World shares track US stock market's rise to record highs despite AI
bubble worries
[December 12, 2025] By
TERESA CEROJANO
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — World shares rose on Friday, tracking Wall
Street’s climb to records despite a sell-off for Oracle as worries
persisted about a potential bubble in artificial-intelligence
technology.
The future for the S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1%, while that for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3%
In early European trading, Germany's DAX added nearly 0.6% to 24,427.67.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 9,737.25, and the CAC 40 in Paris gained
0.4% to 8,141.66.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4% to 50,836.55, rebounding from the
previous session’s losses.
Investors remain cautious ahead of next week’s policy meeting of the
Bank of Japan, where it is expected to raise interest rates, but
technology shares helped lead broad gains.
Softbank Group gained 3.9% after an early jump of 6%.
In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.8% to 25,976.79,
while the Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.4% to 3,889.35.
An annual planning meeting, the Central Economic Work Conference in
Beijing on Wednesday to Thursday, set China’s priorities for 2026.
According to state media reports, those include working to reverse a
decline in investment and to boost consumer spending. However, no major
policy shifts were reported.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.2% to 8,697.30.
In Seoul, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.4% to 4,167.16.
Taiwan's Taiex index added 0.6% while India's BSE Sensex rose 0.5%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 inched up 0.2% to 6,901.00 and eked past its
prior all-time closing high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones
Industrial leaped 1.3% to 48,704.01, to top its own record set last
month. The Nasdaq composite lagged behind and slipped 0.3% to 23,593.86
because of weakness in AI stocks.
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Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing
room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday,
Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 It’s the latest return to records
for the market following what had appeared to be a debilitating set
of worries. Some of the most recent included concerns about what the
Federal Reserve will do with interest rates and whether all the
dollars flowing into AI chips and data centers will produce profits
and productivity as prolific as proponents are promising.
The Fed on Wednesday cut its main interest rate for the third time
this year and indicated another cut may be ahead in 2026. Wall
Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy
and send prices for investments higher, even if they potentially
make inflation worse.
But a return to records for the U.S. stock market does not mean all
worries are gone.
Oracle dropped 10.8% and had briefly been on track earlier in the
day for its worst loss since 2001, when the dot-com bubble was still
deflating. Doubts remain about whether all the spending that Oracle
is doing on AI technology will be worth it.
Such doubts are weighing on the AI industry broadly, even as many
billions of dollars continue to flow in.
Nvidia, the chip company that’s become the poster child of the AI
boom and is raking in close to $20 billion each month, fell 1.5%
Thursday. It was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 because of its
massive size.
In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 24
cents to $57.84 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard,
added 22 cents to $61.50 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 155.87 Japanese yen from 155.58. The euro
edged down to $1.1731 from $1.1739.
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