Stock indexes rise on AI deal optimism

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 2.85 points, or 0.29%, to 996.06

Stock indexes mostly rose on Monday after news of AMD’s artificial intelligence chip-supply deal with OpenAI, while the yen and euro weakened against the dollar after Japan’s ruling party elected a new leader and France’s new government quit.

Bitcoin hit a record high as investors increasingly sought alternative assets and global uncertainty prevailed. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 2.05% at $125,295.33.

Crypto-related firms such as Coinbase also rose.

The euro was last down 0.26% at $1.171. New French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, barely 14 hours after appointing his cabinet.

The yen weakened after Japan’s ruling party picked conservative candidate.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 2.85 points, or 0.29%, to 996.06. The pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped 0.04%.

In Japan, Takaichi beat the more moderate Shinjiro Koizumi in the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote.

Short-dated Japanese government bond yields slipped to a two-week low as traders pared bets on when the Bank of Japan will resume raising interest rates.

There’s a little bit more focus on the back end of the curve now, just given that Takaichi is generally seen as a follower of Abenomics. The market expects a little bit more fiscal stimulus there, said Sarah Ying, head of FX strategy, FICC Strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

U.S. stock indexes ended mixed, with the Dow slightly lower as the U.S. government shutdown dragged on for a sixth day. The shutdown has postponed the release of economic indicators.

The market is extending its momentum bias. It’s shrugging off the government shutdown and, because of that, there’s a belief that perhaps the U.S. central bank is going to be more generous than the market previously expected, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 63.31 points, or 0.14%, to 46,694.97, the S&P 500 gained 24.49 points, or 0.36%, to 6,740.28 and the Nasdaq Composite added 161.16 points, or 0.71%, to 22,941.67.

Gold surged to an all-time high above $3,900 per ounce, helped in part by the economic and political uncertainty in the U.S., France and Japan. Spot gold was up 1.85% at $3,957.78 an ounce.