US futures, Asian shares drop

Hang Seng declined 2% to 26,841.45, the Shanghai Composite index dived 1.1% to 4,071.14, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.1% to 8,766.70, while Taiex shed 2.1%

US futures and Asian shares dropped Monday. In South Korea, the Kospi tumbled 4.6% to 4,982.54 as worries revived over a potential bubble in the craze for artificial intelligence. Samsung Electronics gave up 3.5%, while chip maker SK Hynix dipped 5.6%.

The Kospi has been forging records for weeks as major tech companies on AI wave.

In other dealings, the price of gold dropped 1%, while silver rose nearly 2% after both slumped on Friday, marking a halt to record runs in precious metals markets.

Markets appeared jittery as investors studied what President Donald Trump’s new nominee to lead the central bank, Kevin Warsh, will mean for interest rates. The future for the S&P 500 dipped 0.9% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2% to 53,422.01, but other benchmarks pulled back.

Hang Seng declined 2% to 26,841.45, while the Shanghai Composite index dived 1.1% to 4,071.14.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.1% to 8,766.70.

Taiex shed 2.1%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 declined 0.4% to 6,930.03. The Dow shed 0.4% to 48,892.47, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9% to 23,461.82.

Helping to limit the market’s losses was Tesla, which added 3.3%. It bounced back after dropping on Thursday despite delivering better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Warsh’s nomination requires Senate approval. Whoever leads the central bank has a big influence on the economy by helping to dictate where the bank moves interest rates. Such decisions lift or weigh on prices for all kinds of investments, as the central bank tries to keep the US job market humming without letting inflation get out of control.