WS #5877

The market narrative remains dominated by the AI infrastructure race and geopolitical developments. Google announced a massive $40B investment in Anthropic ($10B immediate, $30B contingent), following Amazon's $5B commitment, intensifying the AI arms race. This is bullish for AI-related tech stocks (GOOGL, AMZN, NVDA) and reinforces the AI capex cycle. Meanwhile, Intel surged ~24% after reporting a surprise profit of $0.29 EPS vs $0.016 expected, with revenue of $13.6B beating $12.41B, driven by AI chip demand. This lifted the entire semiconductor sector (AMD, QCOM, NVDA) and pushed the Nasdaq to a record close (+1.7%). On the geopolitical front, Iran's foreign ministry stated no meeting is planned with the US, contradicting earlier hopes for talks. However, the US is sending envoys Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan, and Iran's FM Araghchi is traveling to Pakistan, Oman, and Russia, keeping diplomatic channels open. The US blockade of Iranian ports and Strait of Hormuz tensions continue, with Brent oil above $106. The DOJ announced it is readopting the firing squad as a means of execution, a non-market story. The S&P 500 hit another record high, up 0.8% to 7165, driven by tech. The eurozone PMI contraction and S&P downgrade of Belgium (from AA to AA-) are negative for European equities but have limited US impact. The DOJ closed its investigation into Fed Chair Powell, removing a political overhang. Overall, the signal is bullish for US tech/semiconductors, with geopolitical risks contained but not resolved.