Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., speaks at the event “SoftBank World” held in Tokyo on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued via conference call that advances in artificial intelligence will lead to new jobs not yet imagined and that advances in robotics will help start a loop of “self-improvement.” Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Hello, my name is Leonie Kidd and I’m from London. Welcome to today’s Daily Open Newsletter.
Chatting with a colleague in a London newsroom this Monday morning, we mentioned that it appears there are two parallel markets.
An AI-powered bull market is driving stocks to record highs from Wall Street to Japan, as investment opportunities across the AI stack are scrutinized.
On the flip side, there is also a world of geopolitical risks, and with developments taking place far from Silicon Valley, assets such as crude oil continue to fluctuate from session to session and remain volatile.
Every day, these market forces compete for the top spot in investors’ minds, but which one do you think today?
What you need to know today
investment giant Softbank has become Japan’s most valuable company. Stocks rose throughout Asian trading hours on Monday, Nikkei Stock Average It exceeded 67,000 for the first time.
The group, led by CEO Masayoshi Son, has pledged 75 billion euros in AI infrastructure to France, its largest investment in Europe. He described the country as “Europe’s leading center for AI infrastructure.”
CNBC will have an exclusive interview with Masayoshi Son from Paris later this morning. Watch here on CNBC Pro.
Nvidia remains within the AI stack and is moving into PCs with new ARM-based chips for laptops from Microsoft, Dell, and HP. In his keynote at the Computex conference in Taiwan on Monday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced the new N1X processor, which is manufactured in collaboration with Nvidia. microsoft.
“Microsoft and Nvidia are reinventing the PC,” Huang said. “This is the first completely redesigned and reinvented PC series in 40 years.”
In the broader market, oil prices are rising due to the escalating fighting in Iran. U.S. Central Command said it carried out “self-defense” strikes against Iranian targets over the weekend, while Israel ordered its troops deep into Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday there was “no need to rush” a deal with Iran as the war enters its fourth month.
Last weekend, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and issued a stark warning to his fellow nations: “Allies who refuse to step up and take responsibility for our collective defense will face clear changes in the way we do business.” Read more about key quotes from that conference here.
Stock prices generally started on a positive note in June. In Asia-Pacific trading, South Korea’s Kospi hit a record high and European indexes are expected to open higher, while U.S. futures suggest Wall Street will open near record highs.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Berkshire Hathaway makes $6.8 billion housing bet on Taylor Morrison deal
Berkshire Hathaway agreed on Sunday to buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home in a $6.8 billion deal, deepening the conglomerate’s bet on the U.S. housing market after a long period of weakness.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based company will pay Taylor Morrison $72.50 per share in cash, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said in a statement. The offer represents a 24% premium to the homebuilder’s May 29 closing price and values the company, including debt, at about $8.5 billion.
The deal is one of the first major strategic deals under Greg Abel, who replaced Warren Buffett as CEO in early 2026. The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2026, will be relatively small by Berkshire’s standards, as Berkshire has nearly $400 billion in assets.
— Yun Lee
