Japan’s equity rally built on strong corporate earnings is beginning to look vulnerable as the escalating conflict in Iran pushes crude oil prices higher, stoking concern that rising energy costs could erode profits. A 10% gain in Brent crude prices would shave 1% to 2% off Japanese companies’ net income, said Kazunori Tatebe , chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. Brent is trading at abo...
Japan’s equity rally built on strong corporate earnings is beginning to look vulnerable as the escalating conflict in Iran pushes crude oil prices higher, stoking concern that rising energy costs could erode profits. A 10% gain in Brent crude prices would shave 1% to 2% off Japanese companies’ net income, said Kazunori Tatebe , chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. Brent is trading at about $104 a barrel, more than 50% above last year’s average — a heavy burden for a nation that imports almost all of its oil. The outlook for strong earnings was a key factor behind Japan’s Topix climbing 15% over the past six months, beating indexes in the US, Europe and China. While expectations of fiscal stimulus and corporate reforms have also supported the rally, the prospect of solid profit growth has been a key driver. “Investors had anticipated double-digit profit growth for Japanese firms next fiscal year, but with the sharp rise in oil prices, they are beginning to consider the possibility of single-digit growth — and a decline in profits in the worst case,” said Shingo Ide , chief equity strategist at NLI Research Institute. Mamoru Shimode , a strategist at Resona Asset Management Co., warned that Japanese companies may issue more conservative outlooks if the conflict continues past April, when many firms begin reporting full-year results. Meanwhile, sectors expected to make large contributions to profit growth in fiscal 2026 — including electronics, transportation equipment and banks — may also come under pressure from a softening US labor market and a slowdown in AI data-center investment. If these industries weaken, the overall earnings outlook for the Topix could be revised downward, strategists at SMBC Nikko Securities including Hikaru Yasuda said in a report on Monday. “It’s not just raw material prices — transportation costs will rise as well, and a global economic slowdown could curb demand,” NLI Research’s Ide said. Real wages, which recently turned positi...
Susumu Yoshioka/DigitalVision via Getty Images Dubai briefly suspended flights at its main international airport after a drone struck airport facilities, disrupting the aviation hub’s attempts to restore normal operations as the Iran conflict entered its third week. Local authorities announced the suspension hours after a drone strike caused a fire at a nearby fuel tank on Monday, which forced air...
Susumu Yoshioka/DigitalVision via Getty Images Dubai briefly suspended flights at its main international airport after a drone struck airport facilities, disrupting the aviation hub’s attempts to restore normal operations as the Iran conflict entered its third week. Local authorities announced the suspension hours after a drone strike caused a fire at a nearby fuel tank on Monday, which forced aircraft to circle outside the airport while emergency teams responded. The fire was successfully contained, Dubai’s media office said in a post on X. No injuries were reported. Elsewhere, the chief executives of several major U.S. airlines urged Congress to quickly resolve a 29-day partial government shutdown, warning that unpaid airport security officers are beginning to disrupt air travel as the busy spring break season approaches. In an open letter, leaders from American Airlines ( AAL ), United Airlines ( UAL ), Delta Air Lines ( DAL ), Southwest Airlines ( LUV ), JetBlue Airways ( JBLU ), and Alaska Air Group ( ALK ) said the shutdown has forced about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers to continue working without pay, contributing to longer checkpoint lines at some airports. Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on markets, Synaptics: A Better Business, But Still Waiting For The AI Ramp Politics And The Markets 03/16/26 Mondelēz And The Cocoa Crash: Margin Potential Outweighs Chocolate Deflation Risk Goldman Sachs sees S&P 500 rising to 7,600 on earnings growth Oil climbs past $100 as Iran war disrupts global supply
Getty Images Market Review US Large Cap equities (S&P 500 Index) rose 2.66% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sector performance was generally positive, led by Health Care and Com munication Services, while Real Estate and Utilities were the only notable laggards. Monetary policy remained a key macro driver, as the Federal Reserve delivered two additional 25 basis point rate cuts in October and Decem...
Getty Images Market Review US Large Cap equities (S&P 500 Index) rose 2.66% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sector performance was generally positive, led by Health Care and Com munication Services, while Real Estate and Utilities were the only notable laggards. Monetary policy remained a key macro driver, as the Federal Reserve delivered two additional 25 basis point rate cuts in October and December following the initial September cut, reinforcing a more accommodative policy stance. Market sentiment was intermittently challenged by late-year volatility tied to macro data, earnings revisions, and ongoing geopolitical and trade policy uncertainties. Performance Review The Goldman Sachs Large Cap Growth Insights Fund returned in the fourth quarter of 2025 (net, I-share), underperforming its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, by 24 basis points (“bps”). Our Sentiment Analysis pillar was the largest contributor to performance throughout the period, driven largely by our positioning in the Industrials sector. Our signals that aim to capture investor sentiment guided an additive overweight positioning towards Aerospace & Defense and Passenger Airlines names. Improved sentiment towards these Industries was driven by a widespread rotation towards cyclicals amid easing financial conditions. Continued global geopolitical instability further propped up Aerospace and Defense names. Our Themes & Trends pillar largely flat across the quarter. Additive positioning in the aforementioned Industrials names, driven by our suite of signals seeking to identify economic linkages between stocks, was offset by an underweight to travel-related Consumer Discretionary names. Our Fundamental Mispricings pillar was also flat to slightly negative over the quarter. While relative valuation signals contributed positively at times - particularly within Industrials and Materials - these gains were offset by weaker performance from industry rotation signals earlier in the quarter. Sector posit...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The compa...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The company plans to gradually integrate other services with the agent, including online shopping site Taobao and fintech platform Alipay, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private plans. The tool was developed by the team that runs Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk platform, the people added. Alibaba’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of artificial intelligence services, as well as a recognition of the explosive popularity of agentic AI like OpenClaw that can help buy items or manage email. The newly created enterprise AI tool can help firms operate computers, browsers and cloud servers, though with built-in features to safeguard data security, the people said. It’s unclear how Alibaba is going to charge enterprises for the product, or the extent to which it will integrate existing in-house services at the outset. Alibaba didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment. Read More: China Becomes Agentic AI’s Biggest Lab With OpenClaw Stampede Alibaba, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, is grappling with questions about its AI strategy following the sudden departure of one of its star developers. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu promised over $53 billion of investment in AI last year, after announcing artificial general intelligence as the company’s primary goal. It’s since experienced triple-digit growth in AI-related businesses — though off a low base. Alibaba had mostly focused on enterprise-facing AI and cloud computing solutions before revamping its Qwen app last year for consumers. This month, it also became...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The compa...
