- Oil rises 2% on US-EU trade deal, Trump’s shorter deadline for Russia
Oil prices rose 2% on Monday after a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union, and U.S. President
Donald Trump’s announcement that he would shorten the deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine or face
sanctions. Brent crude futures rose $1.60, or 2.34%, to close at $70.04 a barrel. U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude gained $1.55, or 2.38%, to settle at $66.71. Brent touched its highest price in 10 days after
Trump said he was reducing the 50-day deadline he gave Russia over its war in Ukraine to 10-12 days. The
framework trade pact with the EU announced on Sunday sets a 15% U.S. import tariff on most EU goods. Trump
also said the deal called for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy in the coming years. - S&P 500 closes little changed as EU trade deal fails to spark rally
The S&P 500 ended Monday near the flatline as traders looked past a trade deal announced between the U.S.
and the European Union, and a big week of market catalysts — including the Federal Reserve’s rate decision
— loomed. The broad market index added 0.02% and closed at 6,389.77. The S&P 500 hit a fresh record shortly
after the opening bell, but the index was just up 0.2% at its session high as traders’ enthusiasm for the deal
with the EU was muted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 64.36 points, or 0.14%, to end at 44,837.56.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.33% and settled at 21,178.58. The technology-heavy index also hit a record on
Monday. Investors are gearing up for a slew of data, including the busiest week of the earnings season so far,
the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and Friday’s jobs report. - Gold falls to near 3-week low as U.S.-EU deal boosts risk appetite ahead of Fed meeting
Gold fell to a near three-week low on Monday as a U.S.-European Union trade accord lifted the dollar and risk
sentiment, while investors awaited fresh cues on rate policy from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Spot
gold fell 0.6% to $3,316.03 per ounce after touching its lowest level since July 9 earlier in the session. U.S. gold
futures were down 0.7% at $3,313.2 per ounce. The U.S. dollar index rose to a one-week high, making bullion
more expensive for overseas buyers. - Treasury yields rise as investors look ahead to Fed’s interest rate decision
U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Monday as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve’s interest rate
decision later on Wednesday at the end of a two-day policy meeting, as well as a key inflation reading that will
shed light on the effect of tariffs on the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield was up three basis point to
4.416%. The 2-year yield was 1.3 basis points higher at 3.93%, while the 30-year yield climbed about three basis
point to 4.963%. Other economic data due out this week includes the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
for June on Tuesday, ADP’s private payrolls report on Wednesday, weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday and
July’s nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. - Trump gives Russia less than two weeks to reach peace deal with Ukraine
President Donald Trump on Monday reduced to less than two weeks his deadline for Russian
President Vladimir Putin to either reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face massive “secondary tariffs” on
Moscow’s trade partners. Trump previously gave Putin a 50-day deadline, which was set to expire in early
September. Trump said he likely will formally announce the revision in the deadline “tonight or tomorrow,”
adding that the U.S. would impose sanctions along with the secondary tariffs. “But there’s no reason to wait.
If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait?” Trump said. Trump imposed a 50-day deadline on Putin
on July 14. At that time, he said buyers of Russian exports would face tariffs “at about 100%” if there were
no ceasefire deal with Ukraine by September. Trump once avoided criticizing Putin. But in recent months, he
has made his frustrations known as Russia’s war on Ukraine has intensified. - Trade court won’t reinstate tariff exemption on low-value ‘de minimis’ shipments, for now
A federal trade court on Monday declined, for now, to block President Donald Trump’s decision to end a
longstanding tariff exemption for low-value packages shipped to the United States, known as de minimis
imports. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the scope of the lawsuit,
brought by auto parts retailer Detroit Axle, is already covered by another ongoing case challenging many of
Trump’s tariffs. The court denied Detroit Axle’s bid for a preliminary injunction and stayed its case, pending
the outcome of the broader challenge to Trump’s tariffs in V.O.S. Detroit Axle sued the Trump administration
in mid-May, challenging Trump’s executive orders rescinding de minimis exemptions, which allow shipments
valued below $800 to enter the U.S. duty free. The loophole has been a boon for Chinese budget retailers like
Shein and Temu. - China’s latest AI model claims to be even cheaper to use than DeepSeek
Chinese companies are making smarter artificial intelligence models that are increasingly cheaper to use,
echoing key aspects of DeepSeek’s market-shaking breakthrough. Startup Z.ai, formerly known as Zhipu,
announced Monday that its new GLM-4.5 AI model would cost less than DeepSeek to use. In contrast to the
logic underlying existing AI models, Z.ai said its new GLM-4.5 is built on what’s known as “agentic” AI, meaning
that the model automatically breaks down a task into sub-tasks in order to complete it more accurately. The
new model is also open sourced, meaning it is free for developers to download and use. At about half the size
of DeepSeek’s model, GLM-4.5 only needs eight Nvidia H20 chips to operate. - Donald Trump freezes export controls to secure trade deal with China
The US has frozen restrictions on technology exports to China to avoid hurting trade talks with Beijing and help
President Donald Trump secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping this year, according to people familiar with
the matter. The commerce department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which runs export controls, has been
told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, according to eight people, including current and former
US officials. US and Chinese officials will meet in Stockholm on Monday for a third round of trade talks following
previous meetings in Geneva and London. - Trump: Global baseline tariff will likely be 15% to 20%
President Donald Trump said Monday that he will likely implement a blanket tariff between 15% and 20% on
imports to the United States from countries that have not negotiated separate trade agreements. The figures
are significant because they represent an increase from the 10% baseline tariff Trump announced in April of
this year. It also could take a toll on smaller countries hoping that the tariff rate would be closer to 10%.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested earlier this month that smaller nations, including “the Latin
American countries, the Caribbean countries, many countries in Africa,” would have a baseline tariff of 10%.
