Crypto News: Stocks near record

Good morning. SpaceX steps into the earnings spotlight. Primary voters head to the polls in five states. And China’s AI surge is putting Silicon Valley on notice. Listen to the day’s top stories.

— Hellmuth Tromm

Market Snapshot
S&P 500 Futures	7,639.25	+0.1%
Nasdaq 100 Futures	29,082.25	+0.7%
WTI Crude Oil Futures	$81.75	+1.8%
Market data as of 06:49 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays.	Your watchlist

Stocks are on the front foot. US futures rose as investors turn their focus to corporate earnings after weeks dominated by concerns over tech valuations and the Middle East. Palantir surged premarket after raising its forecasts on “otherworldly” commercial sales. Oil ticked higher after Donald Trump called his latest Iran offer a “last chance.”

A potential challenge for markets comes later today when SpaceX reports its first earnings as a public company following the blockbuster IPO that raised roughly $86 billion. Analysts will likely press Elon Musk for updates on SpaceX’s AI business, heavy spending, Starship and its consumer wireless ambitions, while also watching for clues about a possible tie-up with Tesla. AMD also reports, with investors looking for signs the chipmaker is extending its AI momentum after shares more than doubled this year.

On the currency front, the yen continued to unwind its intervention gains, with traders wondering whether the Japanese currency can strengthen beyond 155 per dollar. Stakes are high as Tokyo and Washington join forces to support the yen to a degree unseen in decades. Beyond buttressing the yen, the move may give Washington more leverage in trade negotiations. In bond markets, investors are increasingly favoring European debt over US Treasuries.

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It’s primary day in Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Missouri and Washington. Michigan’s Democratic Senate race will test whether the party’s progressive wing can sustain its momentum, with Black voters expected to play a pivotal role. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico edged ahead of Republican Ken Paxton in a poll, boosting Democratic hopes of flipping a pivotal Senate seat.

Deep Dive: China’s AI Blitz

China’s AI industry is flooding the market with increasingly capable models, rapidly closing the gap with Silicon Valley. The wave of launches is creating what some investors call a “death zone” for rivals that lack either cutting-edge technology or market-breaking pricing.

Alibaba’s Qwen3.8-Max and Moonshot’s Kimi K3 have matched top American models, while ByteDance, DeepSeek and others are delivering breakthroughs in video, pricing, reasoning and coding.
The rapid advances are deepening US-China tech friction before a planned summit, as both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have made AI leadership a national priority.
The US has threatened sanctions over alleged intellectual property theft, while China has vowed to respond.
New limits on foreign-made robots and power inverters, industries dominated by China, have widened the dispute into sectors Beijing considers central to advance manufacturing and economic growth.
For OpenAI and Anthropic, whose trillion-dollar ambitions depend on premium pricing, China’s low-cost AI offensive is becoming the biggest threat yet.

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Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

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