Sawt Falasteen - Stock markets fluctuate as investors weigh AI, politics

The week was marked by a raft of new records in several markets, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, the Frankfurt stock exchange and gold prices reaching new heights. Silver also surged to a decades-long high.

The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Dow opened higher on Friday, the 10th day of the US government shutdown, after retreating the previous day.

"The stock market ... has yet to show that it really cares about the shutdown," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Investors were focusing on third-quarter corporate results.

Buying sentiment won a boost this week from news that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI had signed multi-billion-dollar chip deals with US firm AMD as well as South Korean titans Samsung and SK hynix.

The spending added to the hundreds of billions already pumped into the sector as firms look to get ahead in the sphere of artificial intelligence.

That in turn has seen investors flood into the tech sector, sending stock prices rocketing -- with US chip leader Nvidia topping a $4 trillion market capitalisation.

However, there are rumblings that the rally could run out of steam, causing jitters on trading floors.

"The AI bubble debate remains a hot topic: some argue this is the new internet bubble 2.0 waiting to burst, others think it's a bubble that still has room to inflate," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"And many point out that as long as earnings growth holds, the market can keep going," she added.

Such worries have been part of the reason behind the rally in gold to a record price above $4,000 an ounce Wednesday.

Alexandra Symeonidi, corporate credit analyst at William Blair, said that "some market participants started to question the sustainability of the price momentum" and had begun to draw parallels with previous asset bubbles.

"So, while the overall market has been healthy, investors have been adding hedges in what is broadly considered to be a safe haven asset."

In Europe, the Frankfurt DAX index and London's FTSE 100 were flat in afternoon deals.

Paris was down 0.1 percent as French President Emmanuel Macron was due to pick a head of government tasked with lifting the country out of political crisis following his last prime minister's resignation.

Oil prices, meanwhile, fell more than two percent as the Gaza ceasefire took effect, easing concerns about a wider regional conflict that could disrupt supply.

The US benchmark oil contract, WTI, fell under $60 per barrel.

- Key figures at around 1335 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 46,563.85 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,748.22

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 23,064.70

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,507.77

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,033.51

Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,609.52

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 48,088.80 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7 percent at 26,290.32 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,897.03 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1567 from $1.1558 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3275 from $1.3294

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.62 yen from 153.14 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.15 pence from 86.94 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.5 percent at $63.62 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.6 percent at $59.92 per barrel

C.Hamad--SF-PST