Public Markets 24 Hours

Last updated: May 22, 2026, 11:31 PM ET

Equities

The S&P 500 clinched its longest weekly winning streak since 2023, rising for the eighth straight week as continued enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and other emerging tech propelled U.S. stocks to new records. The index is now on track for its strongest earnings growth since 2021, with momentum spreading beyond AI-fueled gains to much of corporate America. War, inflation and worries about the AI boom haven't kept stocks from setting records, underscoring investor resilience despite geopolitical tensions. Canadian stocks jumped to a record on Friday, hitting their highest mark since early March, propelled by financial and technology stocks, while European blue-chip indexes opened in the green boosted by technology stocks following gains in Asia and the U.S.

SpaceX IPO Mania

The highly anticipated debut of SpaceX on the US stock market is drawing comparisons to Tesla Inc.'s effect on electric-vehicle stocks, with euphoria for Elon Musk's rocket venture driving a surge in space-related equities. Goldman Sachs landed the lead mandate for the SpaceX IPO, according to First FT reporting, positioning the bank at the center of what could be one of the largest public offerings in recent years. However, the process remains rooted in 1980s-era practices despite the company's futuristic ambitions, with the IPO following a low-tech playbook that contrasts sharply with SpaceX's Mars colonization goals.

Deals & Capital Markets

Danaher Corp. completed a record $3 billion private-placement bond sale, the largest such offering in what market participants are calling a landmark transaction. Lantheus Holdings Inc. is weighing a potential sale after receiving a takeover offer from Curium that values the radiopharma company at about $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Apollo Global Management made a £1.5 billion bid for Bodycote, the FTSE 250 components group, saying the takeover proposal is the latest in several efforts by the U.S. firm to acquire the business. Meanwhile, Game Stop Corp. is asking shareholders to approve a massive increase in its authorized share count as the video-game retailer pursues an acquisition of eBay Inc. Uber Technologies Inc. is exploring options for a full takeover of Delivery Hero SE, a move that would help it better compete with Door Dash Inc. outside the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.

Fixed Income & Rates

Bond traders are fully pricing in an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year, a sign of conviction in the market that Chair Kevin Warsh will need to move quickly to combat inflation. Treasury yields ended the week little changed as Wall Street hopes for a U.S.-Iran deal while bracing for potential escalation. The dollar remained steady near multi-week highs while the euro weakened slightly, with Commerzbank noting the course of the Iran war is key for the euro-dollar exchange rate. In Britain, gilt yields fell posting their biggest weekly drop since 2023 after Treasury minister Rachel Burnham pledged to stick to fiscal rules and pulled back from bets on higher Bank of England interest rates. The European Central Bank may need to lift rates next month in response to the Iran war, according to outgoing Governing Council member Madis Muller, who said there is a solid argument for a June hike amid energy supply disruptions.

Commodities

Oil futures edged up ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day weekend with traders waiting to see whether the U.S. and Iran can reach agreement to maintain the cease-fire and negotiate an end to the conflict. The number of rigs drilling in the U.S. shale patch rose by the most in more than four years, the latest sign of a resurgence in domestic activity as the war in Iran drives up oil prices. U.S. natural gas futures moved back under the $3 level as a cooler weather outlook reduces expected power-sector demand, offsetting a pickup in LNG feedgas flows. 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 industrial metal. Trafigura Group has moved to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars of copper from London Metal Exchange warehouses as lucrative trading opportunities emerge in the U.S. and China. Gold settled down 0.4% on Friday, with both gold and silver snapping a two-session winning streak and posting losses for the week, down 0.76% and 0.7% respectively.

Crypto & SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission has given Nasdaq Inc. the go-ahead to list index options based on the price of Bitcoin, the latest sign that Wall Street is becoming more tightly integrated with cryptocurrency markets. However, the SEC is delaying a plan to provide broad exemptions for U.S. crypto firms to trade tokenized assets linked to stocks, according to people familiar with the matter. The regulator also delayed prediction-market ETFs from Roundhill, Granite Shares and Bitwise, upstart fund issuers who raced to wrap election and recession bets into tickers before the regulator stepped in. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer opened an investigation into how users of Kalshi and Polymarket are using insider information to make trades on the prediction markets.

Currencies & Global FX

The dollar stalled as hope for U.S.-Iran peace boosted risk sentiment, set to end the week nearly unchanged. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan are piling up on 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 interest-rate path. Canada producer prices rose for a fourth consecutive month in April, with Statistics Canada's industrial product price index increasing 2% from the month before. Meanwhile, central African countries have no plans to devalue their common CFA franc despite economic pressure caused by weak growth and low foreign-exchange reserves, according to the Bank of Central African States governor.