Trump’s comments come as scores of countries have not negotiated trade deals with the United States, days
before his Aug. 1 tariff deadline. - Huawei reclaims No. 1 smartphone spot in China — and Apple returns to growth
Huawei reclaimed the top spot in China’s smartphone market in the second quarter of the year,
while Apple returned to growth in the country — one of its most critical markets. Huawei shipped 12.2 million
smartphones in China in the three months ended June, a rise of 15% year on year — equating to 18% market
share. It’s the first time Huawei has been the biggest player by market share in China since the first quarter of Apple, meanwhile, shipped 10.1 million smartphones in the quarter in China, up 4% year on year and
ranking fifth. It is the first time Apple has recorded growth in China since the fourth quarter of 2023. - Warner Bros. Discovery announces post-split companies will be ‘Warner Bros.’ and ‘Discovery Global’
Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday announced the corporate names and leadership teams of its two future
businesses as the company prepares to split in mid-2026. Its streaming and studios division will be called
“Warner Bros.” and its global networks segment will be named “Discovery Global.” Warner Bros. will house its
movie properties, including DC Studios and its streaming service HBO Max. Meanwhile, Discovery Global will
include its entertainment, sports and news networks, including CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., Discovery, the
Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report. The company announced the split last month as WBD tries
to navigate an industry-wide shift in consumers’ viewing habits from traditional cable to streaming. - Freeport-McMoran stock falls amid Chile’s copper tariff negotiations
Freeport-McMoran stock fell as much as 5% Monday before paring the decline to 3% as Chile’s Finance Minister
expressed optimism about securing an exception to potential U.S. copper tariffs. Chilean Finance Minister
Mario Marcel indicated during a Radio Duna interview that he expects copper to be excluded from U.S. tariff
plans during ongoing negotiations in Washington. Marcel noted that similar exceptions have been made for
raw materials in other trade agreements, citing precedents with the United Kingdom regarding steel and
Indonesia concerning copper. The potential 50% tariff on copper imports to the United States has created
uncertainty for major producers like Freeport-McMoran, which operates significant copper mining assets
globally. - Nike shares rise after JPM upgrade on improving retail demand, margin outlook
Shares of Nike rose about 2% on Monday after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight saying it sees signs
of recovery in inventory levels, retailer demand, and profit margins. The upgrade follows meetings with Nike
executives and a review of the company’s annual regulatory filing. Nike expects to restore balance between
inventory and sales by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2026, after taking about $500 million in charges
to clear unsold merchandise in the second half of fiscal 2025. Retailers are also placing more orders for
upcoming seasons, especially in North America and Europe, suggesting underlying demand may be improving.
The company has launched new products in running and basketball, which have shown early signs of traction.
Margins, which were hit by promotions and excess stock, are expected to recover gradually. - Alibaba to launch AI-powered glasses creating a Chinese rival to Meta
Alibaba on Monday unveiled a pair of smart glasses powered by its artificial intelligence models, marking the
Chinese firm’s first foray into the product category. The e-commerce giant said the Quark AI Glasses will be
launched in China by the end of 2025 with hardware powered by the firm’s Qwen large language model and
its advanced AI assistant called Quark. The Hangzhou, headquartered company is one of the leaders in China’s
AI space, aggressively launching new models with capabilities that compete with Western counterparts like
OpenAI. Many tech companies see wearables, specifically glasses, as the next frontier in computing alongside
the smartphone. Quark, which was updated this year, is currently available as an app in China. Alibaba is
stepping into the hardware game as a way to distribute the app more widely.
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