The S&P 500 closed at a brand new excessive amid Trump’s blitz

U.S. President Donald Trump’s whirlwind blitz by way of the forms, financial coverage and geopolitical affairs is not ending. As prime U.S. officers meet their Russian counterparts for high-level talks, Trump advised to reporters that Ukraine was one way or the other chargeable for inciting Moscow’s invasion of the nation.

On different fronts, nevertheless, Trump is leaving issues undisturbed. His administration left intact stiff guidelines — put in place throughout former U.S. President Joe Biden’s time period — overseeing company mergers. That would come as a let-down to Wall Avenue, which had been wanting ahead to an uptick in offers due to expectations that the Trump administration can be pro-business and fewer against mergers and acquisitions.

However that did not disappoint traders a lot. The S&P 500 set a brand new closing file on Tuesday. And, farther from Trump, the European Stoxx 600 additionally notched a recent excessive.

Information on either side of the Atlantic
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.24% to shut at a recent excessive of 6,129.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Common was flat and the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.07%. Nonetheless, Meta shares snapped their 20-day profitable streak. Over in Europe, the continent’s regional Stoxx 600 index additionally notched a file shut after climbing 0.32%. European protection shares continued marching greater, with Lubawa leaping 14% and Renk Group gaining 2.7%.

Optimism over potential Intel cut up
Intel shares surged 16.1% on Tuesday after information broke that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing are reportedly eyeing offers that might break up the U.S. chipmaker. After having fun with its finest day since March 2020, Intel’s inventory closed at $27.39. With Tuesday’s positive aspects, its shares are up practically 31% this 12 months following a 60% hunch in 2024. Broadcom shares dipped 1.9%, whereas TSMC dipped lower than 0.6%.

Strict merger guidelines left intact
The Trump administration on Tuesday mentioned it would maintain utilizing strict pointers, adopted throughout former U.S. President Joe Biden’s time period, to assessment proposed company mergers. The choice is a victory for the anticorporate wing of the Trump administration, embodied by Vice President JD Vance, however a blow to Wall Avenue, which had been anticipating extra offers beneath a loosened framework for evaluating proposed mergers.

Musk’s xAI launches Grok 3
Elon Musk’s xAI on Tuesday introduced its newest synthetic intelligence mannequin, Grok 3, claiming it could actually outperform choices from OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek primarily based on early testing. The xAI group additionally mentioned it was launching a brand new product referred to as “Deep Search,” which might act as a “subsequent era search engine.” 

U.S. meets Russia in Saudi Arabia
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday morning in Saudi Arabia, the primary formal sit-down assembly between prime U.S. and Russian diplomats since January 2022. Either side emphasised that talks had been preliminary. On the identical day, U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned that Ukraine “ought to by no means have began it,” referring to Russia’s invasion of the nation in 2022.

[PRO] Divided over Europe’s outperformance of U.S.
The Stoxx 600 index rose 6.3% in January, far greater than the two.7% achieve of the S&P 500. The previous’s outperformance has endured into February, rising greater than the U.S. broad-based index month so far. Whereas some analysts are optimistic the development can endure, others warn that “European traders could must take pleasure in it whereas it lasts” due to one basic driver of markets

Huawei launches $3,660 trifold telephone exterior of China because it charts worldwide comeback

Huawei launched the Mate XT on Tuesday, pricing it at 3,499 euros ($3,660). The handset was launched in China final 12 months and drew world intrigue for being the first-ever trifold telephone. Regular foldable units might be folded as soon as in half, both vertically or horizontally. The Mate XT has two factors at which it could actually fold and might show content material on a single, double or triple display.

Huawei was as soon as the largest smartphone participant on this planet. U.S. sanctions starting in 2019 reduce off Huawei’s entry to advance chips and Google’s Android working system, inflicting its market share to plunge. Nonetheless, in China, Huawei’s market share grew to 17% in 2024 from 12% the 12 months earlier than, based on the IDC. Huawei is hoping to carry that momentum to its abroad market.