Markets increase as US consumers continue to spend

The adage of Wall Street to never bet against the US consumer is still true, to some extent. February retail sales, although lower than expected, still recorded an increase. For skeptics, that is like narrowing the eyes desperately for a positive side. It could well be. But the dark clouds, in the form of the rates of US President Donald Trump, are more sinister than usual.

Tariffs, after all, are a tax on imported goods that will probably be transmitted to the consumer. That has weighed the feeling of the consumer, measured by surveys such as those of the University of Michigan. Even the director of the United States National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, acknowledged that Trump’s tariffs will cause some uncertainty.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has already reduced its growth perspective for the US. While the Trump administration is confident that the actions will recover their balance, the strategists can also begin to review their market prognosis if the perspectives are not clarified.

Second winning session for US markets
US markets increased on Monday. He S&P 500 rose 0.64%, the Dow Jones industrial It was greater 0.85% and the Nasdaq compound Advanced 0.31%. The three indices published consecutive profits. Tuesday, Asia-Pacific stocks followed the higher Wall Street. From Japan Nikkei 225 aggregate around 1.3%, driven by a Rally in the actions of Japanese commercial houses after Berkshire Hathaway Increased their participation in them. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index More than 2% appeared in the back of an increase in Chinese technological actions.

Jump of Chinese technological actions
Actions of Baidu About more than 10% in Asia on Tuesday. Investors cheered the Chinese technological giant Launch of two new artificial intelligence models On Sunday, one of which rivals Deepseek’s R1 model, Baidu said. Meanwhile, Byd The actions listed in Hong Kong increased more than 6% outdoors before gain reduction. The Chinese Electric Vehicle Company revealed Monday A technology that allows cars to travel 400 kilometers (approximately 249 miles) with five minutes of load.

American consumers spend more
US retail sales rose 0.2% in FebruaryLosing the estimation of Dow Jones for an increase of 0.6%, according to advanced reading on Monday of the Department of Commerce. That said, the figure is better than the 1.2% decrease in January, which was abruptly reviewed from the original estimate of a 0.9% drop.

The OECD reviews the growth forecast down
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted the growth of the global gross domestic product to reach 3.1% this year, below 3.3% in its December projections. Also He reviewed his estimate for the expansion of the US GDP. to 2.2% in 2025 from 2.4%. “The highest commercial barriers in several G20 economies and greater geopolitical and political uncertainty” are weighing the feeling, the OECD said on Monday.

Certainty about tariff uncertainty
The director of the United States National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, acknowledged that there will be more uncertainty regarding tariffs before things calm down. “Between now and April 2, There will be some uncertainty“Hassett told CNBC, referring to the date Trump said he will announce” reciprocal “tariff plans.” But as April is presented, the markets will see that reciprocal commercial policy makes a lot of sense, “Hasset added.

Iran will be responsible for huti attacks: Trump
Oil prices rose on Monday After the president of the United States, Donald Trump saying In its social media platform, social truth that the United States would consider any attack by the militant group Yemení Houthis, “as a shot triggered from the weapons and leadership of Iran.” Us crude oil futures 0.25% rose to reach $ 67.75 per barrel, while Global Benchmark Brent 0.32% higher than $ 71.30 per barrel is quoted from the Singapore hour on Tuesday afternoon.

(Pro) ‘uncomfortable’ plot of points: Goldman
At the end of the Federal Mercado Committee meeting on Wednesday, Fed members will launch an updated “plot” plot, a table that shows interest rates projections for the coming years. Here is why The plot of points could be “uncomfortable“According to Goldman Sachs analysts.

The AI ​​that can match humans in any task will be here in five to 10 years, says Google Deepmind CEO

Speaking in an informative session at the Deepmind offices in London on Monday, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google Deepmind, said he believes that artificial general intelligence, which is so intelligent or smarter than humans, will begin to emerge in the next five or 10 years.

Hassabis’s prognosis to reach AGI is conservative compared to some of his companions in the industry. Dario Amodei, CEO of Ai Startup Anthrope, told CNBC in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January that he sees a form of AI that is “better than almost all humans in almost all tasks” emerging in the “next two or three years.”

Other technological leaders see that Agi arrives even before. The product director of Cisco, Jeetu Patel, believes that there is the possibility that we can see an example of AGI emerge as soon as this year.