Stocks zoom on trade and inflation relief

Trade and inflation relief are driving world stock markets sharply higher on Monday, as we begin a packed week of big central bank meetings and heavyweight tech earnings.

I’ll get into all the market-moving news below.

Please also check out my column today in which I take a look at how increasingly fragmented global trade and politics could make the repatriation of global capital a key theme in the coming years.

TODAY’S MARKET MINUTE

* Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, U.S. officials said.

* Argentine President Javier Milei’s party cruised to victory in midterm legislative elections as voters handed him a mandate to keep pushing through his radical overhaul of the economy despite widespread discontent with his deep austerity measures.

* China’s state-owned defense giant Norinco in February unveiled a military vehicle capable of autonomously conducting combat-support operations at 30 mph (50 kph). It was powered by DeepSeek, the company whose artificial intelligence model is the pride of China’s tech sector.

* A common view in the crude oil market is that Western sanctions against Russia’s exports are fairly pointless as the market quickly devises ways to keep cargoes flowing. But ROI Asia Commodities Columnist Clyde Russell argues that it all depends on what Western powers want to achieve.

* Copper has a long history of mine supply disruption, but this year is proving to be a particularly troubled one for a sector that has been racing to keep up with smelter demand. Read the latest from ROI Metals Columnist Andy Home.

Top Chinese and U.S. officials on Sunday hashed out a framework for a trade deal for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week, one aimed at pausing steeper U.S. tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports from November 1, and he noted that he expected China to delay rare earth export curbs too.

U.S. stock indexes clocked record closing highs on Friday, with the biggest weekly gains since August after a slightly softer-than-feared September U.S. inflation readout baked in expectations for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut on Wednesday.

Wall Street index futures surged another 1% ahead of Monday’s bell, with Japan and South Korea’s equity benchmarks up more than 2% each and Chinese stock indexes up more than 1% to more than 10-year highs. China’s offshore yuan also jumped to a six-week high, guided by a People’s Bank of China reference rate that was at its strongest since October last year.