Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has observed that the USD has lost some ground, particularly against currencies linked to commodities. A surge in AI capital expenditures is set to bolster commodities, especially precious and industrial metals.
Major companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta are projected to invest around $660 billion in 2026 on new data centres and equipment. This investment equals 2.1% of US GDP, marking a 60% increase from 2025 and a 165% increase from 2024.
AI Boosts Commodity Demand
The increased spending on AI is anticipated to continue benefiting commodities like silver, gold, platinum, palladium, and copper. These materials are essential for manufacturing high-performance chips, wiring, and energy infrastructure required by new servers and power systems.
Commodity currencies such as AUD, CLP, ZAR, BRL, MXN, and PEN are expected to perform well. This conclusion was made by the FXStreet Insights Team, comprised of journalists and market analysis experts.
The anticipated surge in AI-related capital spending is now being confirmed in early 2026 corporate reports, directly supporting the commodity complex. Microsoft’s latest earnings call, for instance, reaffirmed its aggressive data center expansion, validating the expected demand for industrial metals. This fundamental pressure is likely to keep the US dollar on the back foot against specific currencies in the coming weeks.
We are seeing this play out in the futures market, with copper prices on the COMEX up over 6% year-to-date, recently breaking past the key $4.40 per pound resistance level. Derivative traders should consider long positions in copper and silver futures to directly participate in this trend. Using bull call spreads on these commodities could also be an effective strategy to gain upside exposure while limiting risk.
Commodity-Linked Currency Gains
This strength is translating directly to commodity-linked currencies, with the Australian dollar now trading above 0.6900 against the US dollar for the first time since mid-2025. Buying AUD/USD call options or selling USD/MXN put credit spreads are viable ways to express a bullish view on these currencies. These positions benefit from both rising commodity prices and sustained US dollar softness.
Looking back at the trading patterns from late 2025, we saw the early signs of this rotation as industrial metals began a steady climb. That price action was a clear signal that the market was beginning to price in the massive 2026 spending forecasts. The rally we have seen since January is simply an acceleration of that established trend.
We should also expect the Brazilian real and South African rand to outperform, as demand for their key exports strengthens. The rally in precious metals like gold and silver is also notable, driven not just by investment demand but by their critical use in high-performance servers and electronics. This provides traders with several distinct but related opportunities to trade the ongoing AI infrastructure boom.
