MANILA, Philippines (AP) \u2014 European shares were mixed in early trading while most Asian stocks rose on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit records again following a brief stumble.<\/p>\n
The futures for S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both up less than 0.1%, while markets in mainland China gained more than 1% as they reopened following a weeklong holiday.<\/p>\n
In early European trading, Germany\u2019s Dax added 0.2% to 24,634.96 while France\u2019s CAC 40 was almost flat at 8,062.13. Britain\u2019s FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 9,507.00 as sentiments were weighed by banking and housing stocks.<\/p>\n
Oil prices fell back, then slightly recovered after Israel and Hamas agreed<\/a> Wednesday to pause fighting in Gaza so that the remaining hostages there can be freed in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n The acceptance of elements of a plan put forward by the Trump administration<\/a> represents the biggest breakthrough in months in the devastating two-year-old war and reduced risks in the volatile region.<\/p>\n U.S. benchmark crude added 12 cents to $62.67 per barrel as of Thursday afternoon. Brent crude, the international standard, edged up 12 cents to $66.37 per barrel.<\/p>\n Gold shed some of its stellar gains but was still at $4,051.80 per ounce as of Thursday afternoon. <\/p>\n Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 rose 1.8%, closing at 48,580.44. Technology giant SoftBank Group surged over 11% after it announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.<\/p>\n Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng index edged down 0.3% to 26,740.37, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.3% to 3,933.97 in its first trading session since Oct. 1. <\/p>\n Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 edged up nearly 0.3% to 8,969.80 while Taiwan\u2019s Taiex pared earlier bigger gains, closing 0.9% higher.<\/p>\n Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world\u2019s largest contract chipmaker, on Thursday reported its third-quarter revenue climbed 30% year-on-year, beating market forecasts. Its shares gained 2.1%. <\/p>\n On Wednesday, Wall Street resumed climbing and the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce<\/a>.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,735.72, another record, a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak<\/a>. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged less than 0.1% lower to 46,601.78, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1% to its own record of 23,043.38.<\/p>\n Trading has been relatively muted recently following the U.S. government\u2019s latest shutdown<\/a>. The closure is delaying the release <\/a> of several major economic reports that usually move the market. Stocks have been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve<\/a>, one of the major reasons the stock market has surged since April.<\/p>\n Another force that\u2019s pushed the market to records is the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology<\/a>. <\/p>\n Advanced Micro Devices jumped another 11.4% to add to its rally from earlier in the week, when it announced an AI-related deal<\/a>. AMD was the best performing stock in the S&P 500. <\/p>\n Right behind was Dell Technologies, which piled more gains onto its own rally from Tuesday, when it talked up its growth opportunities related to AI. Dell rose 9.1%. <\/p>\n Poet Technologies climbed 17% and likewise added to its surge from Tuesday, when it said it raised $75 million in investment to accelerate its growth. The company sells high-speed optical engines and other products used in the AI systems market.<\/p>\n AI-related stocks have broadly been on a tear. Nvidia has soared nearly 41% so far this year. Oracle is up 73.2% over the same time, while Palantir Technologies has more than doubled with a nearly 143% surge. <\/p>\n