Good morning and welcome to a new week with a fresh cocktail of market hopes and fears.

Stocks are set to open lower after Friday’s post-jobs report rally with oil prices and bond yields staying stubbornly high. But with traders now pricing in an interest rate hold in October, the dynamic has shifted ahead of the Federal Reserve minutes later in the week.

There’s a bit more hope for the software sector after Schneider Electric agreed to buy PTC at a 42% premium to its last closing price.

The mood in Europe is definitely more fearful, though. The euro hit a 17-month low as French debt concerns mounted and Spain called a snap election. On the flip side, the U.S. dollar index hit an almost 18-month high.

A handful of kingmakers are still in charge of the artificial-intelligence trade. Chip maker Cerebras was rebounding to start the week as OpenAI’s Sam Altman delivered some good news, while Intel slipped as Elon Musk was the bearer of bad news. 

AI stocks remain in a strong position. It could even be the day Nvidia sets a new record closing high—it has risen 20% in just three months. Now that’s something to make everyone hopeful.

You can subscribe to the Barron’s Daily newsletter here.