Before the bell: tech-heavy Nasdaq enters correction (-10%)

Higher interest rates and oil prices push equities lower. After the close, Trump announces an additional pause in attacks. Chip stocks decline.

For most of the trading session, conditions were adverse: oil prices and interest rates rose sharply, and equities declined. In Europe, losses were limited to around 1% for the main indices. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.7%, while the Nasdaq dropped sharply by 2.4%. Chip stocks in particular moved significantly lower after reports that Google had developed a new algorithm that is more efficient in its use of chips. SanDisk fell 11%, Micron Technology lost 7%, and Nvidia, the king of AI chips, declined by 4.1%. Trump stated that negotiations with Iran are “going fantastically” and announced that attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure would be postponed until 6 April. Oil prices subsequently declined again. Will investors now sleep soundly until then? Not entirely, as trust in warmongers remains limited. It should also be noted that the parties involved in the conflict do not hesitate to target and eliminate political leaders. The Bel20 (-0.9%) managed to stay just above the 5,000-point level, although only one constituent, Azelis (+2.2%), ended the day in positive territory. Tessenderlo (-12%) and Hyloris (-4%) published results on Thursday morning. After the close, Exmar (-1.9%) and Campine (+2.2%) also released figures.

Asia is starting the day calmly: markets in Tokyo are largely unchanged, while Chinese exchanges are up around half a percent. This morning, Ion Beam Applications reports results, and Galapagos is changing its name to Lakefront Biotherapeutics. In the United States, investors will later receive inflation expectations and consumer sentiment data as measured by the University of Michigan.

Sofina dots the i’s

Sofina had already published preliminary results, but completed the picture after the close yesterday. The final result came in a few percent higher. By “result,” we of course refer to the evolution of the net asset value of the portfolio. This amounted to 10.8 billion euro on 31 December, compared with 10.3 billion euro a year earlier—an increase of just under 5%. On a per-share basis, there was a slight decline from 311.7 at the end of 2024 to 305.77 euro at the end of 2025, due to Sofina carrying out a capital increase of 545 million euro in October. The limited increase in portfolio value is also linked to the sharp depreciation of the dollar last year, by around 12%, as a significant portion of the investments is denominated in dollar. Sofina notes that there is greater capital discipline in the investment market, meaning investors are becoming more cautious. It is typical for Sofina to raise additional funds through a capital increase in such an environment, as opportunities for long-term investors tend to improve.

No lead in their shoes

Campine, the recycling specialist from the Kempen region, reported record results after the close yesterday. Both revenue and profit more than doubled compared with 2024. The company earns a large share of its profits from recycling lead-containing waste such as batteries, from which it extracts antimony. This substance is widely used as a flame retardant in plastics and textiles, as well as a pigment and in semiconductor production. Antimony prices surged after China temporarily banned exports. Prices later declined, but have now risen again due to the conflict in the Middle East. For 2025, Campine reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 89 million euro. For the first half of this year, the company is targeting an EBITDA of 40 million euro.

Did you know…

that the OECD expects inflation in the United States to rise to 4.2% due to higher energy prices? It will be interesting to see how consumers assess the situation, as the University of Michigan publishes its survey results later today.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.