🌐 Global Trade Tensions Escalate

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has declared that the rules-based global trade system, established post-World War II, has been severely disrupted by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariff policies. Bailey emphasized significant consequences for global growth and economic activity due to trade system fragmentation. The OECD also downgraded global economic growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026 to 2.9%, citing Trump’s tariffs, policy uncertainty, and weakening demand, especially in the U.S. and China. theguardian.com+1en.wikipedia.org+1

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📈 Market Snapshot

Despite trade tensions, U.S. stock markets showed resilience. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, as each of the indexes rebounded from earlier losses to close at their highs for the session. Stocks had closed little changed on Friday but posted big gains for the month of May. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turned in their best monthly performances since November 2023, as concerns about tariffs eased, corporate earnings reports were generally strong, and data continued to show that the economy remains on solid footing. investopedia.com

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🤖 Tech & AI Developments

• Snowflake plans to acquire Crunchy Data to enhance its ability to help enterprises build and deploy AI agents and applications. pymnts.com
• Applied Digital‘s stock surged following a landmark multi-billion-dollar AI datacenter agreement with CoreWeave, signaling a major strategic expansion. entrepreneur.com

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🏢 Corporate Moves

• Aramark has secured new dining services contracts, expanding its presence in collegiate hospitality. aramark.com
• Douglas Elliman debuts Elliman International, expanding its luxury real estate services to global markets including Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. libn.com

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📊 Financial Highlights

• Citi Trends announced its first-quarter fiscal 2025 results, reflecting its performance in the off-price retail sector. finance.yahoo.com
• PNC Financial Services Group has announced details for its upcoming second-quarter conference call, where it will discuss financial results and outlook. pnc.mediaroom.com