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European and Asian stock markets mostly rose Friday, the end of a week beset by volatility after China’s DeepSeek unveiled an artificial intelligence model to rival those of US tech giants.Confirmation from US President Donald Trump that the world’s biggest economy would impose hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico from this weekend added to the economic unrest felt around the globe, pushing haven investment gold to fresh record highs Thursday.Following sharp losses for equities early in the week as tech stocks plunged, markets have recovered somewhat thanks to positive earnings and company strategy updates.London’s benchmark FTSE 100 hit fresh highs Friday, helped by an 11-percent jump in the share price of Smiths Group after the British engineering company said it planned to simplify the business and return substantial sums to shareholders.The British index also took “cues from solid trading on Wall Street as the recovery from Monday’s DeepSeek related volatility continued”, noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.US equity indices closed higher Thursday shortly before Apple reported that sales growth fell shy of expectations in the final quarter of last year.Focus later Friday turns to a fresh inflation reading from the United States.”There’s one more hurdle to get over this week as core PCE inflation data is released in the US,” said Mould. “This metric is a big factor in informing the decision-making of the Fed (on interest rates) so a surprise in either direction could make markets increasingly febrile again.”The US Federal Reserve kept borrowing costs unchanged this week, in contrast to the European Central Bank which Thursday cut rates as growth stalls in the eurozone.Next week the Bank of England is widely forecast to trim its main interest rate, as the UK struggles to grow its economy.The dollar rose Friday, including against the British pound, euro and yen.The greenback weighed more so on the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar, however, after Trump said he would go ahead with the threatened 25 percent tariffs on the countries pencilled in for Saturday.The US currency has been supported this week also by the Fed indicating that it did not see a need to cut interest rates further while the country’s inflation remaining elevated.- Key figures around 0945 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8,685.05 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,974.67Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 21,777.48Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 39,572.49 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,882.13 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0377 from $1.0392 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2416 from $1.2420Dollar/yen: UP at 154.65 yen from 154.38 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.58 pence from 83.67 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $72.58 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $75.64 per barrelburs-bcp/lth

The operating profit of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics sank almost a third in the fourth quarter owing to spending on research, the company said Friday, as analysts said it was struggling to meet demand for chips used in AI servers.The news comes as industry leaders try to assess the outlook for the sector after Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled a groundbreaking chatbot that performed as well as artificial intelligence pacesetters — apparently for a fraction of the cost.The world’s largest memory-chip maker had already acknowledged in October that it was facing a “crisis”, and acknowledged questions had arisen about its “fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company”.It said operating profit fell to 6.5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in October-December, from 9.18 trillion won in the previous three months. However, it was up 130 percent on-year.Sales rose 11.8 percent to 75.78 trillion won and net profit rose 22.2 percent to 7.75 trillion won on-year, topping forecasts according to Yonhap News Agency. The firm said the fourth-quarter fall-off was down to “soft market conditions especially for IT products, and an increase in expenditures including R&D”, as well as the “initial ramp-up costs to secure production capacity for cutting-edge nodes”.It warned that in the first three months of 2025 “overall earnings improvement may be limited due to weakness in the semiconductors business”.US titan Nvidia, whose semiconductors power the AI industry, has been relying on SK hynix as its main supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for its AI graphics processing units (GPU).But Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip maker, has been struggling to meet the US firm’s requirements.Gloria Tsuen, a Moody’s Ratings vice president and senior credit officer, told AFP that its technology leadership “in the semiconductor market has been eroded over the last few years”.”The rapidly increasing demand for AI chips also heightens the technological difficulty in developing new, custom-made chips for customers in a timely manner,” she added.Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research said Samsung’s “conservative” moves to focus on costs relative to more challenging customer demands had been “key factors for the headwinds”.Still, Bloomberg reported Friday that Samsung had obtained approval to supply a “version of its fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips” to Nvidia, citing people familiar with the matter. Samsung declined to comment when asked by AFP about the report.