US Futures, World Shares Slip Monday   02/02 04:48

   U.S. futures and world shares skidded on Monday as worries over President 
Donald Trump's nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair amplified jitters 
over a possible bubble in the artificial intelligence boom.

   (AP) -- U.S. futures and world shares skidded on Monday as worries over 
President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair amplified 
jitters over a possible bubble in the artificial intelligence boom.

   South Korea's exchange, which is heavily influenced by tech-related 
developments, briefly suspended trading as its benchmark Kospi bounced, closing 
5.3% lower at 4,949.67. Samsung Electronics gave up 6.3%, while chip maker SK 
Hynix sank 8.7%.

   The Kospi has been forging records for weeks as big tech companies 
piggybacked on the AI craze with deals with major players like chip maker 
Nvidia and OpenAI.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX edged less than 0.1% lower to 
24,528.57. The CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 8,108.56, while Britain's FTSE 100 
declined 0.3% to 10,195.88.

   The future for the S&P 500 sank 0.7%, while that for the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average fell 0.4%.

   Markets took a hit as investors considered how Kevin Warsh, Trump's nominee 
to lead the Federal Reserve after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term ends in May 
might handle interest rates.

   Warsh's nomination requires Senate approval. But financial markets fear the 
Fed may lose some of its independence because of Trump, who has pushed hard for 
more and faster rate cuts. That fear has helped catapult skyward the price of 
gold and weaken the U.S. dollar's value over the last year.

   "People do not get handed the keys to the most powerful central bank on 
earth because they plan to drive in the opposite direction of the people who 
gave them the keys," Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

   Early Monday, the price of gold fell 1.9%, while silver bounced back 
slightly, gaining 0.2%. Both plunged Friday as record runs in precious metals 
markets ground to a halt.

   On Friday, the price of gold dropped 11.4%, suddenly losing momentum after a 
tremendous rally where it roughly doubled over 12 months. It topped $5,000 for 
the first time on Jan. 26 and was around $5,600 at one point on Thursday.

   Silver, which had been on a similar, jaw-dropping tear, plunged 31.4%.

   U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $3.46 to $61.75 per barrel, while Brent crude, 
the international standard, fell $3.47 to $65.85 per barrel.

   Speaking to reporters during the weekend, Trump said Iran should negotiate a 
"satisfactory" deal to prevent the Middle Eastern country from getting any 
nuclear weapons.

   "I don't know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking 
to us," he said.

   That comment apparently assuaged some worries over potential disruptions to 
oil supplies that had pushed prices higher, analysts said.

   In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gave up early gains, sinking 1.3% to 52,655.18.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.2% to 26,775.57, while the Shanghai 
Composite index sank 2.5% to 4,015.75.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 8,778.60.

   Taiwan's Taiex lost 1.4%.

   On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% and the Dow lost 0.4%. The Nasdaq 
composite lost 0.9%.

   The Fed chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by 
helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That 
affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. 
job market humming without letting inflation get out of control.

   A report released Friday showed U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was 
hotter last month than economists expected. That could put pressure on the Fed 
to keep interest rates steady for a while instead of cutting them, as it did 
late last year.

   The longtime assumption has been that the Fed should operate separately from 
the rest of Washington so that it can make moves that are painful in the short 
term but necessary for the long term. To get inflation down to the Fed's goal 
of 2%, for example, may require the unpopular choice to keep interest rates 
high and grind down on the economy for a while.

   In other action early Monday, the dollar fell to 154.88 Japanese yen from 
154.94 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1853.