U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands as they attend a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 13, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The world’s largest economy has struck a deal with the most populous nation.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that America will lower so-called reciprocal tariffs on India to 18% from 25%. As part of the deal, New Delhi will “BUY AMERICAN” at “a much higher level,” and stop buying oil from Russia. Instead, India will import it from the U.S. and possibly Venezuela, according to Trump.
Despite various nations’ commitments to engage in more trade and investment with Washington, it seems travelers are still staying away from the U.S. — at least according to Disney. International visits to U.S. theme parks during its fiscal first quarter was “softer” and is facing headwinds, the media conglomerate reported on Monday. Shares of Disney plunged 7.4% following its earnings report.
Major U.S. indexes, however, climbed on Monday, shrugging off the recent steep declines in gold and silver. The S&P 500 added 0.54% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.05%. Despite Nvidia losing 2.9% on reports that its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI has stalled, the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite rose 0.56%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will announce its interest rate decision later today, and is expected to defy the trend of central banks loosening monetary policy. Analysts expect the RBA to hike rates on hotter-than-expected inflation and a robust labor market.
What you need to know today
SpaceX is acquiring startup xAI, announced Elon Musk in a blog post on Monday. The combined company is gearing up for a massive IPO, and is expected to price shares that would value it at $1.25 trillion, Bloomberg reported.
Oracle’s credit default swaps are plummeting, with 5-year swaps tumbling 17%. Investor confidence was boosted after Oracle announced a plan to raise $50 billion in debt and equity.
What’s happening to bitcoin? The cryptocurrency has fallen about 12% in the last seven days, and fell below $80,000 over the weekend — the first time it’s traded at those levels since April 2025. One reason for its slump was because of forced liquidations.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday. Spot gold and silver, however, extended losses during U.S. trading, and bitcoin proxy Strategy fell 6.7%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 1.03%, paring earlier losses.
[PRO] Buzz over robots. Musk announced Wednesday that Tesla is converting a California plant to build the Optimus robot, and rivals in China are ramping up deliveries of humanoid robots. Morgan Stanley thinks these firms will benefit from the industry’s growth.
And finally…
China gloom: The ‘Are you dead?’ app is dead, and a ‘crying horse’ plushie is selling out
While Americans worry about inflation and affordability, the Chinese are fretting about deflation and a down economy.
To get a sense of Chinese consumer confidence today, visit Beijing toy seller Gao Lan, where a frowning horse plushie is selling out for the Year of the Horse. According to state media, a factory worker mistakenly sewed the toy’s smile upside down, creating a runaway hit in China referred to as “the crying horse.”
Another metric of the melancholy is the viral app sensation Are You Dead? or “Sileme” in Chinese. The app is meant to give people living alone peace of mind that if they die, someone will notice.
— Eunice Yoon
