AI Powers Stock Records, Iran Deal Remains Elusive, More
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Global stocks are hitting fresh record highs this morning as AI enthusiasm continues to push equities higher. The MSCI All Country World Index is extending its gains while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is on pace for its best quarter ever. The index with tracks US chip stocks has risen by almost 70% in just the past two months. Speaking in the last few hours at a trade show in Taiwan, NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang joked that the upward trajectory of AI on a chart behind him on stage was similar to the surge in value of chip stocks.
tokens are now profitable units of revenues. Because it is now profitable, the AI companies want to build a lot more tokens, generate a lot more tokens, build more AI factories, which is the reason why compute demand here in Taiwan has skyrocketed. It is precisely the reason why all of you are so busy and your businesses are doing so well. In fact, that looks like some of your stock price.
That's the video of Jensen Huang. He was speaking as AI bulls see a boom driven by structural changes that are transforming the notoriously cyclical semiconductor industry. However, bears see an overheated market captivated by the latest shiny object. And the stakes couldn't be higher. Almost 80% of the S&P 500's 11% gain this year has come from just 10 companies. All are technology firms and seven are semiconductor stocks.
Well, now to the Middle East. The US and Iran traded messages over the weekend seeking changes to a draft agreement that would extend a ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz. However, it was unclear whether the sides were making much progress. The Iranian semi-official Tasnim News Agency said on Sunday that both sides continued to propose amendments... It also noted that the US and Iran could ultimately reject the changes. Meanwhile, Israel expanded its ground assault in Lebanon, shattering a brittle truce with its northern neighbour. The Israel Defence Forces said in a statement that they'd crossed the Litani River and are near one of the biggest cities in South Lebanon.
The European Union is considering imposing a temporary freeze to its price cap on Russian oil. The current threshold is just over $44 a barrel and is due to rise to around $65 in July.
How is AI impacting global stock markets and semiconductor industries?
Bloomberg's Freddie Fulston has more.
The EU currently caps the price of Russian oil at 15% below the average market rate. But soaring costs due to the Iran war would have seen that cap rise significantly next month. Bloomberg has learned that EU officials are now considering freezing the cap at its current level, limiting the windfall Russia can pocket from the current high prices. The move would be part of the EU's latest sanctions package. Other measures would look to target the banks, oil traders, refineries and crypto operators in third countries, which Moscow uses to circumvent restrictions. The bloc plans to formally propose the package in early June. In London, Freddie Fulston, Bloomberg Radio.
Germany's chief of defence says that Europe is rushing to rearm but needs time and clarity from the United States. Carsten Breuer was responding to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's criticism of Europe in a speech at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore. Here's what Brouwer told Bloomberg.
If they're taking capabilities out, we have to mitigate those capabilities. So it has to be clear, it has to be transparent, and there has to be a roadmap in what timeframe we have to do. So this is a kind of a little bit of a European dilemma. What we are facing, we have all understood that we have to take care of our security on our own, that we have to take over more responsibility, but we can't build up the needed capabilities that fast like it is necessary.
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