Markets Poised for Calmer Session after $1 Trillion DeepSeek Rout
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NASDAQ futures are ticking higher, as is NVIDIA's share price in off-hours trading after yesterday's market rout inspired by the emergence of cost-efficient Chinese AI player DeepSeek. NVIDIA saw its stock fall 17% on Monday. Other AI stocks also witnessed big losses, as did nuclear power companies banking on electrifying the AI revolution.

The rebound suggested investors were rethinking some of the most pessimistic assumptions about how DeepSeek could hurt the investment case for stocks seen as big winners from AI. A Trump administration order freezing almost all foreign aid until a review of programs can be completed has prompted widespread confusion and left things like humanitarian programs, counterterrorism efforts, and weapons financing in sudden limbo.

The three-month pause has stunned U.S. officials and aid workers, who said interruption in the roughly $60 billion foreign aid budget for the year could severely damage vital programs globally and cost lives. At the same time, the White House has ordered executive departments and agencies to broadly pause federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs pending an administration review. That's according to a memo sent yesterday and reviewed by the journal.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the memo only paused financial assistance related to executive orders that President Trump signed during his first week in office or all current federal financial assistance programs. Asian stocks have ended the day broadly lower, European stocks are higher in midday trading, and U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open ahead of earnings from Starbucks later today.

And we've got a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.