San Francisco Frontiers - Global stocks mostly cheer Nvidia results as bitcoin gains

Nvidia itself had a volatile day, finishing modestly higher after several reversals. The chip company reported a whopping $19 billion in profits, although investors wondered if its current rate of stupendous growth is sustainable.

But stocks rose as a "relief trade" after the Nvidia report, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, who noted that investors had feared a disappointing Nvidia announcement would spark a tech sell-off.

All three major US indices rose, led by the Dow, which won more than one percent.

The pickup on US markets also helped European bourses shake off early weakness.

O'Hare called Thursday's rally a "broad-based move," noting nine of 11 US sectors rose and adding that investors are hopeful about a year-end rally.

But worsening tensions between Russia and Ukraine also loom as a risk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a "global" war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.

Putin spoke out after a day of frayed nerves, with Russia test-firing a new generation intermediate-range missile at Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky branded the strike a major ramping up of the "scale and brutality" of the war by a "crazy neighbor", while Kyiv's main backer the United States said that Russia was to blame for escalating the conflict "at every turn".

The tension helped push oil prices up around two percent and played a role in lifting natural gas prices to their highest level in a year.

The dollar also continued to push higher, boosted by the falling odds of further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, as well as the greenback's status as a haven currency.

But the day's most impressive action may have been bitcoin, which soared above $99,000. The cryptocurrency has been lifted by expectations that Donald Trump, spurred by cryptocurrency cheerleader Elon Musk, will bring it further into everyday use upon re-entering the White House in January.

"Will Americans be able to use crypto to pay their taxes in the future? There is a bigger possibility of this happening now than before the election," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

In Asia, shares in Indian conglomerate Adani Group tanked after US prosecutors charged its owner Gautam Adani with handing out more than $250 million in bribes for key contracts.

Flagship operation Adani Enterprises dived almost 20 percent, while several of its subsidiaries -- from coal to media businesses -- lost 10 to 20 percent.

Among other companies, Google parent Alphabet tumbled 4.6 percent after the Justice Department asked a federal court to order Google to sell its widely used Chrome browser in a major antitrust crackdown.

DOJ also asked the court to ban deals for Google to be the default search engine on smartphones and prevent it from exploiting its Android mobile operating system.

- Key figures around 2130 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 43,870.35 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 5,948.71 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP less than 0.1 percent at 18,972.42 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,149.27 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,213.32 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 19,146.17 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 38,026.17 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,601.11 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,370.40 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0476 from $1.0544 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2587 from $1.2652

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.54 yen from 155.44 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.20 pence from 83.33 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.0 percent at $74.23 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.0 percent at $70.10 per barrel

J.Scott--SFF