World Shares Mixed After AI Sell-Off   06/11 05:03

   World shares were mixed on Thursday following another sell-off of 
artificial-intelligence stocks that dragged the U.S. market sharply lower.

   (AP) -- World shares were mixed on Thursday following another sell-off of 
artificial-intelligence stocks that dragged the U.S. market sharply lower.

   Oil prices fell after rising earlier as the U.S. launched a second round of 
airstrikes against Iran.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 24,188.88 
and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.4% to 8,192.55. The FTSE 100 in London added 
0.5% to 10,307.39.

   The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.8%, while that for the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average gained 0.7%.

   Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged up less than 0.1% to 64,217.27 after falling 
earlier in the day, while the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.4% to 7,763.95.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 24,249.29, while the Shanghai Composite 
index was down 0.2% to 3,987.01.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 likewise shed 0.2% to 8,633.20.

   Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.2% and India's Sensex rose 0.2%.

   On Wednesday, Wall Street's former superstars continue to face heavy 
scrutiny.

   The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% for its first back-to-back drop in three weeks. 
Closing at 7,266.99, it's back to where it was in early May.

   The Dow tumbled 1.9% and the Nasdaq composite led the market lower with a 2% 
slide.

   Wall Street has been shaky since last week, when AI stocks went from roaring 
to records to suddenly turn lower. Among the worries is that their prices may 
have shot too high, too fast because of AI mania. The question now is whether 
the break lower has cleared out excessive optimism that may have built into 
their stock prices, or if it's the start of a longer downturn.

   Micron Technology swung from an early loss of nearly 4% to a modest gain and 
back to a loss of 4.7%. It's coming off a wild stretch where it sank 7.7% last 
Thursday, then plunged another 13.3% Friday and rallied 9.9% Monday.

   Nvidia, the chip company that's grown into a nearly $4.9 trillion behemoth 
because of the AI boom, was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after falling 
3.7%. The second heaviest was another AI winner, Broadcom, which fell 5.1%.

   Some of the pressure on AI stocks could also be coming from investors 
pulling cash out to prepare for high-profile debuts on the U.S. stock market 
for several AI giants. SpaceX's initial public offering could come later this 
week, for example.

   Early Thursday, Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell $1.30 to 
$91.80 per barrel. It was at around $70 a barrel before the start of the war in 
late February.

   U.S. benchmark crude oil was down $1.22 to $88.81 a barrel.

   Oil prices climbed on Wednesday after President Donald Trump warned Iran 
would "pay the price" for stalled negotiations between the two sides. The war 
in the Middle East has been keeping the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut to 
oil tankers, which has prevented the delivery of crude from the Persian Gulf to 
customers worldwide.

   High oil prices have sent inflation higher, and a report on Wednesday showed 
that prices for U.S. consumers jumped in May at the highest speed in three 
years.

   Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will have to hike its main interest 
rate at least once this year, given price pressures and the strength of the 
U.S. job market.

   High yields can slow entire economies and undercut prices for all kinds of 
investments, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. They hit investments seen 
as the most expensive in particular, and some critics are calling AI a bubble 
where investment inflated too far.

   In other dealings early Thursday, the dollar slipped to 160.54 Japanese yen 
from 160.56 yen. The euro fell to $1.1534 from $1.1537.