WS #7369

The data window is dominated by the ongoing Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, with BBC and Nikkei reporting that no sweeping trade deal was agreed on day one, though the White House described talks as 'highly productive'. Xi warned that mishandling Taiwan could lead to 'collision or conflict', a bearish signal for US-China relations. Separately, a Bloomberg report indicates Chinese vessels are exiting the Strait of Hormuz amid Beijing's opposition to Iranian tolls, a de-escalation in the oil blockade narrative that could pressure crude prices. In Japan, Finance Minister Katayama stated bond yields are rising globally and that G7 meetings will likely discuss the matter, while noting Japan has 1 trillion yen in reserve funds with no immediate need for an extra budget—this signals potential coordinated action on yields. Cathie Wood's ARK funds bought Cerebras Systems (CBRS) shares post-IPO, rotating out of TSM and AMD, a bullish signal for the AI chip IPO. Anthropic is raising a new round co-led by Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia, and Altimeter, per FT, underscoring continued AI investment momentum. The UK political crisis (Starmer facing leadership challenge) is noise for US markets. The prevailing macro narrative is STABLE with a slight de-escalation tilt on Strait of Hormuz, while US-China trade talks remain inconclusive.