The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, July 31, edition that optimism about trade deals, an artificial-intelligence-driven lift for technology shares and the prospect of interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve have pushed U.S. stocks to all-time highs. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that UBS Wealth analyst Anthi Tsouvali says: "If we have to think till the year end, we're more positive on U.S. versus European stocks. A lot of the good news has already been priced in [in] Europe." Cheap valuations, Germany's big plans for spending on infrastructure and defence, and a string of rate cuts from the European Central Bank boosted the appeal of European assets earlier this year. However, signs of a resilient eurozone economy so far have investors betting that the European Central Bank is close to wrapping up its rate-cutting cycle. Traders see just a 50-per-cent chance of another reduction by December and a small chance that rates will actually start rising toward the end of 2026. European stocks also appear to have missed out on the big AI wave U.S. stocks are surfing. AI-chip designer Nvidia this month became the first company to hit $4-trillion (U.S.) in market value.