Early gains in London and Paris faded while US indices had a mixed day

Global stock markets were mixed Monday as traders digested major AI deals boosting the tech sector.

Trading began on the front foot after an easing in China-US tensions and healthy earnings from companies including Amazon.

Tech and AI remain a huge theme for investors as we move into the final months of the year, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

However, early gains in London and Paris faded while US indices had a mixed day.

Nevertheless, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite still pushed 0.5% higher thanks to big tech deals.

Shares in Amazon climbed 4.0% after ChatGPT-maker OpenAI signed a $38 billion deal with Amazon’s AWS cloud computing arm.

The deal will give OpenAI, which is partly owned by AWS’s arch-rival Microsoft, access to computing resources including hundreds of thousands of state-of-the-art Nvidia GPU chips, the crucial component of the generative artificial intelligence revolution.

Microsoft announced $15.2 billion in investments in artificial intelligence and cloud computing in the UAE.

The deal sent Nvidia shares up 2.2% on hopes it could see access for its most advanced chips expand to more markets as the Trump administration allowed the supply of GPU chips to the UAE.

Shares in Nvidia are up more than 50% since the start of the year.

Shares in Microsoft slid 0.2%.

A degree of tiredness is creeping into Wall Street’s mood despite the strong performance thus far in earnings season, and blockbuster AI deals, said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

In Europe, Frankfurt managed to end the day in the green, with sentiment boosted by the government’s intention to push forward next year with subsidized electricity for heavy industry.

Shares in European carmakers raced higher after China said on Saturday it would exempt some Nexperia chips from an export ban that was imposed over a row with Dutch authorities.