Daily summary: record Saudi investment in the U.S. fuels Wall Street rally 📄

Wall Street continues to climb, driven by today’s news of a major investment by Saudi Arabia in the United States. The total investment is expected to reach as much as $600 billion.

In the first part of the day, U.S. index futures experienced a slight pullback after yesterday’s strong gains. However, the release of April’s CPI report improved market sentiment and helped indices open higher. Risk appetite was further boosted by the aforementioned agreement with Saudi Arabia.

At the time of writing, the US500 is up 0.85%, the US100 gains 1.75%, and the US2000 rises 0.50%. Gains are clearly led by semiconductor stocks. The biggest movers include Nvidia, Broadcom, TSM, and AMD.

US500 is down only slightly for the year. The rebound from the April 7 low now totals over 22%.

The U.S. CPI report surprised markets by showing lower-than-expected price increases in April. Headline inflation came in at 2.3% y/y vs. 2.4% expected and 2.4% previously. Core inflation matched expectations at 2.8% y/y, the same as the previous month.

Following the data release, markets still expect the Fed to begin cutting rates in September, with a second and final cut in October.

Nvidia jumped as much as 6% today after news that the company will supply 18,000 Blackwell chips to Saudi Arabia. The data centers, however, will remain under U.S. oversight to prevent data leaks to China. The company’s market cap returned above $3 trillion.

The deal with Saudi Arabia also includes $142 billion in military hardware purchases.

Coinbase is up 21% today following news it will join the S&P 500 index on March 19. The company met the strict criteria of sustained profitability and high liquidity. Its inclusion marks the first time a cryptocurrency exchange enters such a prestigious index, triggering strong passive fund demand.

Crude oil continues to rally, with WTI up about 2.5% today. This is due to the Wall Street rally and Trump’s announcement that he aims to eliminate Iran’s oil exports, reducing global supply.

Cocoa touches $10,000 per ton today — the first time since February — on concerns about supply despite demand uncertainty.

Wheat prices are plunging in response to significantly higher U.S. and global production forecasts published in yesterday’s WASDE report.

After a brief correction yesterday, cryptocurrencies are back in the green. Demand today focuses on Ethereum (+4.40%) and smaller projects. Bitcoin rises 1.1% to $104,000.

Capital rotation is more visible today. Bitcoin dominance falls to 62.50% after setting a local high at 65.40% on May 7.