CNBC Daily Open: Dow hits new high and football gets political

U.S. markets started the week on a strong footing, with the Dow crossing 53,000 for the first time and the Nasdaq rising as chip stocks rebounded.

Politics, meanwhile, seems to be taking centerstage this football World Cup as FIFA rejected Belgium’s challenge to the eligibility of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, with U.S. President Donald Trump defending his intervention to get Balogun’s suspension overturned.

Both sides have taken to the pitch, and scores will hopefully be settled there.

Other major indexes also climbed, with the Nasdaq gaining 1.12% due to a chip stock rebound and the S&P 500 rising 0.72%.

As risk-on mood took hold, gold prices pulled back, though Treasury yields held steady.

Stock investors’ buoyant mood bore a sharp contrast to the Belgian national football team, which saw FIFA reject their challenge over the eligibility of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to play in the match against Belgium.

Balogun had initially been suspended after receiving a red card in the U.S.′ match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but following a call by Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino last week the decision was overturned.

Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday thanking FIFA “for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”

The match is currently underway between the two sides.

Besides football, America continues to pile more pressure on NATO to increase its defense spending, with U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker saying that tensions with partners reflect “growing pains” rather than a crisis. “The target is that Europe takes over the conventional defense of the European continent.”

“We’re not going away, we’re just doing less,” Whitaker said about the U.S. involvement in European defense and security, ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Over in Asia, China’s Alibaba will ban employees from using Anthropic‘s artificial intelligence tools for work purposes as of July 10, citing concerns that the U.S. company has back-door security risks.

CNBC confirmed the Chinese e-commerce giant has put Anthropic’s Claude Code on a high-risk software list, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes after Anthropic sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, blaming the Chinese tech titan of “brazenly” and “illicitly” attempting to extract its AI capabilities.

— Lim Hui Jie

Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, as Xbox unit downsizes and plans to spin off four gaming studios

Microsoft said Monday it was immediately eliminating 4,800 jobs, representing 2.1% of its workforce, in the software giant’s latest effort to cut costs in the era of artificial intelligence.

Its Xbox division will lose about one-fifth of its staff, including 1,600 jobs on Monday and additional cuts in the coming months.

Xbox will be cutting a total of 3,200 people, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote in an email to division employees.

Half of those roles are part of the 4,800 jobs being eliminated Monday, and the other 1,600 people will be exiting throughout fiscal year 2027.

— Jordan Novet