Markets wobble, Reddit soars on AI tie-up and Chinese retail data disappoints

“After notching up new record intraday highs yesterday, US markets ran out of steam towards the end of the session and left Wall Street limping towards the finish line,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.

“A sea of red at the market close left US markets below where they started and that negativity set the tone for European markets on Friday. The FTSE 100 struggled to find direction while key indices in France and Germany slipped.

“Asia was in a better mood, helped by Chinese industrial production figures coming in significantly ahead of expectations, although there was a big miss for retail sales in the country – hardly a surprise on the latter given negative signals from the likes of Apple and Burberry in their recent updates about consumer spending in that part of Asia.”

Reddit

“Investors are still jumping up and down like Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch every time a company announces anything to do with artificial intelligence. This time it’s Reddit’s turn to take centre stage.

“The social media network has struck a partnership with OpenAI, delivering on its IPO promise of seizing opportunities to make more of AI, whether that’s deploying the tech on its platform to improve the user experience or feeding its content into AI language models.

“Reddit’s shares traded 11% ahead in pre-market trading at $62.61, putting them within touching distance of the $65.11 peak achieved just after floating in March.

“If you’re going to become best pals with someone in the artificial intelligence space, putting your arm around the daddy of them all – OpenAI – is certainly a way to get the market excited.

“It’s important for Reddit to take big steps forward with AI as it needs to show it is capable of growing the user base and its earnings to earn a reputation of being a business with legs. More tools, greater advertising and additional sources of revenue are central to this plan.”

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