China Set to Approve Nvidia Chips; Trump Demands More Defense Spending | Bloomberg Brief 1/8/2026

Watch on YouTube ↗ | January 08, 2026 at 12:12 | 42:56 | Bloomberg Markets

Speakers

Tom Mackenzie — Anchor, Bloomberg

Valerie Tytel — Reporter, Bloomberg

Sophie Huynh — Reporter, The Block

Julian Lee — Senior Oil Market Reporter, Bloomberg

Christopher Hodge — Natixis Chief US Economist

Peter Elstrom — Senior Editor, Bloomberg Technology

Mika Soellner — Bloomberg Government

Vonnie Quinn — Anchor, Bloomberg

Summary

The briefing leads with China's planned approval of Nvidia H200 imports, a global rally in defense stocks after Trump's call for a $1.5 trillion military budget, and mixed earnings from Constellation Brands. Guest Sophie Huynh of BNP Paribas Asset Management outlines a barbell strategy of AI hardware and cheap cyclical laggards, with positive views on China, Korea, European cyclicals, and specific FX pairs. Christopher Hodge of Natixis CIB discusses Venezuela's oil outlook and U.S. labor/Fed policy, while Julian Lee explains why U.S. Gulf Coast refiners could benefit from Venezuelan crude.

China is said to be preparing to approve some Nvidia H200 chip imports as soon as this quarter.
Defense stocks surged after Trump proposed raising the U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion.
Constellation Brands beat sales estimates and saw better beer trends, but still expects a sales decline.
Sophie Huynh recommends a barbell of AI hardware and cheap cyclical laggards, and is positive on China and Korea.
Huynh favors long AUD/USD and SEK/EUR, plus European basic resources and oil.
Christopher Hodge says stable Venezuelan oil production keeps oil price risks bearish.
Julian Lee says U.S. Gulf Coast refiners could benefit from Venezuelan heavy crude diversification.
Hodge expects a cooling U.S. labor market and a structurally dovish Fed, with inflation staying sticky.

Ideas

Valerie Tytel Reporter, Bloomberg 2:04

Defense budget hike setup, Congress uncertain.

Defense stocks are surging globally after President Trump called for raising the U.S. military budget by $500 billion to $1.5 trillion, which would be the largest U.S. defense budget increase ever if successful. The move requires congressional approval, so it is a monitoring setup rather than a confirmed trade.

Tom Mackenzie Anchor, Bloomberg 3:46

China H200 approval reopens Nvidia's biggest market.

China is set to approve imports of Nvidia's H200 chips as soon as this quarter, reopening the biggest semiconductor market to Nvidia after being closed out since 2022. Jensen Huang says the H200s are in production with strong Chinese demand, potential buyers like Baidu and Alibaba could order large volumes, and the China market could be worth about $50 billion, changing Nvidia's China profit from zero in coming quarters.

Tom Mackenzie Anchor, Bloomberg 4:57

Memory prices and HBM boost Samsung.

Samsung's profit tripled on surging memory demand, with DRAM and NAND prices rising because datacenter demand is diverting memory away from consumer electronics. Analysts expect memory prices to keep rising through 2026, and Samsung may also benefit if its high-bandwidth memory chips go into Nvidia's Vera Rubin chipsets as it catches up to rivals.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 10:47

Barbell AI hardware with cheap cyclicals.

BNP Paribas sees a broad positive fiscal impulse producing a rotation and recommends a barbell portfolio: keep exposure to the AI theme through hardware while adding cheap cyclical laggards. Easing financial conditions and central banks not tightening create a good setup for this rotation.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 12:41

Fiscal impulse favors cheap European cyclicals.

With the fiscal impulse positive and financial conditions easing, she has started adding cyclical laggards, specifically through European basic resources and oil. Europe is showing more green shoots than the U.S., where she is waiting for earnings confirmation.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 15:01

Long Aussie and Swedish krona.

Interest-rate differentials and rotation support high-beta currencies versus the dollar, but dollar positioning is already short, so she wants to cherry-pick countries with good domestic fundamentals and rising yields. She continues to be long Aussie versus dollar and Swedish krona versus euro.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 15:24

Chinese equities have more room.

She is positive on Chinese equities and sees more room to run as the fiscal impulse starts to boost consumer demand, shifting the market from multiple expansion to earnings delivery. Global investors remain under-invested and underweight Chinese equities.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 15:53

China Tech diversifies AI theme.

Within China, she prefers China Tech because it took a different route from the U.S., focusing on open-source models, AI applications and edge AI. This allows investors to diversify the AI theme while getting more substantive earnings.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 16:03

Chinese exporters benefit from policy support.

She also favors more exporting-led Chinese stocks, which should benefit from policy support and could lead to better profit margins and earnings.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 16:58

Prefer AI hardware over hyperscalers.

Within the AI theme, she prefers sectors where earnings materialization is faster, namely hardware, over hyperscalers where there is still uncertainty on the earnings path in the years to come.

Sophie Huynh Reporter, The Block 17:10

Korean hardware beats uncertain hyperscalers.

She is positive on Korea and sees Korean equities, especially hardware, as a better way to play AI than hyperscalers because earnings materialization should come faster.

Christopher Hodge Natixis Chief US Economist 28:11

Venezuelan stability keeps oil price bearish.

He expects Venezuelan oil production to remain stable as the U.S. controls export proceeds and the new leadership appears to cooperate, limiting near-term supply disruption and keeping oil price risks bearish.

Julian Lee Senior Oil Market Reporter, Bloomberg 35:17

Venezuelan oil helps US Gulf refiners.

U.S. refiners on the Gulf Coast should benefit from opening Venezuelan oil flows because Venezuelan heavy crude would diversify their sources and compete with Canadian and Mexican barrels, which is good for refiners.

Up Next

Expect the AI trade to be less dominant in 2026, says Peter Boockvar

CNBC Cures: Understanding rare disease

[#찐시황] 한국증시 흐름이 바뀐다… 외국인이 삼성전자 팔고 산 ‘이 주식’ / 다음 급등주는 '여기'서 나온다 | 박현상 부장

815 Money Talk (815머니톡) · Jan 08

Top AI Stock to Buy in 2026 (Opportunity of a Lifetime!)

Everything Money · Jan 08

중앙은행은 왜 금을 사고, 시장은 왜 은을 말할까? | 홍익희 전 세종대 교수 [심층인터뷰]

3PRO TV (삼프로TV) · Jan 08

This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 08, 2026, features Valerie Tytel, Tom Mackenzie, Sophie Huynh, Christopher Hodge, Julian Lee discussing ITA, NVDA, 005930.KS, AI Hardware, Cheap cyclical laggards, European basic resources, European oil, AUD/USD, SEK/EUR, FXI, KWEB, Chinese exporting stocks, SKYY, Korean equities, WTI, XLE. 13 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Valerie Tytel, Tom Mackenzie, Sophie Huynh, Christopher Hodge, Julian Lee · Tickers: ITA, NVDA, 005930.KS, AI Hardware, Cheap cyclical laggards, European basic resources, European oil, AUD/USD, SEK/EUR, FXI, KWEB, Chinese exporting stocks, SKYY, Korean equities, WTI, XLE