Stock Market Today: Live Updates

The European Union has opened a major investigation into Meta Platforms that will examine alleged violations of the regional online content law regarding children’s safety. In a statement, the European Commission said it was investigating whether Facebook and Instagram “could stimulate behavioral addictions in children, as well as create so-called ‘rabbit hole effects’.”

Meta shares were down slightly in premarket trading.

—Fred Imbert

Baidu reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue, sending shares of the Chinese technology company up 2% in premarket trading. The company’s revenue was 31.51 billion yuan, surpassing LSEG’s estimate of 31.21 billion yuan.

“Baidu Core online marketing revenue remained stable, while end-to-end optimization of our AI technology stack continued to propel our AI Cloud revenue growth during the quarter,” said the co-founder and CEO Robin Li in a statement.

European markets opened mixed on Thursday as multiple results weighed on global markets’ recovery following weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.3% at 8,416, Germany’s DAX down 0.02% at 18,864, France’s CAC down 0.2% at 8,221 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 0.03% to 35,366.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company said there was no damage to its facilities at the construction site of its Arizona factory, according to Reuters, following a report of an explosion at the factory .

A worker at the TSMC factory in Arizona was taken to the hospital with serious injuries following an explosion, the Arizona Republic reported earlier, citing authorities.

The Arizona Republic reported that firefighters from several departments responded to a hazardous materials call Wednesday afternoon.

The chipmaker said in a statement that none of its employees or construction workers on site had reported injuries, according to Reuters.

—Shreyashi Sanyal, Reuters

Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent rose 4.5% after the Chinese tech giant beat analysts’ estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit.

The company on Tuesday reported a slight improvement in sales in its core gaming business and improved profitability in its advertising and business services division.

Revenue of 159.5 billion Chinese yuan ($22 billion) in the first quarter beat analysts’ expectations of 158.4 billion yuan. Profit attributable to shareholders was 41.9 billion yuan, compared to 36.64 billion yuan expected.

The company’s adjusted net profit increased 62% year-on-year, the fastest growth since the March 2021 quarter, according to LSEG data.

Hong Kong markets resumed trading on Thursday after a public holiday.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Arjun Kharpal

Chinese real estate stocks rose following a report that the country was considering buying millions of unsold homes from struggling developers in a bid to prop up its struggling real estate market.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Properties index rose more than 6%.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Logan Group gained 11.59% and Longfor Group gained 14.63%. China Vanke climbed 14.78%. Private developer CIFI Holdings jumped 25%.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that China’s State Council was taking feedback from government entities and several provinces on local state-owned companies tasked with buying unsold homes at deep discounts using loans offered by state-owned banks. State.

—Lee Ying Shan

The Japanese economy contracted by an annualized 2% in the first quarter of 2024, according to official data.

The GDP figure showed a stronger-than-expected contraction in the first quarter, compared with a 1.5% contraction expected in a Reuters poll..

The latest data could also jeopardize the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates.

The BOJ kept its key rate unchanged between 0% and 0.1% at its last monetary policy meeting on April 26, and said its monetary policy would depend on future economic conditions.

-Shreyashi Sanyal

Wednesday’s market rally propelled the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) to its best day since December.

The ITB jumped 3.7%, posting its best session since December 14 – when it gained more than 6%. Year to date, the ETF is up more than 10%

Wednesday’s rise in housing construction stocks came as Treasury yields fell following a weaker-than-expected inflation report. Names linked to the real estate sector are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Names within the ITB that had a particularly strong day included DR Horton, up almost 6.5%, and Lennar, up 5.3%. PulteGroup also jumped more than 5%.

–Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes, Ethan Kraft

Although consensus earnings revisions for the US defense sector remain stable in the near term, Barclays believes this trend could reverse over the next year.

“We expect the debate on the future defense budget to be pushed back until early 2025, after the presidential election, potentially creating a window of opportunity for the defense sector to recover from its recent underperformance,” wrote analyst Charlotte Keyworth.

In the US defense sector, Keyworth prefers General Dynamics and L3Harris Technologies for their discounted multiples and good free cash flow growth.

—Lisa Kailai Han

Here are some of the biggest drivers of extended trading:

• AST SpaceMobile — Shares soared 42% after AST SpaceMobile announced a commercial deal with AT&T to bring its space broadband network directly to everyday cell phones.
• Chubb — The property and casualty insurer gained 7% after Berkshire Hathaway revealed it purchased nearly 26 million shares of a Zurich company for a stake worth $6.7 billion.
• Cisco Systems — Shares jumped nearly 5% after the computing giant reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share on revenue of $12.70 billion, topping analyst estimates that called for earnings of 82 cents per share on revenue of $12.53 billion, according to LSEG. .

For more moving stocks, check out our list here.

-Tanaya Macheel

Stock futures were little changed to begin trading Wednesday evening.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 0. 02%.

In regular trading, all major averages closed at record highs.

-Tanaya Macheel