World stocks extend tech rout, silver savaged again

World stocks dropped for a fifth day in the last six on Thursday as concerns about the exploding costs of the Al boom drove tech worries, the Bank of England gave central bank watchers a close call, and silver suffered another slump in metals markets.

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After a valiant start, Europe's main bourses succumbed to the pressures again, as the biggest skid of the year for carmakers - of 2.58 - more than offset a fragile rebound in local tech stocks after their 78 drop in recent days.

The other big focus was the pound. It had been under pressure all morning at $1.358-and IO-year and 30-year gilt yields had hit their highest levels since late November - amid renewed uncertainty around British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's future following the latest revelations about his former US ambassador's ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Then came the BoE surprise. The central bank kept rates at 3.758 but an unexpectedly close 5-4 vote had traders pricing in a much higher chance of a near-term rate cut, which pushed sterling back under $1.36 and nudged gilt yields lower.

"A low inflation forecast has contributed towards easing some members’ concerns about inflation persistence," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.