Global markets opened amid heightened geopolitical and economic crosscurrents on Thursday, with Washington approving a major arms sale to Taiwan, Asian equities sliding on renewed concerns over artificial intelligence spending, and fresh signals from President Donald Trump on domestic economic relief.
OpenAI is exploring another massive funding round, to sustain the AI boom.
US approves major arms sales to Taiwan
The US has approved a package of arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $11.154 billion, a move likely to draw a strong response from Beijing.
Announced late Wednesday by the State Department, the approvals include missiles, drones, and artillery systems aimed at strengthening Taiwan’s defenses amid rising pressure from China.
The largest components of the deal are a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) valued at up to $4.05 billion and self-propelled howitzers worth about $4 billion.
Taiwan conducted its first live-fire HIMARS test in May, highlighting the system’s ability to strike targets up to 300 kilometers away, significantly enhancing the island’s deterrence capabilities.
The sale comes less than two months after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump agreed to a one-year truce in their trade dispute.
Taiwan remains a central flashpoint in US-China relations, with Xi recently reiterating Beijing’s position that reunification is part of the postwar international order.
Asian markets fall as AI concerns resurface
Asian equities weakened on Thursday as technology stocks led losses, reflecting renewed investor anxiety over the pace and profitability of AI investment.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.27%, with South Korea down 1.28%, Hong Kong slipping 0.36% and Japan’s Nikkei declining 1%.
India’s Nifty 50 was almost unchanged at 0.05% up.
The selloff followed a tech-led retreat on Wall Street, where Nvidia shares dropped 3.8% amid worries over record AI-related capital expenditure.
The stock is now down nearly 50% from mid-September, when enthusiasm over a deal involving OpenAI briefly sent shares sharply higher.
In commodities, oil prices extended gains after Trump ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela.
Gold eased slightly, while silver hovered just below a recent record high.
Trump unveils holiday relief for military members
President Trump sought to reassure Americans worried about the cost of living by announcing one-time $1,776 payments for around 1.45 million military service members.
The so-called “Warrior Dividend,” timed ahead of Christmas, could cost nearly $2.6 billion and applies to active-duty troops and certain reserve members.
In a prime-time address, Trump also promised aggressive housing reforms and lower mortgage rates in the coming year, while continuing to blame inflationary pressures on his predecessor.
Despite easing inflation, polling shows persistent voter anxiety, with Trump’s approval rating at 39%, near the lowest level of his second term.
OpenAI explores fresh funding at higher valuation
In the tech sector, OpenAI is holding preliminary talks with investors to raise tens of billions of dollars at a valuation of about $750 billion, according to The Information.
The ChatGPT maker, which is not yet profitable, was valued at $500 billion this fall and continues to pursue massive investment to support its AI infrastructure ambitions.
Recently, there were reports that Amazon was planning a $10 billion investment in OpenAI and allowing the company to utilize Amazon’s Trainium chips.
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