Overnight US stocks | The market is unfazed by the risk of the independence of the Federal Reserve, with the Dow and S&P indices hitting new highs. Chinese concept stocks are also rising across the board.

On Monday, investors temporarily overlooked the impact of the US Department of Justice's criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Powell. The three major indexes closed higher, with the Dow rising to a high of 49,633.35 points, and the S&P 500 rising to a high of 6,986.33 points, both hitting record intraday highs. Alphabet Inc. Class C's parent company Alphabet (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) surpassed a market value of $4 trillion. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow rose 86.13 points, or 0.17%, to 49,590.20 points; the Nasdaq rose 62.56 points, or 0.26%, to 23,733.90 points; the S&P 500 rose 10.99 points, or 0.16%, to 6,977.27 points. Citigroup Inc. (C.US) fell 3%, Oracle Corporation (ORCL.US) rose 3%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index rose 4.2%, Bilibili, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class Z (BILI.US) rose 9%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) rose 10%, XPeng, Inc. ADR Sponsored Class A (XPEV.US) rose 8%. [European Stocks] The German DAX30 index rose 168.97 points, or 0.67%, to 25,426.64 points; the UK FTSE 100 index rose 13.71 points, or 0.14%, to 10,138.31 points; the French CAC40 index fell 3.33 points, or 0.04%, to 8,358.76 points; the Euro STOXX 50 index rose 19.18 points, or 0.32%, to 6,016.65 points; the Spanish IBEX35 index rose 11.11 points, or 0.06%, to 17,660.11 points; the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 0.24 points, or 0.00%, to 45,719.50 points. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin continued to oscillate in the range of 90,000-92,000; Ethereum fell 0.67% to $3,102.83. [Dollar Index] The dollar index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.27% to close at 98.862 in the forex market. At the New York forex market close, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1672 US dollars, higher than the previous session's 1.1635 US dollars; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3466 US dollars, higher than the previous session's 1.3407 US dollars. 1 US dollar exchanged for 158.14 Japanese yen, higher than the previous session's 157.88 Japanese yen; 1 US dollar exchanged for 0.7970 Swiss francs, lower than the previous session's 0.8010 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar exchanged for 1.3871 Canadian dollars, lower than the previous session's 1.3910 Canadian dollars; 1 US dollar exchanged for 9.1693 Swedish kronor, lower than the previous session's 9.2025 Swedish kronor. [Precious Metals] The US Department of Justice's investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Powell has raised serious concerns in the market over the central bank's independence, leading to a sharp increase in "sell US" trading sentiment. Safe-haven funds poured into precious metals, with spot gold and silver both hitting all-time highs. Institutions have warned that this event has increased uncertainty in US monetary policy and may lead to continued outflows of funds from US dollar assets. [Oil] Light crude oil futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 38 cents to close at $59.50 per barrel, up 0.64%; Brent crude oil futures for March delivery on the London exchange rose 53 cents to close at $63.87 per barrel, up 0.84%. [Macro News] Trump: Countries doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff. US President Trump said that countries doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff on goods, increasing pressure on the Iranian government. Trump posted on social media on Monday that the new tariff would take effect immediately, but did not provide more details. The government has not issued documents outlining the scope of the tariffs, and Trump did not specify how he defines "doing business with Iran." Analysts believe that this move by Trump temporarily reduces the likelihood of US military intervention against Iran. US small-cap stocks set a record for the longest winning streak against large-cap stocks in seven years. US small-cap stocks set a record for the longest winning streak against large-cap stocks in seven years. The Russell 2000 index closed at a historic high on Monday, extending its winning streak against the S&P 500 index to seven consecutive trading days. The last longer winning streak dates back to January 2019, when the stock market rebounded from a steep decline. In December 2018, amid rising interest rates, concerns about the trade war, and fears of an economic slowdown, the S&P 500 fell 9.2%, and the Russell 2000 index fell 12%. The following month, the Russell 2000 index rebounded by 11%, while the S&P 500 index rose by 7.9%. Baird warns: Fed investigation causing market turmoil, may lead to Powell refusing to transfer power. According to reports, two sources familiar with the matter revealed that US Treasury Secretary Baird told Trump on Sunday night that the federal investigation into the Federal Reserve