US stocks closed firmly higher on Monday, with all three major benchmarks advancing as a pullback in oil prices and Treasury yields boosted investor sentiment. The positive momentum was underscored by a sharp move in cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin briefly surging past the $87,000 mark.

The Dow Jones gained 366.18 points, or 0.71%, to close at 52,048.82. The S&P 500 climbed 114.20 points, or 1.49%, to 7,764.70, while the Nasdaq jumped 599.54 points, or 2.26%, to settle at 27,122.09. The Nasdaq 100 rose 838.18 points, or 2.83%, to 30,482.35, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced 4.29%, marking its best single-day performance since August 4. Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) surged 12%, and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) soared 11%, posting its largest one-day gain since April of last year. Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) climbed over 9%, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) rose 3.5%, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) gained 9%, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) advanced 3%, and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) jumped nearly 10%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 0.7%, with Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) gaining more than 2%.

European markets also finished strongly higher. Germany's DAX advanced 288.12 points, or 1.14%, to 25,584.56. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 82.71 points, or 0.78%, to 10,741.84. France's CAC 40 gained 73.92 points, or 0.92%, to 8,138.94. The Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 82.65 points, or 1.33%, to 6,318.85. Spain's IBEX 35 added 213.36 points, or 1.09%, to 19,727.16, and Italy's FTSE MIB rose 824.25 points, or 1.60%, to 52,369.50.

In Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI gained 1.65%, while India's SENSEX advanced 0.76%.

The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.21% to 100.430. At the close of New York trading, the euro traded at $1.1465, down from $1.1483 the prior session. The British pound slipped to $1.3369 from $1.3391. The dollar strengthened to 157.45 Japanese yen from 156.68, and rose to 1.4039 Canadian dollars from 1.3993. The greenback weakened against the Swiss franc to 0.8213 from 0.8221, and firmed to 9.8398 Swedish kronor from 9.8333.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin climbed more than 7% to break through the $87,000 level, last trading at $86,646.30. Ethereum rose over 4.8% to $2,767.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell $4.52, or 4.51%, to settle at $95.78 per barrel. Brent crude for November delivery dropped $3.53, or 3.4%, to $100.34 per barrel. Spot gold declined 0.79% to $4,343.71 per ounce, while spot silver was at $66.05 per ounce.

Fed's Musalem Signals Possible Further Rate Hikes to Curb Inflation

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem stated on Monday that the central bank may need to raise interest rates further to bring down inflation, citing strong demand and commodity price shocks that have extended beyond the oil sector. He emphasized that the Fed should act sooner rather than later. "Persistent demand and repeated supply pressures continue to amplify inflation risks," Musalem said. "If no further policy measures are taken, inflation in 18 months will likely be significantly above, rather than at, our 2% target. Policy must impose meaningful restraint on inflation so the Fed can reach its target within about a year and a half, allowing time for tightening to impact the economy." He added that "earlier, gradual policy tightening is more appropriate and less disruptive to the economy than larger, possibly sudden moves later." Musalem noted that inflation "is not a risk, it already exists," and even excluding oil and other supply-related factors, underlying inflation remains several percentage points above the Fed's target and "is moving in the wrong direction."

Bank of Canada Warns New US Tariffs Could Halve Q4 Growth to Below 1%

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said Monday that new US tariffs could drag Canada's fourth-quarter economic growth below 1%. Macklem noted that the central bank must weigh two factors when assessing interest rate policy: slower growth could push inflation down, but rising oil prices from Middle East conflict could push it higher. Canada's annual inflation rate is currently 3%, well above the central bank's 2% target, and could rise slightly if oil stays around $100 per barrel. The Canadian economy rebounded in the second quarter with annualized growth of 3.3%. After nearly 18 months of US tariff impacts, businesses and households had begun adjusting plans and resuming investment and spending. However, relations deteriorated further as trade talks broke down and the US imposed new tariffs. "The latest escalation could again cause businesses to delay investment and hiring decisions," Macklem said. If the new tariffs persist, Canada's fourth-quarter growth could roughly halve to below 1%.

Report: Samsung May Double HBM4 Production Capacity Next Year

Industry sources indicate that Samsung plans to increase outsourced cleaning volume for glass carriers in the HBM process from 20,000 wafers per month this year to 50,000 per month next year, a fivefold increase from 10,000 per month last year. Glass carriers are support structures temporarily attached to the bottom of DRAM wafers during HBM manufacturing, preventing bending or cracking during etching and drilling. Since glass carriers are reusable, actual usage depends on input methods and process yields, but a 2.5x increase in cleaning demand suggests a high probability that Samsung's HBM4 series output will at least double next year. Samsung is actively preparing to expand HBM4 and HBM4E production capacity, both of which feature 12-layer or higher stacking architectures.

Paramount Reaches Settlement with US States, Paving Way for Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

Paramount Skydance reached a settlement Monday with California and 11 other states that had sued to block its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD), clearing the way for one of the largest media mergers in history. California's Attorney General said at a press conference that the settlement includes bringing more film production back to the US, with at least $300 million in additional annual domestic production spending, and a commitment to gradually increase annual film releases after the deal closes. The agreement requires the company to produce 30 films annually in the first two years and 32 annually in the following three years, with at least four independent films each year and at least 20% of releases designated as blockbuster films.

OpenAI Developing AI Agent Features to Counter Grok Bot and Meta's Personal AI Assistant

As competitors like SpaceX (SPCX) and Meta roll out personal AI agents capable of handling multi-step tasks, OpenAI is facing pressure to catch up. Sources say OpenAI is developing new features to more directly compete with SpaceX's recently launched Grok Bot. The product aims to help users create persistent AI "teams of assistants" that can handle daily tasks in the background, manage software, and collaborate. Another source indicated that OpenAI is also discussing developing a personal AI assistant to counter Meta's similar product. In developing these products, OpenAI may repackage and rename its existing "agent" technology, including features already applied in Codex and ChatGPT. Some OpenAI users already connect the app to their email, calendar, and other applications, enabling automated meeting scheduling, business communication via email, and other tasks that can run for days.

Google Enters Premium Laptop Market with $899 Googlebook

Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL, NASDAQ: GOOG) launched a new laptop product line called Googlebook, starting at $899, marking its entry into the premium laptop market. The product targets Android phone users and programmers. Google aims to make its Gemini AI assistant a core component of the laptop experience, building a laptop ecosystem for high-end Android phone users similar to the synergy between Apple's MacBook and iPhone. The company seeks to create a tighter device ecosystem. The Googlebook's starting price is lower than the $1,299 MacBook Air, but Google noted the product is not intended to replace Chromebooks or serve as a general-purpose laptop for all users.