Bitcoin climbed to its highest level since May, rising 6.6% to $77,794.84, driven by easing liquidity pressures in the overheated AI and semiconductor trade, according to Nigel Green of de Vere Group. Ethereum gained 2.7% to $2,389.07, while XRP surged 10.8% to $1.37. U.S. crypto-linked stocks advanced premarket, with Strategy up 9.3% and Coinbase rising 6.2%, reflecting growing investor confidence in the regulatory outlook despite the Clarity Act's uncertain passage, as noted by Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani.

Alibaba Group is positioned to benefit from its artificial-intelligence cloud business, according to Daiwa analyst John Choi. He expects losses at AI labs and applications to peak this quarter, citing improved model training efficiency, better inference performance, and reduced marketing intensity. Daiwa maintained its buy rating and raised the target price for Alibaba's ADRs from $180.00 to $185.00, compared to the last close of $130.53.

Market talks were published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET, and 16:50 ET.