Sawt Falasteen - Tech stocks lead Wall Street higher, gold hits fresh record

Gold and silver also struck fresh record highs, while oil prices climbed on rising geopolitical tensions.

"The stock market... is feeling some holiday cheer as it works to keep the Scrooges of the world at the door," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Tech stocks pushed higher as concerns about a bubble in AI stocks receded, with the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks rising 0.5 percent as trading got underway.

"There is a stir in the market thanks to a Reuters report that Nvidia is looking to start H200 (chip) shipments to China by mid-February," he added.

The Trump administration earlier this month gave the go-ahead to ship the chips to China, reversing US export policy for the advanced AI chips.

Shares in Nvidia added 1.3 percent as trading opened in New York.

O'Hare also pointed to a report that OpenAI had boosted its margin on paid products as boosting sentiment.

Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.6 percent as trading got underway.

Tech firms also led the rally in Asia, with South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Taiwan's TSMC and Japan's Renesas among the best performers.

Tokyo was the standout, piling on 1.8 percent thanks to a weaker yen.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei and Manila stock markets all saw healthy advances.

However, London, Paris and Frankfurt fell.

"Tech stocks are leading this 'Santa Rally' and Europe is tech-light, so it may be a laggard as we start a new week," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

The tech bounce came after a bout of selling fuelled by concerns that valuations had been stretched and questions were being asked about the vast sums invested in artificial intelligence that some warn could take time to see returns.

Gold, which benefits from expectations of lower US interest rates, hit a fresh record of $4,429.12, while silver also struck a new peak.

The precious metals, which are go-to assets in times of crisis, also benefited from geopolitical worries as Washington steps up its oil blockade against Venezuela and after Ukraine hit a tanker from Russia's shadow fleet in the Mediterranean.

Oil prices rose more than two percent amid the geopolitical tensions.

Forex traders are keeping tabs on Tokyo after Japan's top currency official said he was concerned about the yen's recent weakness, which came after the central bank hiked interest rates to a 30-year high on Friday.

The comments stoked speculation that officials could intervene in currency markets to support the yen, which fell more than one percent against the dollar Friday after bank boss Kazuo Ueda chose not to signal more increases early in the new year.

Market sentiment was boosted last week by the latest US economic data reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates further in 2026.

- Key figures at around 1430 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 48,223.85 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 6,864.57

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 23,450.53

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 9,829.47

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,108.55

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,261.70

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 50,402.39 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 25,801.77 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,917.36 (close)

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.97 yen from 157.59 yen on Friday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1758 from $1.1719

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3447 from $1.3386

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.44 pence from 87.55 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $57.81 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.3 percent at $61.83 per barrel

burs-rl/rmb

Y.Zaher--SF-PST