U.S. equities displayed divergent performances overnight, with Chinese concept stocks dramatically outperforming a hesitant broader market. While major indices waffled—the S&P 500 briefly pierced 6,300 before closing 0.4% lower at 6,243.76—the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index catapulted 2.76% to its highest level since April 1. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.18% gain to 20,677.80, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.98% to 44,023.29.

Computing power plays ignited spectacular rallies: Alibaba rocketed 8.11% while Kingsoft Cloud exploded 18.73% higher. GDS Holdings ascended 7.77% and 21Vianet vaulted 14.14%. Baidu surged 8.65% following its strategic autonomous driving partnership with Uber, aiming for global deployment. Bilibili leapt 7.35%, buoyed by Shanghai's new content-creation incentives and unconfirmed reports of its "Project H" AI video tool development.

Market optimism cascaded across Chinese ADRs: Gaotu Techedu bounded 11.14% upward, Huya powered up 10.23%, and Tuya climbed 7.54%. DouYu advanced 6.67%, Weibo ascended 6.03%, and Full Truck Alliance notched a 5.13% gain. JD.com rose 4.03%, iQiyi added 3.91%, Pony.ai increased 3.88%, and Tencent ADR lifted 3.68%.

Stateside, NVIDIA dazzled with a 4% record high on revived China AI chip sales, while AMD skyrocketed 6.41% to an October 2023 peak. MP Materials shattered records after securing Apple's $500 million rare-earth magnet deal and a potential 15% stake by the U.S. Defense Department via convertible securities.

Despite June's mild CPI uptick, tariff anxieties persisted. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase stumbled post-earnings amid net interest income concerns, contrasting sharply with Citigroup's post-2008 zenith fueled by buybacks. Morgan Stanley's Ellen Zentner warned that tariff-induced goods inflation—though services cooled—signaled gathering price pressures. Futures now price September Fed cuts at barely 50% probability.