Cambodia opens a new $2 billion airport to serve Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday inaugurated a major new airport to serve the capital Phnom Penh and boost tourism and foreign investment.

Techo International Airport is a three-runway facility that replaces the nearly 70-year-old Phnom Penh International Airport, which had only one runway.

The new $2 billion airport, in Kandal province about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Phnom Penh. began operating in September. It is a joint venture between the Cambodian government and the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp.

Hun Manet said he hoped the new airport will be a driving forces in attracting more tourists and investors to Cambodia,"more than before the arrival of COVID-19."

The new airport is initially expected to be able to accommodate 13 million passengers, but its capacity will increase to 30 million after 2030, and up to 50 million by 2050.

The immediate prospects for a rise in foreign tourists have been overshadowed by the highly publicized death of a young South Korean man who reportedly was tricked into working in one of Cambodia’s online scam centers.

Many of the workers there are kept as virtual slaves to conduct online fraud in what is a multi-billion dollar organized crime activity. The illegal industry was highlighted last week when the United States and Britain enacted sanctions against organizers of a major Cambodian gang, and its alleged ringleader was indicted by a federal court in New York.

Tourism suffered another blow in July, when Cambodia fought a five-day conflict with neighboring Thailand. It was halted by a ceasefire but tensions remain high.

Cambodia received about 4 million foreign tourists from January through August this year, Hun Manet said in September. Last year, it received 6.7 million, a 23% increase from 2023.

It is Cambodia's second new major airport in two years. In October 2023, Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport was opened to help serve Cambodia's most popular tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, left, greets his officers together with his wife Pich Chanmony as they inaugurate Techo International Airport in Kandal province, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A statue of Buddha is displayed at Techo International Airport in Kandal province, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, second from right, presides over together with his wife Pich Chanmony during an inauguration of Techo International Airport in Kandal province, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, front left, prays together with his wife Pich Chanmony to inaugurate Techo International Airport in Kandal province, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An overview from beside of a new airport of Techo International Airportt in Kandal province, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are jumping on Thursday following an encouraging report on inflation that could help the Federal Reserve keep cutting interest rates next year. A strong profit report from Micron Technology also helped AI stocks halt their sharp slides, at least for now.

The S&P 500 rallied 0.9% and is on track for its best day in three weeks, coming off a four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 124 points, or 0.3%, as of 2:07 p.m. Eastern time, and the strength for tech stocks had the Nasdaq composite up a market-leading 1.5%.

Some relief came from a report showing that inflation was less bad last month than economists expected. That could soothe nerves at the Fed, which is responsible for keeping inflation low and for keeping the job market strong.

Inflation is still higher than anyone would like, at 2.7% last month, but if it creeps closer to the Fed’s target of 2%, Fed officials could feel more free to cut interest rates to help a slowing job market. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy and prices for investments, even if they may also worsen inflation.

To be sure, some along Wall Street said Thursday’s inflation update may not move the needle much at the Fed given how noisy economic reports have been following the U.S. government’s earlier shutdown. Next month’s update on inflation could provide a better gauge of what’s actually happening. But a better-than-expected report on inflation is nevertheless better than the alternative.

Also helping to drive the U.S. stock market was Micron Technology, the seller of memory and storage for computers, which rallied 12.8% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said each of the company’s business units enjoyed stronger revenue and made more in profit off each $1 of that revenue.

Micron also gave encouraging forecasts for upcoming financial results, and Mehrotra credited its position as an “AI enabler,” among other things.

Billions of dollars are flowing into artificial-intelligence technology, which helped superstar stocks like Nvidia lead the market for years.

But questions are rising about whether those stock prices shot too high and whether customers will get a good-enough return on AI investments through bigger profits and productivity. Worries are also weighing on companies that are borrowing lots of money to pay for AI investments.

Oracle and Broadcom have been at the center of such worries recently, and their stock prices have been falling sharply since last week despite both reporting better profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected. On Thursday, Oracle rose 0.4%, and Broadcom added 1.1%.

Nvidia, the chip company that’s become Wall Street’s most influential because of its immense size, gained 2.2%.

Another winner was Trump Media & Technology Group, which jumped 39% to carve into some of its steep loss for the year so far, 69.3% coming into the day. The company, which began with President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform and then moved into cryptocurrencies and various other lines of business, is now moving into nuclear power.

It’s merging with TAE Technologies in an all-stock deal, and each company will own roughly half of the combined business. The companies said the deal would pair TMTG’s ability to raise significant money by attracting investors with TAE’s technology. They hope to get TAE’s nuclear-fusion reactors, which would create power in a similar way as the sun does, running commercially.

Cintas rose 0.9% after the provider of work uniforms and cleaning supplies reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, while also announcing a program to send up to $1 billion to shareholders by buying back its own stock.

Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, rose 0.4% even though its profit for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. Its growth in revenue topped forecasts, benefiting from both the opening of new restaurants and increased revenue at its older locations.

CarMax swung sharply between gains and losses and was most recently down 3.9%. The auto retailer reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But it also said it may make less profit from each $1 of revenue in sales of used autos during the current quarter, as it tries to get more competitive in the market. It also plans to increase spending on marketing to drive customers to lots.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose 0.6% in London, 0.8% in France and 1% in Germany after the Bank of England cut its key interest rate and the European Central Bank kept its steady.

Asian indexes were mixed, with stocks falling 1.5% in South Korea but adding 0.2% in Shanghai.

In the bond market, Treasury yields sank following the encouraging report on U.S. inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.12% from 4.16% late Wednesday.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Trader Anthony Confusione works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Dealers work near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Jim Boyle, CEO of Medline Industries, poses for a picture outside the Nasdaq MarketSite, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Dealers work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)