Bonds & Stocks
Markets took a breather on Friday as investors assessed the outlook for equities after benchmarks from the US to Europe and Japan hit all-time highs in the wake of Nvidia Corp.’s blockbuster earnings. US futures were little changed after gains overnight pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, along with MSCI’s all-county index, to new records. Nvidia is on track to scale $2 trillion in market value for the first time ever after shares climbed as much as 2.7% in premarket trading, adding to Thursday’s meteoric rise.
Economy
The US and China are discussing new measures to prevent a wave of emerging market sovereign defaults, according to people familiar with the situation, one of the most significant attempts in years at economic cooperation between the rival superpowers. The talks — including ways to preemptively extend loan periods before countries miss payments — are broadly aimed at both easing the $400 billion-plus annual debt service burden for poor countries and finding an alternative to the high borrowing rates those nations now face in the market.
World
The US unveiled its biggest one-day sanctions package against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, targeting more than 500 people and entities in a fresh bid to squeeze the country’s economy and send a message over the death of dissident Alexey Navalny. Sanctioned people and entities included a military drone manufacturer and its top staff, Russia’s Mir payment system, a company that specializes in three-dimensional printed plastics and numerous others. The Commerce Department added 90 companies to a list that limits their access to US technology.