The S&P 500 is moving closer to its first record high since August, aided by a clutch of artificial-intelligence deals alongside a rebound in Treasuries and a slide in oil.
Futures for the US benchmark climbed 0.4% after the index closed within a whisker of an all-time high. The Nasdaq 100 was poised to push further into record territory. Nvidia Corp. edged closer to a $6 trillion valuation. Treasury yields fell as Brent crude slipped below $98 a barrel and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted the government’s debt load · can be tamed.
Investors showed plenty of appetite for AI and the global buildout of the technology through a series of transactions and fundraisings.
OpenAI was said to be in talks · with multiple funds from the United Arab Emirates to help anchor a $30 billion round of financing, while China’s DeepSeek · and Moonshot AI were also raising · billions. Google parent Alphabet Inc. inked a deal to buy nuclear energy · from Constellation Energy Corp.
“The breadth of the equity market performance is narrow and is driven by the tech sector,” said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies. “Strong earnings, ongoing capex and ample liquidity in the system should support the picks-and-shovels trade.”
Markets are enjoying a bout of broad relief at a time when elevated oil prices and bond yields have kept risk appetite in check. Global stock benchmarks have emerged relatively unscathed, as surging investment in AI and strong earnings underpin demand.
“Earnings, not multiple expansion, are driving this year’s gains,” said Stephan Kemper at BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Germany. “With earnings-per-share revisions still being strong, fueled by above-average guidance upgrades in the US, we think there is room for this pattern to continue.”
The upbeat sentiment was evident in Europe too, where the Stoxx 600 climbed 0.5% to head for its first three-day winning streak in a month. The region’s bonds rallied from recent multidecade lows, with serial underperformers France and Italy leading. The euro gained the most in more than a month as the dollar lost ground against most major currencies.
French bonds shrugged off the latest signs of political turmoil on a day when hundreds of high schools were shut in student-led protests. The premium on French 10-year yields over their German peers narrowed to less than 130 basis points, down from a recent peak near 160.
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally, proposed bringing the country’s deficit · below 3% of GDP by 2032. France has increasingly come under fire in bond markets over its political outlook and spiraling debt costs.
“Rates in Europe are being helped by lower oil prices, which remain a key watchpoint given that no conflict resolution has yet been achieved,” said Alessandro Gabellone, fixed-income analyst at Bank Degroof Petercam. “France remains under rising political pressure, but today’s fall in yields following Le Pen’s budget comments could provide some short-term relief.”
What Bloomberg Strategists Say:
“With Brent now below $100/bbl, 10-year yields are making another push lower, but once again meeting resistance heading into the US session. That makes sense. The dominant US narrative remains higher potential growth, a higher neutral rate and ultimately higher policy rates.”
— Skylar Montgomery Koning, macro strategist. For more, click here.
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Corporate News:
- McKesson Corp. · and the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice will buy Option Care Health Inc. for an enterprise value of about $5.8 billion, expanding into the medical infusion space.
- Uber Technologies Inc. · is buying catering firm ezCater Inc. for $2.3 billion in a cash deal that will help the Uber Eats delivery platform reach a more corporate clientele.
- NASA · is close to announcing a bulk purchase of rocket launches to fuel its $30 billion drive to build a permanent base on the moon for humans to live and work.
- LS Power · , a privately-held developer and investor in power infrastructure in North America, has raised $6 billion for its flagship fund, its largest to date, amid a surge in electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence.
- Jio Platforms Ltd. is likely to seek a valuation of about 11 trillion rupees ($114 billion) in its planned initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, falling short of earlier expectations for what may still be the country’s largest-ever listing.
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Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 8:29 a.m. New York time
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
- The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%
- The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
- The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1264
- The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3272
- The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 158.21 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $86,171.48
- Ether was little changed at $2,709.87
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 5.28%
- Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 3.48%
- Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 5.38%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.6% to $87.14 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,175.27 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.