Sawt Falasteen - Nasdaq dips as SK hynix arrives in NY

The supplier of advanced memory chips used for AI technology raised $26.5 billion for its mega US listing due Friday, in one of the world's biggest-ever stock sales.

The chipmaker set a price of $149 for each American depositary share -- slightly more than its Seoul closing price Thursday -- ahead of its debut on the Nasdaq.

That meant it had raised $26.5 billion, the most for a US listing by a foreign firm.

SK hynix, along with Samsung and Micron, is a heavyweight in the global market for the high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers alongside other data-crunching semiconductors.

"The South Korean company wanted to benefit from the appetite for AI among US investors, and it seems it won't be disappointed," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

"Even though the stock has already risen by around 660 percent over the past year... plenty of investors are still desperate to get a slice of the company," she added.

Like an initial public offering of shares, SK hynix shares were not immediately quoted on the Nasdaq when trading got underway, but will start later in the morning.

The Nasdaq's composite index dipped 0.1 percent as trading got underway then wobbled around the break-even point.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said SK hynix (SKHY) shares were sucking money from shares in competitors as investors were buying into the South Korean firm.

"The irony is that... increased equity supply from the SKHY offering is grounding other semiconductor stocks for the time being," he said in a note to investors before the market opened.

"That could potentially lead to another buy-the-dip opportunity, but for now, buyers are keeping mostly to the sidelines," he added.

South Korea led gains in Asia, while European markets were muted in afternoon trading.

Shares in Meta shot up more than five percent after the Facebook and Intagram-parent launched Muse Spark 1.1, an AI model for computer coders, putting it in more direct competition with leaders OpenAI and Anthropic.

British mobile phone giant Vodafone saw its share price surge more than 12 percent, topping London's FTSE 100 index, after French tycoon Xavier Niel was set to pay 5.1 billion euros ($5.8 billion) to become the group's largest shareholder.

On the second-tier FTSE 250, EasyJet shares soared more than 14 percent after US investor Apollo swooped in with a $7.7-billion takeover offer for the British no-frills airline.

Oil prices steadied after spiking earlier in the week as the United States and Iran exchanged fire again.

"As we move to the end of the week, volatility has retreated and fears about an escalation in tensions between the US and Iran appear overdone," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

"If we do not return to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the impact from the war in the Middle East should not leave a lasting scar on the global economy," she added.

- Key figures around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 52,616.12 points

New York - S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 7,549.33

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 26,175.54

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,497.53

Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 8,326.46

Frankfurt - DAX: UP less than 0.1 percent at 25,141.92

Seoul - Kospi: UP 2.5 percent at 7,475.94 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 68,557.73 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,175.12 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,996.16 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1423 from $1.1430 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3414 from $1.3410

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 161.80 yen from 162.38 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.15 pence from 85.23 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $76.56 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $72.26 a barrel

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST