MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks retreated on artificial-intelligence fears. The Treasury market logged a placid session, with yields barely budging, a day before the Labor Department releases delayed figures on October and November inflation. The dollar strengthened. Gold and silver settled at new highs, and oil prices rose.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

A fresh fall in tech stocks dragged U.S. indexes lower Wednesday as concerns about artificial-intelligence valuations and spending heated up.

The Nasdaq composite lost 1.8%, with Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle all down more than 3% on the day. Tech shares in the S&P 500 fell 2.2%, leading the benchmark lower. The Dow industrials surrendered early gains, dragged down by a slide in shares of Caterpillar.

Warner Bros. Discovery rejected an unsolicited bid from Paramount, saying it believes a planned deal with Netflix is still superior. Paramount and Warner shares both fell, while Netflix edged higher.

Shares of Medline, a medical-supplies manufacturer and distributor, surged 42% in their trading debut Wednesday after the company raised $6.26 billion in the largest U.S. IPO since 2021.

Shares in Asia were broadly higher on Wednesday.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% while Shenzhen gained 1.7% and the tech-heavy ChiNext ended 3.4% higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.9% higher.

Data from Japan showed the country's U.S.-bound exports rose for the first time in eight months in November, underscoring resilience in the manufacturing sector and reinforcing expectations of an interest-rate hike this week. Japan's Nikkei ended 0.3% higher.

Stocks in Australia slipped, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index declined 0.2%.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 1.0%.

COMMODITIES

Precious metal futures surged, with both gold and silver setting new highs.

Investors parked money in safe havens ahead of Thursday's CPI report and in reaction to a U.S. blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela.

The appetite for precious metals is expected to continue into 2026, said Antonio Di Giacomo of XS.com.

"Prospects for the coming quarters suggest that gold could extend its upward trend if an environment of low real interest rates and moderate growth persists," said Di Giacomo.

Front-month gold settled up 1% to $4,347.50 a troy ounce, and front-month silver closed up 5.6% to $66.237 a troy ounce.

Oil futures picked up from four sessions of losses after President Trump's blockade. The advance was contained by market expectations of a large supply surplus next year.

"There is plenty of oil on the global market, and a shut-in of Venezuelan production, however unlikely, is not going to cause a supply shortage anytime soon," Mizuho's Robert Yawger said.

U.S. inventory data were mixed with a 1.3 million barrel draw in crude oil stocks and builds in gasoline and diesel as refineries stepped up their run rates.

WTI settled up 1.2% at $55.94 a barrel and Brent rose 1.3% to $59.68.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Fed's Waller thinks inflation will start to fall in next 3-4 months and rates can come down at moderate pace

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, who is on President Donald Trump's shortlist to become the next Fed chair, said inflation is going to soften in the coming months, and that there is room for substantial rate cuts.

"I'm not particularly worried about it [inflation]. It's above target, but I believe it will start coming down in the next three to four months, " Waller said during a talk at Yale University.

Waller said he is worried about the short-term outlook for the labor market, although he added that he expects job growth to strengthen next year.

Trump Orders Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers In and Out of Venezuela

President Trump on Tuesday ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in a major escalation of his pressure campaign against the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro.

"Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America," Trump posted on Truth Social, referring to U.S. warships, planes and thousands of troops deployed to the region.

He threatened the U.S. military presence would "only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before" unless Maduro's regime returned "Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us," an apparent reference to Venezuela's nationalization of U.S.-linked holdings in the country. In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to carry out land strikes in Venezuela.

Micron Technology First-Quarter Sales Jump 57%, Led By Memory Growth

Micron Technology recorded a jump in sales in its fiscal first quarter, as demand for its memory products remains high.

The Boise, Idaho, memory-chip maker on Wednesday posted a profit of $5.24 billion, or $4.60 a share, in the quarter ended in late November, compared with $1.87 billion, or $1.67 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $4.78, ahead of the $3.96 anticipated by analysts, according to FactSet.

Warner Rejects Paramount's Hostile Bid, Saying Netflix Deal Still Superior

Warner Bros. Discovery recommended shareholders reject Paramount's unsolicited all-cash bid for the company Wednesday, saying it believes Netflix's proposal for its studios and HBO Max streaming service is still superior.

Calling the Paramount offer "illusory" in a letter to shareholders, Warner again raised concerns about the credibility of the equity being offered by Paramount and questioned the structure of the Ellison family's commitment to funding the deal. It added that Paramount has "consistently misled" Warner shareholders.

Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison and his father Larry, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle, are majority shareholders in Paramount, along with RedBird Capital.

IRS Takes a New Shot at Meta's Foreign Tax Strategy

WASHINGTON-The Internal Revenue Service is mounting a novel attack on Meta Platforms' international tax maneuvers, seeking $16 billion in a move that extends and intensifies the decadelong fight between the tech company and the federal government.

The IRS says Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, booked tens of billions of dollars in profits in Ireland that should have been taxed in the U.S. The company contests that IRS analysis and sued this month in the U.S. Tax Court.

It is Meta's third Tax Court case since 2016. All stem from 2010 transactions involving an Irish subsidiary. The first lawsuit yielded a split decision this year, with the government winning some legal points and the company largely prevailing on tax calculations. That first case could still get appealed; a second one is pending.

Medline Raises $6.3 Billion in Biggest IPO of the Year

Medical-supplies distributor Medline has raised $6.26 billion in an initial public offering, taking the title of biggest IPO of the year and a valuation of more than $50 billion.

The U.S.-based company backed by private-equity giants Blackstone and Carlyle sold 216 million shares at $29.00 each in an upsized offering, it said Tuesday.

The blockbuster fundraise dethrones Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which had previously held the IPO crown after its $5.3 billion offering in May.