Stock market hits record high as AI concerns ease
NEW YORK, February 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) – Stock markets in Asia and Europe reached record highs on Wednesday, with Wall Street indexes continuing to rise ahead of easing concerns about the AI sector and the earnings release of semiconductor giant Nvidia.
The Seoul, Tokyo, London, and Paris exchanges all set new intraday highs, as the latest corporate information was well received.
In New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq once again took the lead, rising 1.3%.
Matt Blitzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said global stocks rose “as the apocalyptic AI narrative recedes a bit.”
Investors are taking a more optimistic view after a presentation by AI company Anthropic highlighted the compatibility of its technology with existing programs.
Expectations are high ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report later Wednesday.
“People are speculating that (NVIDIA) is going to say something good,” said Patrick O’Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com, adding that the rally after an earlier decline was due to bargain hunting by investors.
The stock market hit a record high last year, driven by the rise in the stock prices of major tech companies implementing AI. But investors have been gripped by concerns in recent months that the stock is overvalued and that the technology may not be profitable.
Other declines have come amid concerns that the technology will disrupt other businesses.
Such concerns were sparked by a weekend report from Citorini Research that said certain sectors, from finance to food delivery companies, could be at risk from new AI tools.
~Asia High~
Earlier, Seoul’s Kospi exceeded 6,000 points for the first time, with chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix again leading the way. The index is up more than 40% this year and 76% in 2025.
The Tokyo market rose more than 2% to a new high, with tech companies Advantest and Tokyo Electron the best performers.
In Europe, HSBC shares rose 6.7% after the bank announced better-than-expected earnings for 2025.
Elsewhere, the yen fell further against the dollar following media reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had conveyed concerns about further interest rate hikes to Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda.
Oil prices rose slightly ahead of the third round of talks between Iran and the United States in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump accused the Iranian government of having “evil nuclear ambitions” after ordering a large-scale military deployment around the Gulf.
~Major figures around 2115GMT~
New York – Dow: up 0.6% to 49,482.15 (close)
New York – S&P 500: up 0.8% to 6,946.13 (close)
New York-Nasdaq Composite: up 1.3% to 23,152.08 (close price)
London – FTSE 100: up 1.2% to 10,806.41 (close price)
Paris – CAC 40: up 0.5% to 8,559.07 (close price)
Frankfurt – DAX: up 0.8% to 25,175.94 (close price)
Tokyo – Nikkei Stock Average: 58,583.12 (closing price), up 2.2%
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index: 26,765.72 (closing price), up 0.7%
Shanghai – Overall: up 0.7% to 4,147.23 (close price)
Dollar/JPY: rose to 156.46 yen from Tuesday’s 155.87 yen
EUR/USD: up $1.1805, $1.1772
GBP/USD: increased from $1.3489 to $1.3554
EUR/GBP: down from 87.26p to 87.10p
Brent crude: up 0.1% to $70.85 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: up 0.3% to $65.42 per barrel
