Belarus approved amendments to its agreement with Russia on developing defense‑industrial cooperation.

Tickmill Group analyst Patrick Munnelly said the AI-driven equity rally is growing more fragile. Leveraged retail exposure, crowded semiconductor longs and fragile sentiment around memory-chip demand leave markets highly vulnerable to negative news. Heavy losses in Asian equities on Friday show markets can swing from comfort to fragility very quickly. The oil-related buffer against inflation has disappeared and renewed security risks in the Strait of Hormuz are resurfacing. Munnelly said this does not necessarily mean AI trading is broken, but crowded positioning could prevent even fundamentally positive news from lifting the market when sentiment turns.

VIX briefly hit a two-week high; last up 1.42 points at 20.31.