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Global stocks jump, led by tech sector

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STOXX 600, DAX, FTSE 100 hit records

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Trump in AI infrastructure push

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Dollar hits two-week low on tariff delay

By Samuel Indyk

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on

Wednesday, powered by a rise in technology stocks after U.S.

President Donald Trump announced mammoth spending plans for

artificial intelligence infrastructure, while the dollar sagged

to a two-week low as tariffs were delayed.

Late on Tuesday, Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank and

Oracle will form a joint venture and invest up to $500 billion

to build data AI centers.

Shares of SoftBank surged 10.6% in Tokyo, while

Oracle gained 8.5% in early trade on Wall Street,

adding to the previous day's 7.2% jump.

That helped lift the tech-heavy Nasdaq 1%. The

benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.5% in early trade.

European shares were also higher on Wednesday despite

threats of U.S. import tariffs, with Trump again vowing to hit

the European Union with fresh levies.

But Europe was breathing a sigh of relief as many investors

and foreign capitals had expected tariffs to be implemented on

Trump's first day in office, as promised during his campaign.

"Trump seems more focused at home and Europe's got a stay of

execution," said Eddie Kennedy, head of bespoke discretionary

fund management at Marlborough.

"Therefore, I think it makes sense to have a little rally."

The pan-continental STOXX 600 rose 0.7% to a record

intraday high. Blue-chips in Frankfurt and London

also rose to new intraday peaks, up 1.1% and 0.1%

respectively.

Europe's infrastructure stocks, such as Schneider Electric

and Prysmian, were some of the outperformers

on Trump's AI investment push.

Investment in AI has surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in

late 2022, lifting share prices of chipmakers and those building

the infrastructure, helping drive gains in the broader market.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.6%, lifted by the

near 11% rise in SoftBank shares.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

, however, rose just 0.1% as drops in Chinese and

Hong Kong stocks offset broad gains elsewhere.

Trump said his administration was considering a 10% punitive

duty on Chinese imports because fentanyl is being sent from

China to the U.S. via Mexico and Canada.

Chinese blue chips fell 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang

Seng index lost 1.6%.

MSCI's broadest measure of global stocks was

up 0.5%.

DOLLAR DROPS TO TWO-WEEK LOW

The delay by Trump in imposing tariffs on major economies

has pushed the dollar to a two-week low against a basket of

currencies.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency

against six others, was little changed at 108.15, having earlier

fallen to its lowest since Jan. 6 at 107.75.

The dollar "sold off in response to the lack of clear Day 1

tariffs news, though it's difficult to separate out how much of

that move is a partial unwind of dollar-long positioning, and

how much is a more durable market reassessment of tariff risks,"

said Stuart Jenkins, FX strategist at Goldman Sachs.

The euro was down 0.1% at $1.0420, having earlier

risen to $1.0457, its highest since Dec. 30.

The dollar was up 0.3% at 155.87 yen after falling

to a one-month low in the previous session.

The Japanese currency has strengthened against the dollar in

recent sessions, supported by growing expectations the Bank of

Japan will raise interest rates at its policy meeting on Friday.

In commodities, oil prices were slightly lower, having

fallen more than 2% on Tuesday on Trump's plans to boost U.S.

energy production. Brent crude was down 0.3% at $79.08 a

barrel, while U.S. crude was down a similar amount at

$75.62.

Spot gold added 0.2% to $2,750 per ounce, having

earlier hit its highest level since October.