The U.S. equity markets ended sharply lower on Thursday. At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 45 960 points-a decline of 1.0 % from the previous day. A few minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 was down 1.7 % at about 6 477 points, while the technology-focused Nasdaq 100 had slipped 2.4 % to roughly 23 587 points.
Earlier on Tuesday, Google revealed on its research blog “Turbo Quant” an algorithm that promises to dramatically cut the memory footprint of language models. The story has since reached mainstream outlets, prompting investors to weigh its significance for makers of AI chips. Despite this technological breakthrough, Alphabet’s stock has not gained traction, as market sentiment remains dominated by uncertainty surrounding the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.
The euro slipped slightly against the dollar on Thursday evening: one euro was worth 1.1545 USD, and one dollar could be exchanged for 0.8662 EUR.
Gold moved decisively lower. At the close, a fine troy ounce fetched 4 390 USD-down 2.8 %-which translates to about 122.25 EUR per gram.
Oil prices rose sharply. At around 21:00 CET on Thursday, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude climbed to 107.40 USD, an increase of 5.1 % from the previous day’s closing level.