Stock Market Rally Pauses as Gold and Silver Prices Soar

The stock market rally in the US has taken a breather today, but not due to any major concerns. Instead, it's just a normal pause after four consecutive days of gains for the Nasdaq.

The tech sector is dominating the market narrative this week, with Nvidia being one of the top performers. The company's announcement that it will use its chips to power all of SpaceX's AI data centers has boosted its share price by 4.5% today.

However, gold and silver are also leading the pack, pushing up the FTSE 100's miners. Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo are higher by 5% and 4% respectively on Wednesday.

The precious metals prices have surged due to two factors: the prospect of a US/Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and deescalate the situation in the Middle East, and the weaker than expected ADP private sector payrolls reading in the US.