US tech stocks recover; France’s CAC 40 tumbles amid local unrest

Stocks on Wall Street started the week in a positive mood, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallying as investors warmed to artificial intelligence-linked stocks ahead of Meta Platforms’ earnings later this week and as CoreWeave was upgraded by Goldman Sachs analysts.

European markets sank, with French government bond yields rising amid the heightened unrest in the continent’s second-biggest economy, with President Emmanuel Macron’s government asking some local authorities to impose curfews.

Oil prices were back on the rise, paring earlier declines as traders questioned whether US President Donald Trump’s waiver on some Russian sanctions would help increase energy supply, and as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting with his American and Chinese counterparts to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.

And Australian futures are pointing to a soft start to the day for the ASX, with mining giant BHP scheduled to report its quarterly earnings, while on this side of the Tasman, Meridian Energy, Genesis Energy and Property for Industry hold their annual meetings today.

Downs and ups

Stocks on Wall Street recovered from their sharp Friday selloff, with the Nasdaq up 1.2% in late trading as fears over the massive AI infrastructure spend eased. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was marginally higher, with Amazon, International Business Machines and Nvidia at the top of the leaderboard.

“The headline gains disguise a weaker broader market, with roughly 70% of S&P 500 stocks declining during the session,” Moomoo market strategy consultant Greg Boland said in a note. “The latest move looks more like a selective recovery after last week’s technology sell-off than an all-clear for investors.”

Neocloud AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave reversed earlier gains after Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded the firm to a ‘buy’ from a ‘neutral’ rating, saying the recent pullback was a buying opportunity.

Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs jumped 16% after it forecast 2027 profit to be its highest since 2021, with a tight steel supply driving up prices.

European markets declined, with the UK’s FTSE 100 falling 1.1%, Germany’s DAX down 1.2% and France’s CAC 40 sliding 1.1%.

The yield on French 10-year government bonds jumped 15 basis points to 4.93% after widespread unrest over the weekend prompted President Macron’s government to urge some local authorities to impose curfews. Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu ruled out a blanket curfew in Paris, but not a state of emergency, while Marseille banned gatherings and demonstrations.

About 2,400 people were arrested and one protester died on Saturday from a cardiac arrest, while almost 1,000 officers were injured.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported the Bank of England is investigating a complaint that Barclays traders misrepresented illiquid private credit loans.

Finding new energy

Brent crude oil futures rose 0.4% to US$110.33 at 7am in Auckland, paring earlier losses, as traders second-guessed whether US President Trump’s waiver on some Russian sanctions would increase energy supply.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported Russian President Putin proposed he, Trump and China’s Xi Jinping meet next month to attempt to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, without involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In AI news, Amazon introduced a new tool aimed at challenging Nvidia’s dominance in the AI computing market, while Bloomberg reported neocloud Nscale was facing a pushback on valuation for its upcoming initial public offering.

Elon Musk pledged to distribute a share of SpaceX to each child in the US next year. Separately, his biography was updated to include chief executive of Neuralink.

Anthropic said it planned to put 5% of its shares into a new public benefit fund to let it make donations for the public good, including AI’s impact on the job market.

And Nikkei Asia reported Japan would set up a system to certify security of data centres and cloud services, while China’s DeepSeek started offering a new model it said surpasses US tools at a cheaper cost.

Australian futures are pointing to a 0.8% decline for the S&P/ASX 200 index when trading opens across the Tasman, with BHP’s quarterly result the key event. Challenger, which attracted a takeover bid from Japanese insurer Daiichi Life yesterday, is also due to report.

Meanwhile, Australian independent federal MP Helen Haines was badly injured yesterday after being struck by a car in what police are investigating as a targeted attack. Prime minister Anthony Albanese said it appeared to be a deliberate act.

The New Zealand dollar traded at 56.64 US cents at 7am from 56.56 cents yesterday, with no major data scheduled for today. Statistics New Zealand’s September quarter inflation figures on Thursday are the main local data due this week.

The latest season of annual meetings is about to kick off, with Meridian, Genesis, PFI and Rua Bioscience expected to update shareholders on their outlooks today.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Julien Doclot on Unsplash.