Stocks climb on AI and rate cut hopes, unfazed by tariff moves

Global stocks advanced on Thursday, underpinned by optimism around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the prospect of upcoming interest rate cuts, while investors kept a cautious eye on US President Donald Trump's tariff actions and their impact on global trade.

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US copper futures widened their premium to the London benchmark overnight after Trump announced plans to impose a 50% tariff on copper imports from August 1.

Trump also threatened a punitive 50% tariff on Brazil's exports to the US on Wednesday and issued tariff notices to seven minor trading partners.

The latest tariff moves did little to rattle markets as European stocks gained, with Germany's DAX up 0.18 and UK's FTSE 100 rising 1.28 to their respective all-time highs.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5%, while US stock futures took a breather, with Nasdaq futures little changed a day after the tech-heavy index closed at a record high.

The market reaction to Trump's latest moves was less severe than in April, largely reflecting expectations that ongoing negotiations between Washington and its trade partners could yield agreements before the deadline.

Markets “continue to shrug off Donald Trump's daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

Meanwhile, investors digested upbeat quarterly results from TSMC, which showed strong demand for the world's largest contract chipmaker’s products, fuelled by surging interest in artificial intelligence applications.

TSMC’s report came a day after Al chip giant Nvidia became the world's first public company to reach $4 trillion in market value.