A. M. 
Global equity markets opened november with broad gains on monday, buoyed by renewed enthusiasm for investments in artificial intelligence and a groundbreaking trade deal between the United States and China that eased geopolitical tensions.
US stock futures pointed to a strong start to the new month, with S&P 500 futures advancing 0.4% and Nasdaq 100 futures rising 0.6%. The positive momentum built on a strong performance in October, where the S&P 500 posted its sixth consecutive monthly gain of 2.3%, marking its longest winning streak in four years.
AI earnings drive tech rally
The market boom was fueled by a series of stellar earnings reports from major tech companies, with artificial intelligence taking center stage. Amazon led the charge after reporting third-quarter results that significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations. The e-commerce giant posted revenue of $180.2 billion, up 13% year-on-year, while its AWS cloud computing division saw revenue increase 20.2% to $33 billion.
“We continue to see strong momentum and growth at Amazon as AI drives significant improvements in every corner of our business”, said CEO Andy Jassy. Amazon shares rose more than 13% in after-hours trading following the results.
Nvidia reached a historic milestone last week, becoming the first publicly traded company to achieve a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The AI chipmaker is up 50.8% this year, significantly outperforming the tech sector’s 29.6% gain. CEO Jensen Huang revealed that Nvidia has visibility on more than $500 billion in potential revenue from its Blackwell and Rubin product lines through 2026.
Trade tensions ease
Market optimism was bolstered by details of a landmark trade agreement between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, announced by the White House on saturday. The one-year agreement includes significant tariff reductions and commitments from both nations to reduce economic tensions.
Under the agreement, the US will reduce tariffs on Chinese imports related to fentanyl from 20% to 10%, lowering the overall tariff rate on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%. In return, China agreed to suspend new export controls on rare earth metals and end investigations into US semiconductor companies.
“We have a deal”, Trump confirmed to reporters. The agreement also includes China’s commitment to purchase US$12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans this season and US$25 million tons annually for three years.
Global markets respond positively
Asian markets closed higher on monday, with South Korea’s Kospi index soaring 2.8%, led by semiconductor manufacturers and technology companies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached new all-time highs, adding 2.1%, while Chinese stock markets posted modest gains despite some profit-taking in Hong Kong.
European markets also started the week on a positive note, with Germany’s DAX rising 1.12% and major European indices posting broad gains. The FTSE 100 reached new all-time highs, extending its winning streak.
The rally comes amid continued strong corporate earnings, with more than 80% of S&P 500 companies reporting quarterly results that exceeded expectations. Wall Street is projecting annual earnings growth for the S&P 500 of nearly 14% in the third quarter, five percentage points higher than estimates a month ago.
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