WS #7258

The dominant signal remains the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, which is now in its second day with leaders touring the Temple of Heaven. The tone remains optimistic, with Trump calling China 'beautiful' and both sides emphasizing collaboration. However, the Taiwan warning from Xi (reported previously) continues to hang over markets, contributing to Bitcoin remaining below $80,000 and copper retreating from record highs. A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine (675 drones, 56 missiles) caused a building collapse in Kyiv with residents trapped, and struck ports and railway infrastructure in Odesa. This escalation in Ukraine is a new development that could add to geopolitical risk premiums. In corporate news, Honda reported its first annual loss (GAAP EPS -¥106.06) but provided a FY27 outlook and plans to expand motorcycle production in India. Cerebras Systems IPO is now priced at $185/share (up from $115), 20x oversubscribed, indicating strong demand for AI-related IPOs. Blackstone's data-center REIT raised $1.75B in its IPO, also targeting the AI boom. Cisco announced workforce reductions of fewer than 4,000 jobs (less than 5% of workforce) despite record revenue of $15.8B. The UK political scene saw Angela Rayner cleared by HMRC over tax affairs, paving the way for a potential Labour leadership challenge. The Ukraine conflict is ESCALATING with the massive overnight attack, while the Trump-Xi summit is STABLE (continuing with positive optics).