Bonds & Stocks
Technology stocks fueled gains in global equities after a renewed slide in Bitcoin initially weighed on risk sentiment at the start of a data-packed, holiday-shortened week. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1% amid a more than 4% gain for Alphabet Inc. in premarket trading. S&P 500 contracts added 0.7%. In Asia, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. jumped 4.7% after a strong debut for its AI app. Novo Nordisk A/S slumped 9.8% in Copenhagen after studies showed an Ozempic pill failed to slow Alzheimer’s progression.
Economy
President Donald Trump is weighing whether to allow Nvidia Corp. to sell advanced artificial intelligence chips to China and will be the one to make a final decision on the matter, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. The president is hearing from “lots of different advisers” in deciding on the potential exports, Lutnick said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Monday, noting that Trump understands Chinese President Xi Jinping “the best.”
World
Israel lowered interest rates on Monday for the first time in almost two years, with policymakers encouraged a ceasefire in Gaza will help keep risks to inflation under control. The Bank of Israel cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 4.25%, matching the expectations of all nine economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Uncertainty over the war and the potential for supply bottlenecks to feed into inflation kept interest rates on hold since January 2024, even after the US Federal Reserve began to ease policy.