Stock Markets React to AI News and Tech Slide

Global stock markets saw a mixed day on Tuesday, with some rising and others falling. This happened as people traded during the Lunar New Year holiday. The change came after big tech companies in the US saw their stocks drop. A new competitor from China is making waves in the artificial intelligence (AI) market, causing some doubts. In Europe, France's CAC 40 fell slightly, while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 rose a bit. The U. S. market was set to open with mixed results. Japan's main stock index, the Nikkei, lost ground. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was almost unchanged. Hong Kong's Hang Seng saw a small gain. Many markets in Asia were closed for holidays. In Japan, tech companies like SoftBank and Hitachi saw their stocks fall. But Fujitsu and Sony recovered some losses. A chip maker, Tokyo Electron, also dropped. Fuji Media Holdings, dealing with a scandal, saw its stock rise after a long news conference where top executives resigned. The big news came from China. An AI company called DeepSeek revealed a new AI model that can compete with big U. S. companies but might cost less. This could shake up the economy, affecting businesses from chip makers to power companies. For a while, AI companies have been doing great, with their stocks going up as investors bet on big changes and profits. But now, some think those stocks might have risen too quickly. A small group of seven companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, have a big influence on the S&P 500 index. Investors are also waiting for big tech companies to report their earnings later this week. In the energy market, oil prices rose. The U. S. dollar also gained value against other currencies.