Sawt Falasteen - Stocks diverge as investors digest Trump-Xi talks, earnings

US President Donald Trump described his meeting in South Korea with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping -- their first since 2019, during Trump's first term -- as "amazing".

The two leaders agreed to calm the US-China trade war that has shaken global markets, with Washington cutting some tariffs and Beijing committing to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.

But the frenzy on stock markets that led to new records in the run-up to the meeting and earnings reports by tech giants faded.

Asia markets ended mostly lower, while in Europe both Frankfurt and London ended the day flat after wobbling in afternoon trading.

On Wall Street, the Dow rose but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both lower in early afternoon trading.

"Doubts over the possible returns on investments planned for artificial general intelligence, the Fed's 'hawkish' rate cut and President Trump's underwhelming trade deal with China have done little to boost sentiment," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services provider Trade Nation.

Big US tech companies were in focus again Thursday, with investors reacting to earnings reports from Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft released after Wall Street closed on Wednesday.

Shares in Meta dove around 10 percent after third-quarter profits missed analysts' expectations.

Profits sank 83 percent to $2.7 billion following a roughly $16-billion hit from a one-time accounting shift due to a US fiscal overhaul legislation favoured by President Donald Trump.

Microsoft shares shed 2.7 percent and shares in Google-parent Alphabet rose 4.6 percent.

Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results but questions arose about the pace of AI monetisation.

"These latest results highlight the business models of the big technology firms are becoming more capital intensive, as they build out their AI capabilities," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

He added, however, that if AI fails to deliver revenue streams, "the effect on share prices could be brutal."

However Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada said that "unless there's a significant negative surprise from the remaining tech giants yet to report, equities could well have further room to climb."

Amazon and Apple report after US markets close on Thursday.

Shares in Nvidia gave up 1.6 percent a day after it became the first company to reach a $5 trillion market value. The company reports results of its third quarter, which ended this week, on November 19.

Seoul's stock market got a lift from tech giant Samsung Electronics posting a 32-percent rise in on-year profits for the third quarter, driven by AI-fuelled market demand for memory chips.

The European Central Bank held interest rates steady, as expected, as inflation hovers around its target and the eurozone economy holds up.

Data on Thursday showed the eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of 2025.

The Bank of Japan also held interest rates steady on Thursday, sending the yen higher, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut.

Fed chair Jerome Powell's announcement, however, cast doubt on an additional cut in December, jolting US markets and lifting the value of the dollar on Wednesday.

Shares in auto giant Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot, sank over eight percent despite rising sales as the group said it expected to incur charges in the second half of the year.

- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 47,856.70 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,868.95

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 23,758.70

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,760.06 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,157.29 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,118.89 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 51,325.61 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,282.69 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,986.90 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1566 from $1.1595 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3146 from $1.3187

Dollar/yen: UP at 154.11 yen from 152.82 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.99 from 87.94 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at $64.29 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP less than 0.1 percent at $60.53 per barrel

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O.Salim--SF-PST