US stocks inched higher yesterday on the back of tech as investors digested major AI-related deals  

South Korea's KOSPI index rallied another 2.8% to a new ATH

Indonesia stocks are up 38% from April lows as foreign inflows hit a one-year high

Aluminum rose to its highest since May 2022 amid tightening supply in China and improving global demand

Palantir issued a Q3 beat-and-raise as government sales surged 52% on strong AI adoption and major defense contracts (CNBC)

Ares beat Q3 earnings estimates as fee-related earnings from its secondaries unit surged 167% on strong institutional demand for liquidity (BBG)

Ryanair profits surged 40% in H1 on increased passenger demand and a rise in air fares as families holiday near home over 'reluctance' to fly to US (FT)

What we're watching this week:  

Full calendar here

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Michael Burry's hedge fund is 66% Palantir puts and 14% Nvidia puts (QQ)

Marco Rubio thwarted Nvidia's China exports lobbying efforts (WSJ)

Bond traders turn to private data after J Pow comments (BBG)

Investors brace for Treasury issuances to tilt towards short term (BBG)

Bridgewater CIOs warn of underpriced risks in AI-fueled S&P 500 rally (RT)

$80B M&A Monday puts M&A on track for second-best year ever (BBG)

BofA CEO faces calls to boost returns through IB and wealth (RT)

KKR plans to expand in India (BBG)

BDO explores using private capital to fund mergers of national firms (FT)

Regulators call for crackdown on 'front-running' by market makers (FT)

India quant hiring continues despite options market crackdown (BBG)

Hong Kong dollar-bond sales lose momentum following record month (BBG)

OpenAI signed a $38B cloud deal with Amazon (CNBC)

Hooters founders promise to return brand to roots after bankruptcy (BBG)

Resource disputes between investors and states hit a 10-year high (RT)

London minimum wage is now same as starting pay for finance jobs (FT)

Exxon execs warn of Europe exit over climate law (RT)

Evolve Bank's new CEO was charged with CP crimes (WSJ)

Young Brit's attitudes harden on crime and welfare (FT)

Consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark agreed to buy J&J's consumer health spinoff Kenvue in $48.7B deal, representing a 47% premium

Activist investor Palliser Capital urged mining giant Rio Tinto to bid for $21B-listed rival Teck

US shale producers SM Energy and Civitas agreed to merge in $12.8B deal, including debt, to create one of the largest independent oil producers in the Permian Basin

Power management company Eaton agreed to buy liquid cooling specialist Boyd Thermal from Goldman Sachs Asset Management for $9.5B

US-based gold miner Coeur Mining agreed to acquire rival New Gold in a $7B all-stock deal

Apollo agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Danish energy giant Orsted's UK offshore wind project JV Hornsea 3 for $6.5B

Credit card fintech CompoSecure agreed to acquire injection-molding equipment maker Husky Technologies from Platinum Equity for $5B, including debt

Chinese PE firm Boyu Capital agreed to acquire a 60% stake in Starbucks' China unit for $4B

Founder Izzy Englander sold a 15% stake in $80B-AUM hedge fund Millennium to a group of investors for $2B, cutting his 100% stake for the first time

Investment firm Sixth Street agreed to acquire stakes in US shale assets from O&G giant BP for $1.5B

General Catalyst-backed Aethel Energy acquired KKR-backed Texas oil producer Crescent Energy's Rockies drilling portfolio for $400M

State Street's asset management arm acquired a minority stake in UK secondaries investor Coller Capital

Temasek-backed Mapletree Investments and Singapore-listed CapitaLand Investment are exploring a merger to create one of APAC's largest real-estate asset managers with over $150B AUM

Chinese O&G giant Sinopec is in talks to buy Chinese jet fuel distributor China National Aviation Fuel Group

Rare-earth magnet startups Vulcan Elements and ReElement raised $1.4B from private and strategic investors, including US 

Piezoelectric MEMS fan-on-a-chip startup xMEMS raised a $21M Series D led by Boardman Bay Capital Management

Archy, an AI platform for dental practice ops, raised a $20M Series B led by TCV

AUI, a startup building neuro-symbolic foundation models for task-oriented conversational AI, raised a $20M round at a $750M valuation from eGateway Ventures, New Era Capital Partners, and more

i6 Group, a digital fuel management startup for airlines, raised a $20M Series B led by Yttrium

Dutch environment agriculture AI startup Source.ag raised a $17.5M Series B led by Astanor Ventures

The Icon League, a five‑a‑side soccer league founded by German soccer star Toni Kroos, raised a $17M Series A led by HV Capital

Donut Labs, a startup building an AI-powered crypto trading browser, raised a $15M seed round from BITKRAFT, Makers Fund, Sky9 Capital, and more

Popai Health, a patient conversation intelligence startup, raised $11M in funding led by Team8, NEA, and strategic investors

Standard Money, a startup developing a BNB Chain-based stablecoin, raised an $8M round led by YZi Labs

TDR Capital, SWFs ADIA and GIC, and pension funds ATP and PGGM are seeking to sell their $1.1B stake in French car leaser Ayvens

AV technology company Pony AI raised $863M in its Hong Kong listing

Electric aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies began drawing orders for its $825M IPO that will give it a market value of over $7.6B

Point72 tripled its stake in $1.8B-listed Lionsgate Studios to 5.1%

Bessemer, Georgian, and OMERS-backed Xanadu Quantum Technologies will merge with Canada and US-listed Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp. in a $3.6B deal

Hong Kong-based blockchain developer Animoca Brands will merge with US-listed Currenc Group

Alphabet is selling $17.5B of bonds in US after issuing $7.5B of notes in Europe

UBS sold $3.25B of bonds for the first time since its AT1 ruling

Tenet Healthcare will raise $2B in a bond sale for refinancing 

Distressed Hong Kong developer New World Development plans to raise $1.9B in new debt in an exchange offer that includes 50% haircuts on perpetual bonds

Spanish lender BBVA raised $1.2B in an AT1 bond sale

Private credit firm Castlelake will acquire $500M of auto loans from lending fintech Pagaya Technologies

Sable Offshore plans to raise $225M in stock and extend a loan with ExxonMobil

Lenders are set to take over Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment after reaching a debt-for-equity swap agreement

Government-focused investor Arlington Capital Partners raised $6B for its seventh fund to invest in critical sectors, including defense, government services, and healthcare

Investment firm Hamilton Lane won a mandate to manage The Guardian Life Insurance's $5B PE portfolio

UK MM PE firm Montagu raised $2.3B for a continuation fund for IoT connectivity firm Wireless Logic co-led by TPG GP Solutions, CVC Secondary Partners, and Partners Group

Ares raised a $1B continuation fund for its stake in systems integrator Convergint Technologies led by PE firm Leonard Green

Aquilius Investment Partners, a Singaporean real estate investment firm founded by ex-Blackstone and Partners Group execs, raised $1.1B for its second and APAC's largest real estate secondaries fund

Israeli VC F2 Venture Capital is seeking to raise $100M for its fourth fund to back seed-stage startups

Point72 is creating a new equities unit as AUM soars past $40B

Private markets investment firm HarbourVest launched an evergreen secondaries vehicle aimed at non-US investors

Cryptocurrencies slump as October liquidations repel buyers

Trump says 'no idea who he is' is response to question over CZ pardon

Kraken unlocked crypto collateral for derivatives across EU

Hong Kong will allow crypto exchanges to tap global capital pools

Trump family earned over $800m from crypto assets in H1

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