US-China Trade Truce, Tech Earnings: Trump, Xi Meet, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet Results

US-China Relations Truce

• 🤝 President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the APEC summit, agreeing to cut related tariffs in half to 10%.
• 📈 China has agreed to suspend rare earth export restrictions for one year, and the U.S. will pause some reciprocal tariffs for the same period.
• 🚜 China also agreed to resume buying U.S. soybeans on a large scale.
• ⚠️ Xi Jinping cautioned against a "vicious cycle of retaliation" and emphasized long-term cooperation.

Nvidia Chip Discussions

• 🚫 Discussions regarding Nvidia's Blackwell chip and China's access to advanced semiconductors apparently did not occur during the meeting.
• 💬 Trump and Xi did discuss Nvidia's general access to China, with conversations to continue.

Tech Stock Market Reactions

• 📉 Microsoft shares fell 3% despite exceeding profit and revenue estimates, due to higher-than-expected spending on AI and cloud services.
• ☁️ Microsoft's Azure cloud unit showed a 39% revenue gain, with strong margins noted by analysts.
• 💰 Meta shares dropped over 8% due to projected increasing expenses and a one-time $15.9 billion tax charge, which is considered a non-cash accounting issue.
• 📈 Alphabet (Google) stock jumped 7% as sales surpassed expectations, driven by strong demand for its cloud and artificial intelligence services.
• 💰 Alphabet announced an increase in its capital expenditures for the year, projecting $91 to $93 billion.