Public Markets 24 Hours

Last updated: May 22, 2026, 2:33 PM ET

M&A & Corporate Takeovers

Apollo Global Management's £1.52 billion takeover proposal for heat treatment specialist Bodycote sent the FTSE 250 component's shares sharply higher, marking the latest in a series of U.S. private equity plays on London-listed industrials. The bid values Bodycote at approximately 1.52 billion pounds ($2.04 and comes as the company continues discussions with the buyout firm. In the tech sector, Uber Technologies is exploring a full takeover of Germany's Delivery Hero SE that would help the ride-hailing giant better compete with Door Dash outside the U.S. market. Meanwhile, a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert launched a €10.9 billion offer to take Italian drugmaker Recordati private, tightening control of the 100-year-old company and extending their bet on rare disease treatments.

Regulatory Crackdown & Market Oversight

The Securities and Exchange Commission delayed approval for prediction market ETFs from Roundhill, Granite Shares and Bitwise just as upstart fund issuers raced to wrap election and recession bets into tickers, while House Republicans opened an investigation into how users of Kalshi and Polymarket are allegedly using insider information to make trades on the prediction market platforms. China launched an unprecedented campaign against illegal cross-border securities trading, threatening severe penalties against popular brokers and ordering existing non-compliant accounts to be liquidated as part of efforts to close loopholes that allowed retail traders to circumvent capital controls.

Energy & Commodities

Copper, famed for tracking shifts in the global industrial economy, is trading like a high-flying tech stock as investors bet that skyrocketing power use for artificial intelligence will fuel a surge in demand for the bellwether industrial metal. Commodity trader Trafigura Group moved to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars of copper from London Metal Exchange warehouses as lucrative trading opportunities emerged in the U.S. and China markets. Oil prices jumped on impasse over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with disagreements remaining over the fate of Iran's uranium stockpile and transit fees nearly three months into the conflict. The U.S. energy storage industry installed a record amount of capacity in the first quarter as utilities seek greater grid stability amid rising electricity demand.

Artificial Intelligence & Technology

DeepSeek's senior management told potential investors that the startup will prioritize groundbreaking AI research over short-term commercial gains during its ongoing 70 billion yuan ($10 funding round, declaring artificial general intelligence as the company's ultimate goal. Samsung Electronics staved off a potentially catastrophic strike by reaching a tentative deal with its largest union to share more profits from the AI boom, though workers faced colleagues' resentment over the bonus deal. Booz Allen Hamilton reported higher fiscal fourth-quarter profit as cost-cutting initiatives helped offset declines in revenue as government spending patterns shifted.

Equity Markets & Earnings

The S&P 500 Index is on track for its strongest earnings growth in five years as momentum spreads beyond artificial intelligence-fueled gains to much of corporate America, putting the benchmark on track for its longest weekly winning streak since 2023. Canadian stocks jumped to a record on Friday, hitting the highest mark since early March as financial and tech shares propelled the TSX composite higher. Emerging-market stocks extended gains into a second day, putting the benchmark on track for a weekly advance as investors continued to pour into the AI trade and easing Middle East tensions supported risk appetite.

Interest Rates & Fixed Income

Bond traders are fully pricing in an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year, signaling conviction that Chair Kevin Warsh will need to move quickly to combat inflationary pressures. Outgoing European Central Bank Governing Council member Madis Muller sees a good case for a June rate hike in response to the Iran war's energy surge, while ECB President Christine Lagarde stressed that long-term inflation expectations remain broadly in line with the 2% target despite deepening fallout from Middle East hostilities. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan are piling up wagers that the Canadian dollar will continue to fall in 2026 as the country's tame inflation readings fuel a rethink of the Bank of Canada's interest-rate trajectory.

Space Economy & IPO Market

Elon Musk's SpaceX made public its plans for an initial public offering that is poised to be the largest stock-market debut in history, with the company estimating it has spent $15 billion developing its next-generation Starship rocket. The highly-anticipated debut is drawing comparisons to Tesla Inc.'s effect on electric-vehicle stocks, as euphoria for Musk's rocket venture gives space stocks their own Tesla surge. Two European companies planning major share sales are considering pushing back deal launches to avoid the expected market melee around SpaceX's record IPO, including OHB and KNDS weighing tweaks to their timetables.