World shares mostly gain after upbeat results for Nvidia and other tech
giants lift US stocks
[August 28, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher Friday in Europe and Asia after
Nvidia and other technology stocks led an advance on Wall Street.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.6% to 26,523.10, while
the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 1.1% to 8,408.72. Britain's FTSE 100 edged
0.2% higher, to 10,815.07.
The future for the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average was up 0.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi was the biggest decliner, falling 1.8% to 6,788.88.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.4% to 66,405.56, while Hong Kong's
Hang Seng added 0.2% to 25,584.79.
The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1% to 3,952.18.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.6% to 9,092.30.
Taiwan's Taiex surged 0.8%, while the Sensex in India gained 0.2%.
The next big event for markets will be a speech later Friday by the
chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh. Despite pressure to
provide guidance on U.S. policy, he has sought to give financial markets
fewer clues about how the Fed intends to control inflation.
One wild card for inflation has been oil prices, which have been
swinging with uncertainty about the war in Iran and when oil tankers
will be allowed to freely navigate the Strait of Hormuz again.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard,
slipped 0.4% early Friday to $88.13. It rose 1.8% on Thursday.
U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 0.6% to $83.08 per barrel.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled closer to its all-time
high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added
0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.6%.
Nvidia was the strongest force pulling the market higher. The chip giant
rallied 8.7% after once again delivering stronger profit and revenue for
the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave forecasts for
upcoming revenue growth that topped analysts’ estimates, suggesting
demand remains strong for chips to power artificial intelligence
projects.
“AI has reached its inflection point,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.
“It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable.”
That helped calm some of the worries that have built around AI stocks
generally, which have been under pressure recently. After rocketing
higher for years because of the frenzy around AI, stocks in the industry
are confronting skepticism that they have shot too high and that booming
demand for AI chips may fade if the AI revolution does not produce as
much profit as promised.
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Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the
Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Another big tech company, Salesforce,
jumped 22.6% for its best day in six years after it said that AI
helped it deliver one of its best quarters in history.
Salesforce, which helps companies manage their customers’ data, also
raised its forecast for revenue over the full year and announced an
expanded partnership to pair Anthropic’s Claude chatbot with its
platform. Salesforce’s stock struggled earlier on worries that
competitors powered by AI could ultimately steal customers from
Salesforce and other software companies.
Elsewhere, though, trends were more mixed across big U.S. companies,
and the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell.
Best Buy and some other retailers sank amid continued worries that
U.S. shoppers could be stretched because of high inflation and
discouragement about the economy. Best Buy fell 4.4% even though it
topped analysts’ expectations for both profit and revenue in the
latest quarter.
One potential winner from high inflation could be dollar stores,
which could see higher-income households become new customers as
they look for less expensive places to shop.
Dollar General rose 2.5% after reporting a stronger profit for the
latest quarter than analysts expected. But rival Dollar Tree sank
3.9% despite blowing past profit expectations.
In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following a report
on unemployment benefit applications suggesting the U.S. job market
remains solid.
In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.56
Japanese yen from 159.39 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1648 from
$1.1652.
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