A renewed surge in semiconductor stocks helped steady the Amsterdam stock exchange on Friday morning, offsetting broader investor hesitation following a wave of global interest rate hikes. The AEX crept slightly higher to 1,101.01 points early in the session, adding to Thursday’s 0.4 per cent rise. Key chipmakers Besi, ASML, and ASMI led the gains with increases of around 2 per cent, continuing their recovery as market anxieties over artificial intelligence safety began to clear.
Across the rest of Europe, shares generally drifted lower despite some positive domestic data. London’s FTSE slipped 0.3 per cent, looking past a surprising rebound in UK retail sales for August, while the Paris CAC fell 0.5 per cent and the MidCap index edged down 0.1 per cent to 1,096.70 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX dropped 0.5 per cent as rising energy bills pushed up German producer prices, raising fears that factories will pass these extra expenses onto shoppers and prolong high inflation.
Asian trading proved more upbeat, with Tokyo’s Nikkei jumping 1.4 per cent following the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates for the second time this year. The Japanese central bank’s action follows recent rate hikes by both the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, marking an unprecedented moment where all three financial giants increased borrowing costs within the very same month.
Energy markets saw Brent crude drop 2.3 per cent, reversing its sharp gains from earlier in the week. Escalating geopolitical friction—including renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi forces, alongside an Iranian attack on a Togolese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz—was overshadowed by market expectations that Saudi Arabia will soon boost its crude exports to ease supply shortages.
In stock news, telecoms group KPN sat at the bottom of the AEX with a 1.7 per cent drop following a target price downgrade from Citi. The slump in crude prices also dragged down energy giant Shell and oil services provider SBM Offshore, with both shedding up to 1.5 per cent. Elsewhere, Czech firearms maker Colt CZ traded flat after confirming that Chief Executive Radek Musil will resign at the end of the month for personal reasons, having held the position since January 2025.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
