US futures and world shares slip as worries over Trump's Fed chief pick and AI weigh on markets

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 poin...