Major US equity indices, from small caps to tech, hit fresh highs yesterday, spurred by strong corporate news – from semiconductors to banking deals. Political uncertainty in France and Japan lifted bond yields, weakened the yen and euro, and drove gold towards the historic USD 4,000 per ounce level, while oil rose on a modest OPEC+ output increase. Eirini Tsekeridou, Fixed Income Research, assesses the outlook for France following the surprise resignation of its prime minister. Manuel Villegas, Next Generation Research, sees the AI investment surge as a boom – not (yet) a bubble.