CNBC Daily Open: May Day dawns

CNBC Daily Open: May Day dawns


A stock trader looks at his monitors in the trading room of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Worries about a new coronavirus mutation in southern Africa have dealt a major blow to the German stock market. 

Arne Dedert | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Hello, this is Katie Foley, writing to you from London.

That eerie calm you’ve noticed this morning isn’t some kind of Goldilocks trade. The vast majority of global stock markets are closed for the Labour Day holiday. In Asia there’s no trade in Hong Kong or the Mainland, South Korea, Taiwan, India or across Southeast Asia.

In Europe, U.K. stocks will go it alone today with futures currently pointing to an extremely muted start to trade. 

So, if you’re on the Continent – think of us as you’re enjoying your lie-in.

What you need to know today

And finally…

China’s EV price war turns into AI arms race beyond cheaper cars

Electric carmakers in China are layering on more of the same artificial intelligence features as they try to survive a prolonged price war in the world’s largest auto market.

The competition has shifted over the last few years, from extending battery range to rolling out driver-assist systems and using more powerful automotive chips. Now, automakers are focusing on a suite of in-car AI features.

More than 50 car brands now use ByteDance’s Doubao AI model, the company’s cloud platform Volcano Engine announced last Friday at the Beijing auto show, where the tech unit had a booth next to robotaxi company Pony.ai.

— Evelyn Cheng

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