Michael Pistillo works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Jul 6, 2026. (Photo: AP/Seth Wenig)
07 Jul 2026 05:19AM
NEW YORK: Major stock markets meandered Monday (Jul 6) while US tech names climbed, as quarterly earnings season kicks into gear. After a tough end to June fuelled by worries that the valuation of companies linked to AI may have been overdone, the mood lifted last Thursday as data showed the United States created fewer jobs than expected last month.That soothed fears the US Federal Reserve could hike interest rates to combat elevated inflation.This week, traders await minutes from the US central bank's most recent policy meeting."Investors are not walking away from the AI story, but they are asking whether a sector priced for perfection can keep delivering," noted Patrick Munnelly, a market strategist at Tickmill Group.Talk is centred on when firms will see returns on the trillions of dollars invested in artificial intelligence and whether valuations have run ahead of themselves.European markets were in cautious mode as Frankfurt barely ended in the green while London and Paris both slipped 0.3 per cent at the close.New York's main indexes closed higher, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which added 1.1 per cent.