- Blessing in disguise? – The earnings figures come as the tech world is shaken by news of DeepSeek new R1 chatbot, which sparked a rout in tech titans — Nvidia dived 17 percent Monday — and raised questions about the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in AI in recent years.The Chinese startup has said it used less-advanced H800 chips — permitted for export to China until late 2023 — to power its large learning model.Worries about the impact of DeepSeek battered stocks in Seoul as the market reopened after an extended break Friday.Samsung ended down more than two percent, while SK hynix lost 9.9 percent, having earlier plunged almost 12 percent. Jaejune Kim, executive vice president of Samsung’s memory business, said in an earnings call that the company was “monitoring industry trends considering various scenarios”, as it also supplies HBM chips used in GPUs to various clients.”While it is premature to make judgements based on the currently limited information, we anticipate that long-term opportunities and short-term risks will coexist in the market,” he said.He added that Samsung was determined to “actively respond to the rapidly evolving AI market”.While Samsung faces fundamental technology headwinds, DeepSeek’s claims have “challenged the fundamental economics and investments for ongoing AI waves”, said Counterpoint’s Shah.”This ‘frugal innovation’ could potentially slow down or stretch the hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure investments over the years,” he said.”So, this could be a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Samsung, allowing them to take the time needed to perfect their solution or to lower costs,” he added.

Most Asian markets edged up Friday at the end of a week beset by volatility after China’s DeepSeek unveiled a groundbreaking chatbot, while sentiment was dampened by US President Donald Trump confirming hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico.Traders were rattled by news that the Chinese startup had created a programme that apparently matched the capacity of US artificial intelligence pacesetters for a fraction of the investments made by American companies.The development raised questions about the vast sums of cash invested in the sector by the world’s leading companies and has fuelled fears of a retreat from some of the world’s leading firms — Nvidia tanked almost 17 percent Monday and has struggled to fully recover since.A mixed bag of results from tech giants including Microsoft and Meta in recent days have been unable to instill much excitement, though there was some cheer from Apple’s announcement Thursday of a $124.3 billion fourth-quarter profit.Several industry leaders have welcomed DeepSeek’s arrival and the injection of competition, while analysts have flagged the benefits of the shake-up.”This is the same path the PC revolution followed, with computing power becoming cheap enough that millions of individuals could use it at an affordable cost,” said Morningstar’s Eric Compton.”We believe a future where AI was both prohibitively expensive and also ‘taking over the world’ was not likely. As such, we view the advancements made by DeepSeek as promising and healthy for the overall ecosystem.”- Gold record -Still, after this week’s sell-off in Japanese chipmakers that had benefitted from the AI-rally in recent years, South Korean firms took a hit as Seoul fell on the day it reopened after a holiday.SK hynix tumbled nearly 12 percent at one point before finished only slightly better, while Samsung shed more than two percent — with the latter also reporting a drop in operating profits in October-December as it struggled to meet demand for chips used in AI servers.However, there were gains in Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai, and Jakarta. Manila and Bangkok fell.Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei remained closed for the Lunar New Year break.Spot gold held just shy of the record high $2,799.65 touched Thursday owing to uncertainty about the economic outlook and Trump’s trade policies. The dollar rose, with the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar taking a lot of the heat after the president said he would go ahead with the threatened 25 percent tariffs on the countries pencilled in for Saturday.Trump has accused the two key trading partners of failing to tackle illegal immigration and drug trafficking.However, it was not clear whether oil would be included or not. The countries supplied more than 71 percent of US crude oil imports in 2023, according to a congressional report.China is another possible target, though Trump’s tone on the economic powerhouse has been less forceful than during his election campaign, when he promised levies as high as 60 percent.On taking office on January 20 he said he was considering a level of 10 percent.The yen dipped even after Bank of Japan deputy governor Ryozo Himino indicated officials would continue to lift interest rates this year and data Friday showed core consumer prices in Tokyo — a barometer for the country — climbed at their fastest pace since February. – Key figures around 0700 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 39,572.49 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0393 from $1.0392 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2429 from $1.2420Dollar/yen: UP at 154.76 yen from 154.38 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.65 pence from 83.67 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $73.30 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $77.28 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,882.13 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,646.88 (close)

