Global equities drop, silver hits record high

Shares of AI chip leader Nvidia were the biggest drag, closing down 3.8%

MSCI’s global equities gauge dropped on Wednesday, while silver prices hit a record high and gold rose for a seventh straight day on renewed hopes for U.S. central bank rate cuts and after President Donald Trump’s latest move in Venezuela created safe-haven demand.

Oil prices settled higher after Trump ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, as Washington tried to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government by targeting its main source of income.

Elsewhere, central bank Governor Christopher Waller, who is expected to be interviewed as a potential replacement for central bank Chair Jerome Powell, said the central bank has room to cut interest rates amid signs of job market weakness.

In U.S. equities, technology stocks were weighing down the S&P 500 amid the latest fears of an artificial intelligence bubble. Shares of AI chip leader Nvidia were the biggest drag, closing down 3.8%.

Oracle shares closed down 5.4% even after it looked to reassure investors by announcing that talks for an equity deal to support a data centre project were on schedule and do not include Blue Owl Capital, after a report of stalled negotiations between the two companies.

It does appear there is now real market fatigue in this singular AI infrastructure story, and the circularity issue in revenue, the rationalization of capex, and the fact that not all players can win at once, are seemingly becoming more accepted by markets, said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group.

Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management, said there was percolating anxiety about the AI trade.