OpenAI signed a contract with Oracle to purchase $300 billion in computing power over roughly five years, people familiar with the matter said, a massive commitment that far outstrips the startup’s current revenue. The deal is one of the largest cloud contracts ever signed, reflecting how spending on AI data centers is hitting new highs despite mounting concerns over a potential bubble. The Oracle contract will require 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity, roughly comparable to the electricity produced by more than two Hoover Dams or the amount consumed by about four million homes. Oracle shares surged by as much as 43% on Wednesday after the cloud company revealed it added $317 billion in future contract revenue during its latest quarter that ended in Aug. 31. Chief Executive Safra Catz told analysts that it had signed contracts with three different customers during the quarter. The share price surge increased Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison’s wealth by more than $100 billion, pushing him into the range of Elon Musk as the world’s richest person, with a net worth of almost $400 billion.

The Swiss franc dropped against its major counterparts in the New York session on Wednesday. The franc declined to 2-day lows of 0.7994 against the greenback and 0.9354 against the euro. The franc fell to 5-day lows of 1.0818 against the pound and 184.34 against the yen. The next possible support for the currency is seen around 0.89 against the greenback, 0.95 against the euro, 1.11 against the pound and 174.00 against the yen.

Europe
European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors digested data showing a modest drop in U.S. producer prices in the month of August, and continued to assess the developments on the trade front. Some of the major markets started off on a firm note, but failed to sustain at higher levels. The appointment of Sébastien Lecornu as France's new Prime Minister, and optimism about prospects of a larger than expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week aided sentiment. Investors awaited U.S. consumer price inflation data and the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement due later in the week. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.02%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.19% and Germany's DAX ended 0.36% down. France's CAC 40 gained 0.15%, and Switzerland's SMI lost 0.52%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak. Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed higher. In the UK market, Prudential climbed nearly 3.5%. Polar Capital Technology Trust, BAE Systems, HSBC Holdings, Fresnillo, St. James's Place, Pershing Square Holdings, Centrica, Anglo American Plc, Haleon, Halma, Standard Chartered, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Phoenix Group Holdings closed with strong gains. Associated British Foods plunged more than 13% after the company warned of slowing sales at Primark in Europe, despite strong growth in the United States. Relx and IAG both closed lower by more than 4%. Auto Trader Group, Marks & Spencer, 3i Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Easyjet, Convatec Group and Next also declined sharply. In the German market, Siemens Energy rallied more than 4.5%, and Rheinmetall gained nearly 3%. Siemens Healthineers climbed 2.2%. SAP ended nearly 3% down. Beiersdorf, Deutsche Telekom, Symrise, Continental, Puma, Qiagen, Covestro, Munich RE, Henkel, Porsche, Volkswagen and Fresenius Medical Care lost 1 to 2.3%. In the French market, Thales, Societe Generale, Legrand, Schneider Electric and ArcelorMittal gained 2 to 3%. EssilorLuxottica, Bouygues and Credit Agricole also posted strong gains. Publicis Groupe, Edenred, Pernod Ricard, Teleperformance, STMicroElectronics, Capgemini, L'Oreal and Stellantis lost 2 to 2.7%.

United States
Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pulled back well off their best levels but still managed to end the day at new record closing highs. The S&P 500 rose 19.43 points or 0.3 percent to 6,532.04 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,886.06. The narrower Dow, on the other hand, slid 220.42 points or 0.5 percent to 45,490.92, as Apple (AAPL) slumped following the launch of new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods on Tuesday. Steep losses by Salesforce (CRM) and Amazon (AMZN) also weighed on the day blue chip index. The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by producer prices in the U.S. in the month of August. The dip surprised economists, who had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.9 percent jump originally reported for the previous month. The markets also benefitted from a surge by shares of Oracle (ORCL), with the software company soaring by 36.0 percent. The spike by Oracle came after the company reported slightly weaker than expected fiscal first quarter earnings but said it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to skyrocket to $144 billion in fiscal 2030 from $10.3 billion in fiscal 2025. Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation on Thursday. Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.4 percent to a record closing high. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) surged by 3.8 percent after the chipmaker reported strong August revenue growth. Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came as the price of gold inched up to a new record closing high.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia and Australia were mixed on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo gains 1.2 per cent to 44,383 points and marks new all-time highs on speculation of higher government spending under a new leader. The South Korean Kospi is also plumbing new record highs. It has risen for the eighth trading day in a row, currently by 0.7 per cent. Shanghai also recovered from its small drop the previous day and rose by over 1 per cent. In contrast, Hong Kong and Sydney both fell by 0.4 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved back to the upside following the pullback seen on Tuesday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.2 basis points to a five-month closing low of 4.032 percent.

Analysis
Berenberg raises Anglo American to Hold (Sell) – 2,300 (1,900) p
Bernstein raises Novo Nordisk to Outperform (Marketp.) – DKK 540 (09.09.)
Citi raises BASF to Buy (Neutral) – EUR 52 (44)

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