Japan saw its biggest year-on-year jump in foreign workers since records began, government data showed Friday, as the country seeks to address labour shortages exacerbated by its ageing population.In October 2024, the nation’s foreign workforce stood at 2.3 million — an increase of around 254,000 people from a year earlier, labour ministry data showed.That marks the biggest jump since records began in 2008, and is the latest in a series of annual record-breaking increases.The total has jumped around threefold from a decade ago, in 2014, when the number of foreign workers stood at 788,000.Japan has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco, according to the World Bank, and its relatively strict immigration rules mean it faces growing labour shortages.Friday’s data showed Vietnamese, Chinese and Filipinos were the top three nationalities in Japan’s foreign labour force.Among the most common jobs held by foreign workers were positions in the manufacturing, hospitality, and retail sectors.A “technical intern” programme continued to account for a sizable portion of the foreign workforce, at 20.4 percent. The state-sponsored scheme is ostensibly an attempt by Japan to give participants from countries such as China and Vietnam specialised experience to use in their home countries.But critics have long called it a “backdoor” source of foreign labour in a conservative nation loath to officially acknowledge it is open to immigrants.The intern programme has also been long dogged by allegations of discrimination and physical abuse.

European stock markets rose Thursday as the European Central Bank cut interest rates again while US shares were steady after a mixed bag of company earnings reports. European markets advanced across the board after the ECB trimmed interest rates for the fifth time since June as inflation eases and the eurozone economy stagnates.In New York, major US indices veered in and out of negative territory before finishing higher following a tidal wave of earnings from Microsoft, IBM and other big companies. Meanwhile, gold hit a new record on uncertainty about the economic and trade policies of President Donald Trump. The ECB move followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep US borrowing costs on hold Wednesday as the outlook for inflation, despite coming down, remains more elevated in the United States.Data showed that the eurozone economy was flat in the fourth-quarter with France and Germany contracting slightly, Italy unchanged, and only Spain showing healthy growth among the bloc’s largest economies.By contrast, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported, in line with the consensus forecast.Even so, that report disappointed some investors because the growth rate was below expectations, stalling a recent dollar rally.”There are positives to glean about the US economic landscape,” said Bret Kenwell, an analyst at eToro. “The economy continues to grow, while the labor market remains on solid footing.”The ECB cut its rate by a quarter point to 2.75 percent while the Fed kept its benchmark lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent.”There is really no reason to think the ECB won’t continue to cut rates, at least to a neutral level, and we think quite probably below neutral by year-end,” said Deutsche Bank’s European economist Mark Wall. While the ECB is set to keep cutting rates, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the US central bank was in no “hurry” to adjust its borrowing costs again.Trump, who last week called for rates to “drop immediately”, accused policymakers of failing “to stop the problem they created with inflation”.Powell refused to comment on the US leader’s criticism of the Fed but said decision-makers would “wait and see” how Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, and cut taxes, regulations and immigration would affect the economy.- Eyes on companies -Traders also focused on a slew of corporate earnings.Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday reported surging profits for 2024 and announced ambitious plans to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the year ahead. Its shares were up almost two percent.Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla reported lower-than-expected profits but confirmed key 2025 benchmarks. Its shares climbed nearly three percent.IBM was up almost 13 percent, also on positive guidance. Microsoft reported large profits, but its shares slid more than six percent on worries over its vital cloud computing business.Among other companies in the news, American Airlines dropped 2.5 percent as investigators began probing the causes of a crash involving an affiliate carrier of American Airlines and a military helicopter that claimed 67 lives.- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,882.13 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,071.17 (close) New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 19,681.75 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,646.88 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,941.64 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 21,727.20 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,513.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0392 from $1.0421 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2420 from $1.2452 WednesdayDollar/yen: DOWN at 154.38 yen from 155.22 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.67 pence from 83.68 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $72.73 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $76.87 per barrel