Chairman had caused a "mess" and could have a negative impact on the financial markets. A source familiar with Baird's conversations with Trump said, "The Secretary is very unhappy, and he has let the President know." Currently, Trump seems to be deliberately distancing himself from the investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Powell. Sources said that US prosecutor Jeanine Pirro's office in Washington had initiated the investigation, but did not inform the Treasury Department, senior White House officials, or the Justice Department headquarters beforehand. Another source said, "He (Baird) thought that when the President appointed a new Federal Reserve Chairman, Powell would leave. But that is not going to happen now. Powell has taken a tougher stance. This really messes things up." However, sources said that Baird did not question the necessity of investigating Powell during his conversation with Trump, nor did he defend the Federal Reserve Chairman. Trump: If the government loses in the tariff issue, the US may face a tens of trillions debt quagmire. US President Trump's latest post states, "If for any reason the Supreme Court rules against the US government in the tariff issue, the actual amount we must repay could reach tens of billions of dollars, not including the 'return' demands of countries and companies to avoid tariffs in building plants, factories, and equipment. If we include these investments, we're talking about tens of trillions of dollars! This will be a total mess, our country will hardly be able to afford it. If the Supreme Court makes a ruling that is unfavorable to the United States on this national security bonus issue, we're done!" Fitch: Expects the yen to moderately rebound from historic lows. In its latest foreign exchange market monitoring report, Fitch pointed out that it expects the yen to appreciate moderately by 2026 but will still remain at historic lows. After a tumultuous year, by the end of 2025, both the nominal and real trade-weighted exchange rates of the yen were close to historic lows. Last year, in the first four months, the yen appreciated along with other currencies as the dollar weakened. However, despite continued inflation, Japanese authorities kept interest rates unchanged for most of the year, leading to a steady depreciation of around 13% in the yen's nominal trade-weighted exchange rate from mid-April to the end of the year. Fitch believes that the 160 level of the USD/JPY exchange rate is still an important focus for Japanese authorities. As monetary policy normalizes while central banks in other major economies either cut interest rates or maintain existing levels, the yen has some room for appreciation. Fitch expects the yen to appreciate by around 6% against the dollar this year. [Stock-specific News] Apple Inc. chooses Alphabet Inc. Class C's Gemini to power this year's AI Siri. Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is partnering with Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) to provide artificial intelligence support for product features (such as Siri) launching later this year. According to reports, a statement shows that this longstanding partnership will leverage Alphabet Inc. Class C's Gemini model and cloud technology to power Apple Inc.'s future base models. Apple Inc. said in a statement, "After careful evaluation, we believe that Alphabet Inc. Class C's technology provides the most robust foundation for Apple Inc.'s base models, and we are excited about the innovative experience it will provide for users." Catching up with the AI wave, Meta invests billions to create a world-class computing landscape. Meta (META.US) CEO Zuckerberg announced through Threads on Monday that the company will launch a top-level strategic plan called Meta Compute. The plan aims to build a computing infrastructure of tens of gigawatts (GW) in scale within the next decade and plans to further expand to hundreds of gigawatts in the future. According to Zuckerberg's post on social media, the work of Meta Compute will be led by Meta's Global Infrastructure Leader and Engineering Co-lead Santosh Janardhan and Daniel Gross. Zuckerberg said they will work closely with Dina Powell McCormick, who recently joined Meta as President and Vice Chair. Janardhan will continue to oversee Meta's technical architecture, software stack, chip plans, development efficiency, and the construction and operation of the company's global data center network and networks. Gross will lead a newly established group focused on long-term production capacity strategies, supplier partnerships, industry analysis, planning, and business modeling. After the lukewarm response to the Llama 4 model market, Meta has been striving to maintain its position in the Silicon Valley AI competition and has committed to capital expenditures of up to $72 billion by 2025. [Major Bank Ratings] Barclays: Lowered Microsoft Corporation's (MSFT.US) target price from $625.00 per share to $610.00 per share, maintaining an overweight rating. Citigroup: Upgraded Palantir (PLTR.US) from "Neutral" to "Buy"; raised target price from $210 to $235.