Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
Here are two statements that, on the surface, may appear contradictory:
- The U.S. labor market is weakening, with the number of jobs in June actually decreasing.
- The U.S. stock market is hitting all-time highs, with the Nasdaq Compositelatest index to do so on Monday.
Why do those premises sit together uneasily?
Well, a slowdown in jobs growth implies a faltering economy, which has generally been bad for stocks. When people lose their jobs — or simply feel like they can’t afford to buy goods and services — corporate revenue falls. And those numbers are what, fundamentally, stock prices are based on.
But major indexes closed higher Monday, despite news of a weaker-than-expected jobs market in August. Of course, the prospect of rate cuts boosted investor sentiment.
A closer look at the individual movements of stocks, however, might provide another explanation for that. Technology firms — and artificial intelligence companies such as BroadcomNvidia
Investors, then, might have also shrugged off the August jobs report because they could be aware that the advent of AI will bring with it not just job losses, but also the end of the career ladder. Salesforce last week revealed it had cut 4,000 jobs because of AI, while Klarna in May said AI helped the company shrink its workforce by about 40%.
So, the implication — but a highly speculative and far-fetched one! — is that job losses could, in some ways, indicate that AI is working as intended — good for the companies, not so much for job seekers.
What you need to know today
The Nasdaq Composite closes at a record high. On Monday, the tech-heavy index rose 0.45%, alongside gains in the S&P 500Dow Jones Industrial AverageStoxx 600 gains in retail stocks.
Refunds could hit $1 trillion if tariffs deemed illegal. That figure, provided by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, included projections until June 2026, which is the typical time frame for a decision by the Supreme Court.
China’s Xpeng eyes global launch of its Mona brand. CEO He Xiaopeng told CNBC that Mona-branded cars will launch in Europe next year. Prices of Mona vehicles in China start at just 119,000 Chinese yuan ($16,690).
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou loses no-confidence vote. That means Bayrou’s centrist minority government has been ousted — less than a year after the previous administration also collapsed.
[PRO] Morgan Stanley thinks this stock has nearly 70% upside. The Wall Street bank on Monday initiated research coverage on a financial exchange which launched an initial public offering last year — and assigned it an “outperform” rating.
And finally…
Private equity giants raid Wall Street as fundraising talent wars heat up
Private equity recruitment accelerated in the first half of 2025, led by fundraising, investor relations and marketing roles, according to a recent report from Magellan Advisory Partners. Broader investment hiring also rebounded after two years of freeze or slowdown.
This hiring spree comes after the private equity sector remained stuck in a holding pattern in recent years, as rising interest rates and market volatility put the brakes on dealmaking. Fund managers were left with an expanding pipeline of companies they couldn’t sell, with exits postponed.
— Lee Ying Shan
International: Top News And Analysis
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