US and European stock markets rose Thursday as the European Central Bank cut interest rates again and companies posted healthy earnings.European markets advanced across the board and the euro held steady after the ECB trimmed interest rates for the fifth time since June as inflation eases and the eurozone economy stagnates.In New York, the wider S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose, but the Dow was little changed.The ECB move followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep US borrowing costs on hold Wednesday as the outlook for inflation, despite coming down, remains more elevated in the United States.Data showed the eurozone economy was flat in the fourth-quarter with France and Germany contracting slightly, Italy unchanged, and only Spain showing healthy growth among the bloc’s largest economies.By contrast, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported, in line with the consensus forecast.”There are positives to glean about the US economic landscape,” said Bret Kenwell, an analyst at eToro. “The economy continues to grow, while the labor market remains on solid footing.”The ECB cut its rate by a quarter point to 2.75 percent while the Fed kept its benchmark lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent.”There is really no reason to think the ECB won’t continue to cut rates, at least to a neutral level, and we think quite probably below neutral by year-end,” said Deutsche Bank’s European economist Mark Wall. While the ECB is set to keep cutting rates, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the US central bank was in no “hurry” to adjust its borrowing costs again.US President Donald Trump, who last week called for rates to “drop immediately”, accused policymakers of failing “to stop the problem they created with inflation”.Powell refused to comment on the US leader’s criticism of the Fed but said decision-makers would “wait and see” how Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, and cut taxes, regulations and immigration would affect the economy.- Eyes on companies -Traders were also focusing on a slew of corporate earnings.Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday reported surging profits for 2024, and announced ambitious plans to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the year ahead. Its shares were up almost three percent.Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla reported lower-than-expected profits but confirmed key 2025 benchmarks. Its shares rose almost five percent. IBM was up nine percent, also on positive guidance. Microsoft reported large profits, but its shares slid six percent on worries over its vital cloud computing business.Apple is expected to report strong results after the market closes. Earlier, Asian stock markets closed mixed in holiday-thinned trading.- Key figures around 1440 GMT -New York – Dow: UP LESS THAN 0.1 percent at 44,723.36 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,056.11  New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 19,674.05 London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,613.32 Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,925.51Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 21,666.81Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,513.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0434 from $1.0425 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2466 from $1.2444Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.20 yen from 155.15 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.70 pence from 83.68 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $72.35 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $76.36 per barrel

European stock markets rose and the euro dipped Thursday, with the European Central Bank expected to cut interest rates as inflation eases and the eurozone economy stalls.The ECB announcement will follow the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep US borrowing costs on hold Wednesday as inflation, despite coming down, remains elevated in the United States.Asian stock markets closed mixed in more holiday-thinned trading, with investors digesting broadly positive earnings from tech giants that came days after their valuations tumbled as Chinese firm DeepSeek took the global AI scene by storm.The tepid performance in Asia followed a retreat on Wall Street but the volatility that greeted the start of the week disappeared.Wednesday saw a broadly upbeat readout, with Facebook-parent Meta, IBM and Tesla posting healthy earnings, though Microsoft disappointed. Apple is due to report Thursday.With the ECB seen certain to cut eurozone interest rates, focus will be on president Christine Lagarde’s press conference.Ahead of the central bank’s announcement, official data showed the eurozone economy stalled in the last three months of 2024, performing worse than expected as top economies Germany and France contracted.Analysts at Bloomberg and FactSet had forecast the single-currency area’s economy to grow by 0.1 percent compared to the previous quarter.Germany’s economy retreated by 0.2 percent while French output shrank 0.1 percent, both worse than forecast, with both countries mired by political turmoil.Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group, said US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were also “the key threat for the eurozone economy right now”. “Although Trump has spoken out about universal tariffs and has signaled that he is not happy with the eurozone’s trade surplus with the US, he has not specifically mentioned tariffs for the currency bloc, unlike Mexico and Canada”.