WS #7089

The dominant theme remains the Iran crisis, which is ESCALATING. Trump has rejected Iran's peace proposals and described the ceasefire as on 'life support,' driving copper to near-record highs and keeping oil elevated. This is corroborated by Bloomberg and multiple sources. Separately, former World Bank chief David Malpass called on China to stop hoarding food and fertilizer to ease the global supply crisis caused by the Iran war, adding pressure on agricultural commodity prices. On the tech front, Chinese AI firms are pushing beyond NVIDIA as DeepSeek turns to Huawei, signaling a potential shift in the AI chip landscape that could weigh on NVDA. The Trump-Xi summit is imminent (May 13-15), with Xi poised to press Trump on Taiwan arms sales, adding geopolitical risk. Bitcoin is holding above $80,000 with a firmer floor, but traders remain cautious. The Israel death penalty law for October 7 attackers is a domestic political development with limited direct market impact.