STOCK EXCHANGE: Oil’s rise was interrupted – Anthropic is chasing an Israeli company for 6 billion

The main Asian stock market indices were on the rise on Thursday.

Wall Street’s S&P 500 index ended the previous day up 0.3 percent, as US inflation figures calmed expectations that the US central bank, the Fed, would soon raise interest rates.

South Korea’s Kospi index was 3.8 percent below eight at Finnish time. Along with artificial intelligence-related stocks, the sensitively fluctuating Kospis were rising, among others Samsung Electro-Mechanics (+15.0 %) and SK Hynix (+9,0 %).

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 1.6 percent, while the broad Topix was up 0.8 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex index was up 1.2 percent.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was up 0.5 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up a gentle 0.1 percent.

Chinese game giant Tencentin second-quarter revenue grew 11 percent year-over-year, but its net profit fell short of $56 billion, the analyst consensus forecast of about $62 billion.

Tencent more than doubled the amount it spent on AI projects and computing capacity last quarter to about $7.8 billion.

At the time of the review, Tencent’s share price was down 3.8 percent on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Anthropic is planning a $6 billion acquisition

Earnings announcements after the close of Wall Street on Wednesday included, among others Cisco Systems. The company’s profit and turnover exceeded forecasts, but overall investors had hoped for something better after the previous quarter.

Cisco’s price was down 4.1 percent outside of actual trading.

Publisher of the Claude language model Anthropic is planning to buy an Israeli artificial intelligence startup, according to Bloomberg sources Departure AI:n for about six billion dollars.

If the deal goes through, it would be Anthropic’s largest acquisition to date. However, according to Bloomberg’s sources, the negotiations are still ongoing and there is no certainty that the deal will be completed.

Decart raised a $300 million funding round in May, valuing it at nearly four billion dollars. In addition to private equity investors, the financing round was also attended by, among others Nvidia.

The price of oil is falling

At the time of the review, Brent, the international reference price for crude oil, was down 0.3 percent at around USD 88.7 per barrel. The price of US WTI crude oil was down 0.5 percent at $82.9 per barrel.

President of the United States Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would have “full control” of the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration is planning new economic countermeasures against Iran, including expanding sanctions.

According to the EIA, which is responsible for energy statistics in the United States, crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 17.4 million barrels last week, which is the largest weekly increase since 2023.

The strategic oil reserves of the United States have been dwindling rapidly recently. An increase in inventories by a corresponding amount is therefore a reassuring sign for the market, as it suggests that there is enough supply.

European stock futures point to a bullish opening. Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures were also cautiously positive, with the Dow Jones in the red.