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial intelligence assistants like OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks. The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. The company plans to gradually integrate other services with the agent, including online shopping site Taobao and fintech platform Alipay, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private plans. The tool was developed by the team that runs Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk platform, the people added. Most Read from Bloomberg Alibaba’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of artificial intelligence services, as well as a recognition of the explosive popularity of agentic AI like OpenClaw that can help buy items or manage email. The newly created enterprise AI tool can help firms operate computers, browsers and cloud servers, though with built-in features to safeguard data security, the people said. It’s unclear how Alibaba is going to charge enterprises for the product, or the extent to which it will integrate existing in-house services at the outset. Alibaba didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment. Alibaba, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, is grappling with questions about its AI strategy following the sudden departure of one of its star developers. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu promised over $53 billion of investment in AI last year, after announcing artificial general intelligence as the company’s primary goal. It’s since experienced triple-digit growth in AI-related businesses — though off a low base. Alibaba had mostly focused on enterprise-facing AI and cloud computing solutions before revamping its Qwen app last year for consumers. This month, it also became one of the first Chinese tech companies to intr...
黑暗启蒙运动在硅谷的标志性人物——彼得·蒂尔,将于这几天在罗马开展一系列绝密讲座,驳斥教皇观点,反对 AI 监管,这或许标志着 AI 竞争的终局较量已经拉开帷幕。各大巨头想要争夺的标的,已经超越了算力规模与爆款应用。他们真正在抢夺的,是对「未来秩序」的最终解释权。 今天,罗马迎来了一场极其隐秘的闭门集会。 现场没有媒体的闪光灯,所有参会者均被要求交出通讯设备,连确切的举办地点都被封锁在层层保密协议...
黑暗启蒙运动在硅谷的标志性人物——彼得·蒂尔,将于这几天在罗马开展一系列绝密讲座,驳斥教皇观点,反对 AI 监管,这或许标志着 AI 竞争的终局较量已经拉开帷幕。各大巨头想要争夺的标的,已经超越了算力规模与爆款应用。他们真正在抢夺的,是对「未来秩序」的最终解释权。 今天,罗马迎来了一场极其隐秘的闭门集会。 现场没有媒体的闪光灯,所有参会者均被要求交出通讯设备,连确切的举办地点都被封锁在层层保密协议之中。 站在演讲台上的,是美国科技圈最具争议的创投教父、大数据巨头帕兰提尔(Palantir)创始人彼得·蒂尔(Peter Thiel)。 这位在 AI 领域拥有庞大资本影响力的商业大鳄,跨越大西洋来到天主教的精神腹地,抛出了一个极具爆炸性的议题:在技术狂飙的当下,究竟是谁在阻碍人类文明的跃升? 对于习惯了关注大模型参数迭代和算力升级的读者来说,这场带有神学色彩的演讲似乎有些跳脱。 这背后恰恰隐藏着整个科技行业最核心的焦虑——当 AI 的进化速度足以重塑社会结构,我们究竟该为它套上缰绳,还是任由其彻底接管未来? 彼得·蒂尔给出的答案极端且笃定。 他将近年来全球社会高涨的 AI 监管呼声视作一种巨大威胁。 在他的叙事框架里,那些主张为技术建立护栏、频繁警告「AI 生存危机」的群体,被直接贴上了一个极具宗教恐吓意味的标签——「反基督」。 他的核心逻辑在于,某些组织正在利用大众对技术失控的恐惧,试图构建一个大一统的全球监管网络。 这种为了追求绝对安全而设立的干预机制,会彻底扼杀科学创新的生命力。 那些试图用规则捆绑大模型发展的人,才是在阻挡通往明日世界的大门。 这种将技术突破视为绝对真理的狂热,直白地挑战了罗马教廷的伦理底线。 现任教皇利奥十四世曾多次对 AI 的潜在风险发出公开警告,强调科技发展必须拥有道德边界,绝不能在效率的诱惑下牺牲人类的主体性与尊严。 梵蒂冈的学者们尖锐指出,蒂尔这种试图用代码解决一切社会问题、甚至谋求所谓「技术救赎」的信条,本身就是对自由社会共识的破坏。 这番担忧有着极其现实的参照物:彼得·蒂尔缔造的 Palantir 帝国,正是一个依靠海量数据吞吐来运转的庞然大物。 它的算法系统早已深度嵌入多处复杂的国际地缘冲突之中,并在庞大的边境追踪网络里扮演着神经中枢的角色。 当无孔不入的监控代码开始预测甚至决定个体的命运,科技便悄然滑向了令人不安的深渊。 在这场...