Stocks fluctuate after Wall St AI-fuelled sell-off

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Stocks fluctuate after Wall St AI-fuelled sell-off

ECONOMY 04.02.2026

European and Asian stock markets struggled for direction Wednesday following a tech-fuelled sell-off on Wall Street, while precious metals recovered further.

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Shares in Danish pharmaceuticals group Novo Nordisk plunged around 18 percent in Copenhagen after the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy anti-obesity drugs warned of lower sales this year.

London's FTSE 100 index rose one percent, with drugmaker GSK gaining more than three percent after reporting a sharp rise in annual net profit.

Paris advanced, while Frankfurt dipped in midday deals.

Official data showed eurozone inflation eased below the European Central Bank's two-percent target in January, with the ECB expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

The Bank of England is also expected to hold borrowing costs the same day.

"The dust settled on Wednesday after a dramatic session for tech-related stocks amid new AI disruption," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

Wall Street investors were spooked Tuesday by news that AI startup Anthropic -- which created the Claude chatbot -- had revealed a tool that could be used by firms to carry out legal work.

The announcement hit firms in the software, financial services and asset management industries.

Downbeat sales projections from Advanced Micro Devices compounded the darker mood.

"Investors fear the AI juggernaut will cut deeply into earnings as agents take over workflows and replace more traditional programmes," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

Shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai rose, while Tokyo slipped on Wednesday.

Precious metals rose for a second day, after tanking on Friday and Monday as US President Donald Trump's nomination of hawkish Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve sent the dollar surging.

Gold traded back above $5,000 an ounce after posting its largest daily gain since 2008 on Tuesday.

Oil prices edged higher on a fresh pick-up in US-Iran tensions after an American jet shot down an Iranian drone in the Middle East, just as the two sides prepared to hold key nuclear talks.

Washington and Tehran agreed to talks despite Trump's repeated threat of military action against Iran -- and Iran's warning that it would respond with strikes on US vessels and bases.

Traders were cheered by news that Trump had signed into law a congressional spending bill to fund government agencies while buying more time for lawmakers to negotiate over the administration's controversial immigration crackdown.

In other corporate news, shares in gaming giant Nintendo tanked 11 percent -- its biggest loss in 18 months -- after releasing disappointing quarterly earnings and amid concerns about its profitability owing to a shortage of memory chips.

- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 10,418.86 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 8,251.95

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,730.56

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 54,293.36 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 26,847.32 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 4,102.20 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 49,240.99 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1810 from $1.1829 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3704 from $1.3701

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.83 yen from 155.74 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.19 pence from 86.30 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $67.38 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $63.34 per barrel

D.Kelly--TNT

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The "Everlasting Battery" Inside Your Joints:UConn Professor's Self-Powered Healing Material just Got Acquired

A material that turns your own movement into medicine has just landed a corporate home. PetVivo Holdings (OTCQX: PETV), a veterinary biotech and biomedical device company focused on treating osteoarthritis in dogs and horses, has acquired PiezoBioMembrane (PBM) — a startup built around a biodegradable implant that generates electricity from the everyday force of a joint in motion, and uses that charge to help regrow cartilage from the inside out. The material is the invention of Thanh Nguyen, a professor of mechanical engineering in UConn's College of Engineering, who founded PBM in 2021 to advance new implementation methods for his work with piezoelectric materials — substances that convert mechanical force into electrical energy. These materials are typically ceramics: hard, brittle, and poorly suited for medical use. But Nguyen's lab developed new forms that are so , flexible, and biodegradable, breaking down naturally within the body over time. wound healing, The materials have already shown strong potential across a range of medical applications, including tissue regeneration, implanted force sensors, and targeted drug delivery in tumor treatment. How It Works biodegradable ultrasound for In the case of arthritis, Nguyen explains, the piezoelectric materials function as an off-the-shelf product that can be implanted or injected directly into the ailing joint — with no drugs, chemicals, or cells required. The everyday force exerted on the joint generates a small electrical charge, which helps regrow healthy cartilage, mimicking the body's natural use of electricity to regenerate tissue. "The body can be electrically stimulated to regrow," Nguyen says. PBM's materials "act like a battery — an everlasting battery that works whenever there is a force applied, and vanishes safely inside the body over time." PetVivo's Vision for the Acquisition PetVivo Holdings CEO John Lai expressed enthusiasm for the merger's potential to improve the lives of companion animals globally. "PBM has developed a compelling functional biomaterials platform with the potential to support the development of multiple medical device and therapeutic product lines across both human and animal health markets," Lai said in a press release. "By combining PBM's scientific innovation with PetVivo's product development capabilities, commercialization experience, regulatory expertise, and public company infrastructure, we believe we can accelerate theadvancement of technologies that may serve as the foundation for numerous future products and strategic opportunities." For Nguyen, the deal is a chance to scale technology that could eventually benefit both animals and people. "PetVivo is an animal health company, but they do have a big passion: pushing the technology towards clinical trials for human use," Nguyen says. "That aligned perfectly with my passion for developing technology that has an impact on human life. That is why I am excited about this merger, which facilitates my passion." A Track Record of Innovation Nguyen's research sits at the intersection of medicine, micro/nanotechnology, and biomaterials. His inventions have earned him publications in prominent scientific journals and media coverage from outlets including NPR. Nguyen founded PBM during the COVID-19 pandemic, a er realizing the material he had developed could be used to create an especially effective, biodegradable face mask — one where the mechanical force of breathing generated an electrical charge that provided an extra layer of protection against viruses. PBM is not Nguyen's only venture in the acquisition pipeline. His other startup, Single-Time Microneedles (STM), is also currently undergoing an acquisition process. STM has pioneered stable, efficient vaccine delivery technology in the form of an adhesive patch. shelfNguyen's focus on biodegradable materials has translated into a remarkably diverse range of medical applications. He has received five R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting research in cartilage regeneration, bone regeneration, HIV antibody delivery systems, and biodegradable ultrasound technology to boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy for brain cancer. "Whatever we are working on, we want to show that it works very well in vitro and in vivo," Nguyen says. "Then, when we are at the point of commercialization, we set up a startup or license the technology — or maybe team up with an industry partner." Thanh Nguyen is a professor of mechanical engineering in UConn's College of Engineering. (Courtesy of Thanh Nguyen

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The National Times - Stocks fluctuate after Wall St AI-fuelled sell-off