Wall Street is off to a good start this week, with the US indices closing at the day's highs, with gains exceeding expectations (and 70% higher than those seen in the first quarter), with the Dow Jones up 0.45% at 38.852, the S&P500 'hanging on' to +1% at nearly 5,181 and the Nasdaq Composite gaining +1.2% at 16,349.

It climbs in the wake of the usual locomotives (the list of favourites doesn't change much!): Super Micro Comp +6.1%, Micron +4.7%, AMD +4.3%, Nvidia +3.8%, Netapp +3.2%, Netflix and Microchip +3%, Tesla +2%.

After the close, Palantir reported sales of $2.68 billion (vs. $2.71 billion expected) and unveiled very cautiously optimistic forecasts, sending the stock down -5% in electronic trading.

On a positive note, the VIX, which had risen sharply at the start of the session (to around 14), returned to square one, at around 13.5 (stable).

The day's rise and the previous week's gains have so far contradicted the old stock market proverb "sell in may and go away".

Investors seem to be regaining hope in the possibility that the Federal Reserve will finally decide to cut rates this summer (June or end of July), a prospect that remains shrouded in the utmost vagueness.

Among the few indicators on the agenda this week, the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index will, on Friday, give us a better idea of the current mood of American households.

T-Bonds turned around in the afternoon, and after easing by -3 basis points around 2:30 p.m., they were back in contact with 4.500% this evening, with the 2-year yield rising by +3 basis points to 4.836%.

WTI's slide has come to a halt, with the barrel stabilizing at around $78 on the NYMEX, down 10% since April 14.

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