World shares hovered around record highs on Wednesday, as traders found ways to justify why increasingly complicated world economics and politics would not affect stocks, though jitters were apparent in precious metal and oil markets.
Investors were trying to balance those big-picture concerns with what will be a busy day in terms of short-term developments with U.S. corporate earnings gathering pace, a raft of Federal Reserve speakers and the possibility of a Supreme Court ruling on tariffs.
Ahead of that, broad share indexes in Asia (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab and Europe (.STOXX), opens new tab both rose to all-time peaks with the former buoyed by Japanese markets, as investors braced for a possible election that could lead to more stimulus there.
U.S. share futures dropped 0.2%, however.
“We are starting the year as we left off last, people are very positive towards equities, and within that there is a slow burn rotation from the U.S to the rest of the world, whether out of conviction or risk management, is hard to say,” said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.
“What’s different is policy uncertainty, led by the U.S., has spiked, and that’s generated headlines around ‘sell America’.
“While that hasn’t happened — the dollar’s got a bit of a safe haven bid — we are seeing it play out in this incredible metal rally,” he said.
METAL SURGE
Silver rose above $90 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday. It began 2025 under $30 an ounce, and has surged 27% in the first nine trading days of the year.
Gold is back at record highs, and up 7% in the first two weeks of the year, while copper is also at unprecedented levels.
Fears about everything from Federal Reserve independence to the pressure U.S. aspirations to own Greenland is putting on the NATO alliance via the implications of large protests in Iran are still firmly near the top of investors’ minds.
Iran has also been driving oil prices, though on Wednesday Brent dipped from Tuesday’s over two-month top and was last at $64.90 a barrel.
Financial shares declined as comments from JPMorgan Chase executives added to worries about U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent proposal
BUSY DAY
Even if investors did not have to make time for thinking about great power politics and the importance of central bank independence, Wednesday would have been busy.
It is possible the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs could come later in the day, while Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab , Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab and Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab are due to report fourth quarter results.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab on Tuesday said its profit exceeded analysts’ estimates as its traders cashed in on volatile markets, though its shares fell as investment banking revenue missed.
There is also news that U.S. high-end department store conglomerate Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection.
JAPAN IN FOCUS
Earlier in the day, Japan was the main focus as local media reported that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was considering calling a snap lower house election on February 8.
That sent the Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab up over 1% to a record and pushed Japanese government bonds lower, a so-called “Takaichi trade ” that appears to have been turbocharged this week as investors fret about the country’s fiscal health.
That is bad news for the Japanese yen, which fell to its weakest level since July 2024 and was last at 159.29 per dollar with Japanese authorities warning they may intervene directly in markets to stop its slide.
Other currencies were broadly steady, with the euro flat at $1.1648.
China stocks (.CSI300), opens new tab reversed course to trade 0.4% lower after Chinese stock exchanges tightened margin requirements in a surprise move to cool the red-hot equity market. Blue-chip stocks had hit a 10-year high on Tuesday.
Investors mostly looked past trade data where China reported a record trade surplus of nearly $1.2 trillion in 2025, led by booming exports to non-U.S. markets.