- Fed holds -While the ECB is set to cut rates, the Fed chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank was in no “hurry” to adjust its borrowing costs again.Trump — who last week revived his criticism of the Fed and Powell and called for rates to “drop immediately” — accused policymakers of failing “to stop the problem they created with inflation”.Powell said it was “not appropriate” for him to respond to the comments, adding that decision-makers would “wait and see” how Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, and cut taxes, regulations and immigration would affect the economy.- Key figures around 0930 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,576.74 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,908.61Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 21,696.53Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,513.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,713.52 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0410 from $1.0425 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2449 from $1.2444Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.40 yen from 155.15 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.62 pence from 83.68 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $72.29 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $75.25 per barrelburs-bcp/lth

The Japanese government said Thursday it has pulled advertisements from Fuji Television in the wake of sexual assault allegations lodged against its celebrity host, as the company slashed profit forecasts.Dozens of companies have already scrapped advertising contracts with Fuji since the furore over J-pop megastar turned TV presenter Masahiro Nakai erupted last month.The government has decided to “suspend placing ads on Fuji Television for the time being”, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.Two ads running as of Wednesday and two others due to be aired have been pulled “considering the situation surrounding Fuji Television”, Hayashi said.A leading tabloid magazine reported last month that Nakai had performed a sexual act without a woman’s consent in 2023.A former member of boy band sensation SMAP, Nakai allegedly paid the unnamed woman 90 million yen ($570,000) and both signed a non-disclosure agreement.Fuji has been sharply criticised for its handling of the situation, especially after it admitted knowing about the allegations in 2023 but still allowed Nakai to appear on its shows.On Monday two top Fuji executives stepped down for “failing to provide adequate care” due to “a lack of awareness of human rights”.The firm held a news conference that lasted around 10 hours until around 2:00 am attended by several hundred journalists.Parent company Fuji Media meanwhile on Thursday slashed its earnings forecasts.It projected full-year net income of 9.8 billion yen ($63.4 million), down from its earlier forecast of 29.0 billion yen, according to a statement.Nakai issued a statement earlier this month saying some of what had been reported was “different from the facts”.Last week the 52-year-old announced his retirement from show business.The case also shone the spotlight on other TV channels, with local media reporting that dinners and drinking parties involving celebrities and young women were common practice.Other TV channels including Nippon TV have announced their own investigations into whether similar events between celebrities and women had taken place.

Asian equities were mixed in another holiday-thinned trading day Thursday, with investors digesting broadly positive tech earnings that came days after the upheaval caused by China’s DeepSeek explosion onto the global AI scene.With most markets closed for the Lunar New Year break, there was little major reaction to the Federal Reserve’s widely expected pause in interest rate cuts and indications that no more were in the pipeline.The tepid performance in Asia followed a retreat among Wall Street main indexes but the volatility that greeted the start of the week has gone for now, though worries about the valuations of some top tech firms continue to weigh on sentiment.Trading floors were jolted Monday after DeepSeek unveiled a chatbot that apparently matched the capacity of US artificial intelligence pacesetters for a fraction of the investments made by American companies.Firms that have most benefited from a long-running scramble for all things AI took a heavy hit, with chip titan Nvidia the standout victim — losing almost $600 billion in market capitalisation, while other major firms and chipmakers also felt the pain.While some of the losses have since been recovered and leading lights in the industry talk up the benefits of the competition, there are fears about the hundreds of billions sunk into projects aimed at getting a lead in AI.”The AI sector is still feeling the heat with bears circling, ready to pounce on any signs of weakness,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The scepticism around tech valuations, already a popular spiel before Monday’s wipeout, has only intensified.”The argument that tech stocks are perilously overpriced now resonates even more on trading floors, fuelling a bearish outlook and gaining followers by the minute.”The DeepSeek news provided an extra facet to the current earnings season, with focus on how US tech giants will react.Wednesday saw a broadly upbeat readout, with Facebook-parent Meta, IBM and Tesla posting healthy earnings, though Microsoft disappointed. Apple is due to report Thursday.After the negative