Morning Bid: Deals and delays

Economic Indicators - U.S. manufacturing has rebounded sharply, with the ISM survey indicating factory activity expanded in January for the first time in a year, impacting macroeconomic and interest rate expectations [1] Market Performance - U.S. equities remained stable amid a commodities selloff, with major Wall Street indexes closing higher, particularly driven by tech and AI companies, such as Alphabet and Amazon, which rose by 1.9% and 1.5% respectively [3] - European equities also saw gains, with the pan-European STOXX 600 closing 1% higher, reaching a new record high, supported by strong performances in financial and healthcare sectors [4] Corporate Developments - Elon Musk announced that SpaceX has acquired his AI startup xAI, which may enhance SpaceX's expansion into the data center business and strengthen its position in the AI sector [4] - Upcoming earnings reports from AMD, Supermicro Computer, PepsiCo, and Pfizer are anticipated to provide insights into the performance of the AI economy and consumer sectors [5] Commodities Market - Precious metals, particularly gold, experienced a significant surge of over 5%, marking its largest one-day gain since 2008, despite recent volatility [7] - Oil prices continued to decline as geopolitical risks eased, particularly due to potential de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions, with oil falling more than 4% on Monday [8]