San Francisco Frontiers - Global stocks mixed as market awaits ECB decision

Major US indices spent most of the session in the red before closing moderately lower. The S&P 500 shed 0.5 percent.

In Europe, London and continental bourses mostly rose, with the notable exception of Paris, which was dragged down by poor results from luxury group LVMH, Europe's largest company by market value.

The Fed, as expected, left its key lending rate unchanged, resisting pressure from President Donald Trump to continue with cuts in the first rate decision since his return to office.

Stocks did not move significantly after the decision or during a news conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

"We're looking at a major plethora of earnings data," Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments said Wednesday afternoon after the Fed decision but before earnings releases from several tech giants.

US stocks took a hammering Monday, with chip giant and market darling Nvidia collapsing almost 17 percent, after China's DeepSeek unveiled a chatbot that apparently matched the capacity of US artificial intelligence pacesetters for a fraction of the investments made by American companies.

Tuesday saw a tech rebound, with Nvidia surging 8.8 percent, as some analysts voiced doubts over whether DeepSeek's AI was developed as cheaply as it claims, and with others saying that more cost-effective AI applications are good for everyone.

On Wednesday, Nvidia dropped 4.1 percent.

In Paris, LVMH shares were down more than five percent after it reported late Tuesday that net profit shrank 17 percent last year, leading its chief executive Bernard Arnault to complain about the high level of taxes in France.

Shares in Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductors, closed more than 6 percent higher on Wednesday after it reported solid orders in the fourth quarter.

European stock markets have been supported by expectations that the European Central Bank will cut rates 25 basis points Thursday to revive stagnant European economies.

"The ECB's dovish stance has provided a tailwind for European equities," said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com. "As momentum shifts from US to European markets, further upside in European stocks remains a strong possibility."

Earlier in the day, Tokyo's stock market rebounded after having taken a heavy hit over the previous two days as its chip companies tanked.

There were gains also in Sydney, Wellington and Mumbai, though Bangkok dipped. Chinese indices were closed for the holidays.

But oil prices fell on reports of growing US crude reserves and on expectations that Trump's tariff policy could reduce demand.

- Key figures around 2200 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,713.52 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,039.31 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,963.32 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,557.81 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,872.48 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 21,637.53 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 39,414.78 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0425 from $1.0430 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2444 from $1.2443

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 155.15 yen from 155.54 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.68 pence from 83.82 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6 percent at $72.62 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $76.58 per barrel

A.Smith--SFF