US Market
The US stock markets closed higher on Monday mainly driven by Technology stocks.
The Dow Jones surged by 1.12% to close at record high while the Nasdaq 100 was up by 2.02%, with Tesla Inc. rising by 4.43%.
Microsoft
Shares of Microsoft Corporation touched a record price of $249.75 per share following last week’s news that the tech giant had won a contract worth $21.9 Billion with the United States military to build more than 120,000 augmented reality headsets for the Pentagon over the period of 10 years.
Tesla
Shares of Tesla Inc. closed 4.43% higher on Monday after the company’s report on the first-quarter deliveries. Tesla announced last week that it produced 180,338 vehicles in the first quarter, and delivered 184,800 during the same period.
Shares of Facebook reached to an all-time high on Monday amid reports about a data leak.
Over the long weekend, Alon Gal, CTO of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, told Business Insider that over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries were affected by the leak which saw their phone numbers, names, locations, and in some cases, email addresses made available online for free.
Geopolitics
Meanwhile, World Bank President David Malpass on Monday urged the Group of 20 (G20) to extend its Debt Service Suspension Initiative until the end of 2021 citing the ongoing economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
The head of the World Bank noted that such a move would help the poorest countries save more money to combat current economic difficulties.
Malpass said that thanks to the initiative, those countries deferred about $5 billion through the end of 2020, with savings of another $7.3 billion expected in June.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Monday the decree to enable himself to run for two more terms in office, officially converting it into law.
Thanks to this legislation, Putin could remain the country’s head of state until 2036.
This constitutional change was approved in July after winning 77.92% of the popular vote. Putin later remarked such modifications would strengthen Russia’s statehood.
