure investments will linger.
— Tatiana Darie, MLIV. For full analysis, click here.
Back to Nvidia, the chipmaker projected first-quarter revenue of $76.4 billion to $79.6 billion, exceeding estimates of $72.8 billion. Some analysts had projected numbers approaching $80 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
After a remarkable run of sales growth, investors are proving harder to satisfy.
“The after-hours seesaw shows this market is now trading for ‘more than great,’ demanding renewed acceleration rather than mere confirmation,” said Hebe Chen, senior market analyst at Vantage Global Prime.
Investors have been so sensitive in recent days that a report from a little-known firm called Citrini Research outlining the potential AI risks to various industries — using hypothetical scenarios set in the future — jolted markets earlier this week.
The disruptive potential of the technology has roiled stocks across sectors for weeks in what’s become known as the “AI scare trade.”
“It’s becoming somewhat harder for money to flow back into the sector the way it did last year,” said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities Co. “In the end, concerns about over investment and the sustainability of investment were not dispelled by Nvidia’s results alone.”
Corporate Highlights:
Nvidia said it secured a license to ship a small number of its less advanced H200 chips to customers in China, inching forward in its bid to return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Salesforce Inc. gave a lukewarm outlook for sales growth in the new fiscal year, fueling Wall Street’s worries that the software giant will lose out to new competitors in the age of AI. Qantas Airways Ltd. said profit climbed as new and less fuel-hungry Airbus SE aircraft increasingly replaced the airline’s aging domestic fleet. Lowe’s Co.’s sales guidance for the full year fell short of expectations, a sign the housing market will remain lackluster in the near term. Some of Asia’s biggest banks are working on bids for HSBC Holdings Plc’s retail assets in Indonesia. Hong Kong billionaire Victor Li’s CK Group has agreed to sell the UK’s largest power-distribution network. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 2:25 p.m. Tokyo time S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.6% Japan’s Topix rose 0.9% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% The Shanghai Composite was little changed Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro was little changed at $1.1820 The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 155.90 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.3% to 6.8328 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.8% to $68,364.73 Ether fell 1.8% to $2,063.36 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.04% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.160% Australia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.70% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $65.59 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.8% to $5,205.35 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Momoka Yokoyama.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
