(Updates prices throughout with U.S. markets close, adds oil

settlement)

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) reports strong results, but shares fall

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S&P 500 and Nasdaq finish lower; European shares ease

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World shares index eases after hitting record high

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Oil prices rise in volatile trading

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An index of global equity

markets eased after hitting a record high on Thursday as

concerns about lofty valuations of leading technology companies

weighed on markets after artificial intelligence chipmaker

Nvidia ( NVDA ) reported quarterly results.

The benchmark S&P 500 on Wall Street and equities in Europe

finished lower as investors digested another blowout quarter

from Nvidia ( NVDA ), the world's most valuable company, but worried

about its market value even as it forecast that first-quarter

revenue would be a whopping $78 billion.

On Wall Street, technology and communication services were

the biggest losers, with Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares closing down 5.5%. The

Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 0.03%, the

S&P 500 lost 0.53%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell

1.2%.

LOFTY VALUATIONS RAISE CONCERNS

"People are getting concerned about lofty valuations even

though when you look at a company like Nvidia ( NVDA ), the estimates,

cash flow, and everything else are dramatically higher," said

Thomas Plumb, chief executive and portfolio manager at Plumb

Funds in Madison, Wisconsin.

"But I think the sentiment will eventually match up with the

realities," said Plumb, who has Nvidia ( NVDA ) as his largest investment

holding.

In Europe, the broad STOXX 600 index edged lower by

0.05% after touching a new record high. MSCI's All Country World

Index eased 0.2% after rising to a record high

of 1,063.86.

"It's an increasingly cloudy future for AI," said James St.

Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management

in Santa Monica, California. "It's not that AI isn't going to

work out. It's about who's going to be the winners? How do these

firms keep competitive advantages? There's a lot of upstream and

downstream impact that the market is really having trouble

sorting out."

Several heavyweight technology companies finished lower on

Wall Street. Alphabet declined 1.7%, Apple ( AAPL )

fell 0.5%, Amazon ( AMZN ) lost 1.3%, and Tesla shed

2.1%.

"I always go back to the curse of high expectations, where

with Nvidia ( NVDA ), everything has to be perfect in order for it to

continue to thrive and to appreciate. And I think right now they

maybe didn't reassure investors enough that the line of sight

was clear," St. Aubin said.

Salesforce ( CRM ), which reported quarterly revenue higher

than analyst estimates after markets closed on Wednesday, rose

4%.

London Stock Exchange Group's ( LDNXF ) shares jumped 9% in

London after it announced a $4.1 billion buyback under pressure

from activist investor Elliott Management, which recently built

a stake in the data provider.

NUCLEAR TALKS

Investors are eyeing indirect talks between the U.S. and

Iran over their long-running nuclear dispute. Oil prices slipped

in a volatile session as markets awaited the outcome of the

talks.

Brent crude futures fell 0.14% to settle at $70.75 a

barrel. U.S. crude futures settled down 0.32% to $66.21.

Treasury bond prices in the U.S. and Europe edged higher on

the back of safe-haven bids as investors grew nervous about

tensions involving Iran.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell

3.6 basis points to 4.012%. The 2-year note yield

fell 3.5 basis points to 3.436%.

In Europe, the yield on benchmark German 10-year Bunds

lost 0.8 basis points to 2.69%.

Safe-haven gold rose, with spot gold adding 0.29% to

$5,185.04 an ounce.

In currency markets, the dollar rose against major

currencies, including the euro and Swiss franc.

The euro was down 0.09% at $1.1798 against the

dollar. The dollar was up 0.23% to 0.774 against the Swiss

franc.

The Japanese yen rose 0.16% to 156.1 against the

greenback days after the government of Prime Minister Sanae

Takaichi nominated two pro-stimulus academics to the board of

the Bank of Japan.