Five things you need to know

• European stocks rose, following strong gains across Asian markets as results from China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. fueled a fresh wave of optimism over artificial intelligence. Gold slipped from a record and the dollar ticked higher.
• The US signaled sanctions relief for Russia could be on the table as President Donald Trump rushes toward a deal to end the three-year conflict in Ukraine. 
• Nissan shares jumped 9.5% after the Financial Times reported a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans for Tesla to invest in the struggling carmaker. Nissan declined to comment, while Tesla didn’t reply to a request for comment.
• Business activity in the euro area hardly grew again in February, reinforcing fears that the bloc remains mired in stagnation. The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.0476 as investors added to bets that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates. 
• Polls going into Sunday’s German election show conservative Friedrich Merz and his bloc with about 30% of vote, with the far-right Alternative for Germany in second at about 20%. The polls have barely budged during the campaign. Our trader guide to the vote is here.

China’s tech-stock revival

One of the biggest market surprises of 2025 has been the comeback of Chinese technology. It’s a reminder of the opportunity that often lurks for anyone willing to buy what everyone else is selling.

The Hang Seng Tech Index, tracking Chinese stocks traded in Hong Kong, surged 6.5% today to the highest since early 2022. It’s up a remarkable 31% this year.

Alibaba led today’s gains, rallying 15% after the e-commerce giant reported sales that beat estimates. Bilibili and Lenovo also climbed on better-than-expected results. On the mainland, AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies rose by the daily limit of 20%.

This is a sector investors had all but given up on in recent years because of China’s regulatory crackdown, stumbling economy and tensions with the US. About three-quarters of the Hang Seng Tech Index’s value was wiped out from the 2021 peak through the bottom in October 2022. 

Then in September, investors began to give Chinese tech stocks a fresh look as the government unveiled a string of economic, financial and market-support measures to reinvigorate confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. 

The rally faded a bit, only to re-ignite in mid-January. Local AI startup DeepSeek’s breakthrough prompted investors to re-evaluate the nation’s leading internet companies. More recently, President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Alibaba founder Jack Ma and other executives encouraged the view that Beijing is taking a more conciliatory approach to the industry.

“There has been a real shift in sentiment around China tech,’’ said Kévin Net, head of Asian equities at la Financière de l’Echiquier in Paris. “DeepSeek has been a catalyst, but we’ve had other interesting news. It has been a real eye opener, that China is actually not that far behind in its technology roadmap.” —Phil Serafino, Henry Ren and Lin Zhu

On the move

• Rivian slips 5% in premarket trading. The electric-vehicle maker issued a downbeat forecast for deliveries, reflecting regulatory policies under Trump that could weigh on sales.
• Block falls 7.8% after the digital-payments company gave a 2025 profit outlook slightly below what Wall Street expected. 
• Akamai drops 9.2% after the infrastructure software company gave an outlook that is weaker than expected, spurring Piper Sandler to downgrade the stock. —Subrat Patnaik

Mar-a-Lago accord?

 It sounds too radical to even warrant a second thought: That President Donald Trump could force some of the US’s foreign creditors to swap their Treasuries into ultra long-term bonds to ease the country’s debt burden.

And yet, that’s what Jim Bianco corralled his clients to discuss yesterday after rumors of a so-called Mar-a-Lago Accord began making the rounds.

To be clear, Bianco doesn’t see it happening anytime soon, if ever. But in some ways that’s beside the point. Trump, he said, could upend the entire global financial order over the next four years, and Wall Street needs to be prepared.

The idea of dramatically restructuring America’s debt load is part of the Trump team’s agenda to revamp global trade via tariffs, weaken the dollar and ultimately reduce borrowing costs, all with the goal of putting US industry on more even footing with the rest of the world, said Bianco, founder of Bianco Research.

“You have to start thinking big and you have to start thinking bold about what is going on here,” Bianco told listeners during the roughly hour-long webinar. “The Mar-a-Lago Accord is not actually a thing, it’s a concept.  It is a plan to basically remake some of the financial system.” —Liz Capo McCormick

Nvidia’s bounce

Nvidia shares have clawed back most of their losses since investor fears surrounding DeepSeek’s AI claims fueled a historic rout last month. The stock is up about 4% this year. 

Homebuilder stocks under pressure

Investors are ditching US homebuilder stocks at a record pace as elevated mortgage rates crush demand and the threat of rising lumber costs due to tariffs snuff out any hope for profit growth.

Blows to the sector have come in quick succession. First, data on Tuesday showed confidence among US homebuilders dropped in February to a five-month low. The next day, investors learned that US housing starts slowed in January. And luxury builder Toll Brothers also reported weak earnings.

Homebuilders are the second-worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Index since Donald Trump’s election win, sinking 24%. The weakness follows two years of solid gains when the homebuilders gained 70% compared to 53% for the S&P 500. 

“If you are going to trade, I would not mess around in this sector,” said Paul Nolte, market strategist and senior wealth manager at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management. —Esha Dey

Word from Wall Street

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