Overnight US stocks | Three major indexes rose and fell differently, with chip stocks generally falling. NVIDIA (NVDA.O) fell nearly 5.5% after its earnings report.

On Thursday, the three major indices rose and fell unequally, with NVIDIA Corporation's stock price falling nearly 5.5% after earnings, marking its worst single-day performance since last April. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones rose 17.05 points, up 0.03%, to 49499.20 points; the Nasdaq fell 273.69 points, down 1.18%, to 22878.38 points; the S&P 500 fell 37.26 points, down 0.54%, to 6908.87 points. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.O) fell nearly 5.5% after earnings, while AMD (AMD.US) and Intel Corporation (INTC.US) fell 3%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index fell 1.78%, while Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) fell 2.7%. [European Stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 100.09 points, up 0.40%, to 25271.17 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 41.04 points, up 0.38%, to 10847.45 points; the French CAC 40 index rose 61.86 points, up 0.72%, to 8620.93 points; the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 15.57 points, down 0.25%, to 6157.75 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose 22.33 points, up 0.12%, to 18483.33 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 252.06 points, up 0.53%, to 47422.50 points. [Asian Stock Market] The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.29%, the KOSPI index rose 3.67%, breaking through the 6000-point mark for the first time in trading, and following a 75.63% gain in 2025, the South Korean KOSPI index has risen 45% year-to-date in 2026, continuing to lead the global market. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell slightly by 0.85%, to $67,408.71; Ethereum fell over 1.3%, to $2029.69. [Crude Oil] WTI fell slightly by 0.3%, to just above $65 per barrel; Brent crude fell below $71 per barrel. [Metals] Spot gold rose 0.31%, to $5185.1 per ounce; spot silver was $88.286 per ounce. [Macro News] Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose slightly during the Presidents' Day holiday week but remained lower than expected. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week was lower than expected, indicating that the layoffs situation remains at a relatively low level. Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. increased by 4,000 to 212,000 in the week ending February 21, with a median forecast of 215,000. The number of continued unemployment claims fell to 1.83 million. Fluctuations in application data around holidays are normal. However, the current low number of initial unemployment claims aligns with other recent data suggesting stability in the labor market. The February jobs report, to be released on March 6, will help policymakers assess whether the strong job growth and decline in the unemployment rate in January are temporary or signs of continued improvement. U.S. 30-year mortgage rates fall below 6% for the first time since 2022. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in the U.S. fell below 6% for the first time since 2022, potentially injecting energy into the upcoming spring home sales season. According to Freddie Mac data on Thursday, the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans was 5.98%, down from 6.01% the previous week. The last time rates fell below 6% was in September 2022. Rates in the "5" range may slightly relieve the burden of homebuying and prompt some hesitant buyers to enter the market. Since the surge in rates in 2022, the real estate market has been in a wait-and-see mode, with many potential buyers priced out of the market and most homeowners holding onto lower rates, unwilling to sell. Mike Simonsen, chief economist at real estate brokerage firm Compass Inc., said that the slow improvement in affordability could make this spring the best performing in years. "Sales nationwide will grow steadily at rates under 6%," Simonsen said, "but without significant changes in economic data, nothing is likely to replicate the prosperity of 2021." [Stock News] Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: NVIDIA Corporation's strong financial results fail to stop stock price decline. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. pointed out that despite NVIDIA Corporation's (NVDA.US) 73% year-on-year revenue growth and optimistic guidance for the AI business, the stock still fell by 4.5%, dragging down the semiconductor sector and the S&P 500. Analysts said that this reflects a "sell the fact" market, profit-taking, and concerns about the sustainability of capital expenditure for AI by super-large scale cloud service providers. It is expected that AI spending in 2026 will grow by 62%, lower than the 73% in 2025, but supply-demand imbalances and a strong balance sheet may still push expectations higher. Current data center demand and memory bottlenecks support NVIDIA Corporation, with the market focus shifting to 2027 when capital expenditures may peak. Alphabet Inc. Class C launches the latest image model Nano Banana 2. Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) has launched a new version of its popular AI image generation tool, Nano Banana 2, aimed at generating higher-quality visual content more quickly. Alphabet Inc. Class C said in a blog post on Thursday that Nano Banana 2 will open up features previously limited to the Pro version to all users. The updated version can generate higher-resolution images, better infographics, and data visualization content, and can add text for marketing or greeting card purposes. In addition, the new version performs better in executing complex commands. Nano Banana 2 will be launched on Gemini applications and AI models in Google search on Thursday. Betting on AI to improve company efficiency, Block plans to lay off nearly half of its workforce. American Financial Group, Inc. tech company Block (XYZ.US) is cutting 4,000 employees, a nearly 50% reduction in workforce. The company is betting on AI to change the future productivity of labor. Block's stock price surged 22% after hours due to the layoff plan. Since 2024, Block has been reorganizing its business model and personnel configuration due to lagging stock performance. At the same time, the company has invested heavily in developing AI tools to improve operational efficiency, including developing its own tool named Goose. Company founder Jack Dorsey wrote in a letter, "Smart tools have already changed the definition of creating and operating a company. We have seen this change within the company. A significantly smaller team can do more and do better work after using the tools we developed." Netflix CEO visits the White House to lobby as Warner Bros. faces acquisition battle. Netflix (NFLX.US) CEO Ted Sarandos arrived at the White House on Thursday afternoon for talks on his company's acquisition efforts involving a part of Warner Bros. Just before that, Warner Bros. issued a statement saying that a new bid from Paramount for the acquisition of the company's entire business seemed to offer a "better solution," and Netflix now has a four-day bidding period. Sarandos is not expected to meet with Trump. A White House official said, "Netflix is in talks with White House staff." [Major Bank Ratings] Morgan Stanley: The target price for NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) has been raised from $250 to $260, with a "hold" rating being maintained.