lead from New York, Asian markets diverged.Tokyo, Sydney and Mumbai rose while Wellington, Manila and Jakarta slipped.The Fed’s decision to stand pat on rates made little difference, though analysts noted its statement said inflation “remains somewhat elevated”, removing a reference in earlier statements to inflation making progress towards officials’ long-term target of two percent.After the announcement, boss Jerome Powell said: “With our policy stance significantly less restrictive than it had been, and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance.”Donald Trump — who last week revived his criticism of the central bank and Powell and called for rates to “drop immediately” — hit out at policymakers accusing them on his Truth Social account of failing “to stop the problem they created with Inflation”.Powell said it was “not appropriate” for him to respond to the comments, adding that decision-makers would “wait and see” how Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, and cut taxes, regulations and immigration would affect the economy.While the Fed held, the European Central Bank is expected to press on with interest rate cuts Thursday as officials grow confident that the fight against inflation is on track.- Key figures around 0645 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,513.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0414 from $1.0425 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2437 from $1.2444Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.52 yen from 155.15 yen Euro/pound: UP at 83.73 pence from 83.68 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $72.68 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $76.57 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,713.52 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,557.81 (close)

The emergence of the DeepSeek chatbot has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with calls to go faster on advancing artificial intelligence and beat communist-led China before it is too late. California tech investors have usually kept their involvement in politics low key, generally supporting centrist politicians who don’t get in the way of their innovations and business plans.But the AI revolution, and the potential ability of China to pose a direct threat to US dominance, has unnerved tech investors, who are now calling on the Donald Trump-led US government to help them take the battle to their Chinese rivals.”It’s a huge geopolitical competition, and China’s running at it super hard,” warned Facebook titan Mark Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast. He noted that DeepSeek is “a very advanced model” and that it censors historical events like Tiananmen Square, arguing that “we should want the American model to win.”Google, though not specifically mentioning DeepSeek, on Wednesday said the United States must take urgent action to maintain its narrow lead in artificial intelligence technology or risk losing its strategic advantage.”America holds the lead in the AI race — but our advantage may not last,” it warned, calling for government help in AI chip production, streamlining regulations and beefing up cybersecurity against national adversaries.The emergence of DeepSeek’s lower cost breakthrough particularly threatens US-based AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, which have invested billions in developing leading AI models.OpenAI raised alarms Tuesday about Chinese companies attempting to copy their advanced AI models through distillation techniques, announcing plans to deepen collaboration with US authorities.OpenAI investor Josh Kushner criticized so-called “pro-America technologists” who praise what he claims is Chinese AI built with misappropriated US technology. Palmer Luckey, a Trump-supporting tech entrepreneur, suggested DeepSeek’s success was being amplified to undermine Trump’s policies.- ‘Fall behind’ -Despite US government efforts to maintain AI supremacy through export controls on advanced chips, DeepSeek has found ways to achieve comparable results using authorized, less sophisticated Nvidia semiconductors.The app’s popularity has soared, topping Apple’s download charts, with US companies already incorporating its programming interface into their services. Perplexity, an AI-assisted search engine startup, has begun using the technology while claiming that it keeps user data within the US.The tech community can count on Washington, where concern about China has achieved rare bipartisan consensus.Last year, Republicans and Democrats passed a law ordering the divestment of TikTok, a subsidiary of the Chinese group ByteDance.”If America falls behind China on AI, we will fall behind everywhere: economically, militarily, scientifically, educationally, everywhere,” the US Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer said Tuesday.”China’s innovation with DeepSeek is jarring, but it’s nothing compared to what will happen if China beats the US on the ultimate goal of AGI, artificial general intelligence. We cannot, we must not allow that to happen.”Representative Mark Green, a senior Republican said “let’s set the record straight — DeepSeek R1 is another digital arm of the Chinese Communist Party.”However, some argue this aggressive approach may backfire, given Silicon Valley’s reliance on Chinese talent. Nvidia researcher Zhiding Yu highlighted this concern on X, noting how a Chinese intern from his team joined DeepSeek in 2023.”If we keep cooking up geo-political agendas and creating hostile opinions to Chinese researchers, we will shoot ourselves in the foot and lose even more competitiveness.”