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Last updated: August 3, 2026, 5:31 PM ET

U.S. Markets and Geopolitical Easing

U.S. stocks rallied as President Trump signaled a return to diplomacy with Iran, easing geopolitical tensions. Treasury yields fell as hopes for a diplomatic solution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz picked up. U.S. stocks were on track to extend Friday’s rally as President Trump said he had canceled planned strikes on Iran, adding that peace talks would resume Monday afternoon. Dow futures rose to a new record, and the U.S.-Japan intervention helped prop up the yen. European energy stocks opened lower on slumping oil prices as President Trump prioritizes diplomacy and says new talks with Iran will begin Monday. European stocks tested fresh highs, with consumer products and retail shares among the biggest gainers, as signs of easing tensions between the US and Iran pushed oil prices lower. Oil futures fell after the U.S. suspended plans for major attacks against Iran, while expectations of a negotiated solution to the conflict remain in question. Oil prices plummeted as markets digested the pause in Iran war fighting. Oil futures slipped as OPEC+ signaled output increases. The markets’ moves were the first since President Trump said he had halted a planned U.S. assault on Iran. U.S. natural gas futures made a modest advance with temperatures expected to heat up into next week, favoring power-sector demand. U.S. stocks rose on the first trading day of the month as attention turned to this week’s heavy slate of earnings reports.

Corporate Earnings and Dealmaking

People Inc. profit more than doubled, boosted by an unrealized gain on its investment in MGM. The company posted a quarterly profit of $506.9 million. Snap's loss narrowed on higher revenue after cost cuts, with its total adjusted cost structure rising just 4%. ON Semiconductor reported higher profit and revenue on its growing AI data center business, with second-quarter net income of $226.8 million, up from $170.3 million a year earlier. Clorox projects a tough fiscal year with inflation and value-seeking customers, and now expects sales to rise between 13% and 14% for the current fiscal year after its fourth-quarter revenue fell to $1.95 billion. Palantir lifted its guidance as revenue nearly doubled, now expecting between $8.15 billion and $8.16 billion in full-year revenue, including U.S. commercial revenue growing at least 134% to $3.42 billion. Williams Cos. reached a deal to buy Momentum Midstream LLC for up to $5.5 billion, expanding its natural gas network. Visa is acquiring Bio Catch, a fraud-reduction platform that uses artificial intelligence, for $2.4 billion in cash. Nissan posted its first quarterly profit in two years and kept its outlook unchanged, even as it lowered its vehicle sales projection. Fresenius Medical AG’s profit rose more than expected in the second quarter, helped by a strong performance in its dialysis service unit. Sandoz will pay around $480 million to settle U.S. antitrust pricing litigations, leaving only claims from individual plaintiffs against the Swiss generic drug maker. The beer dynasty families sold a €731 million ($843 stake in AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer. Japan’s Orix agreed to buy Aer Fin Ltd., a UK-based airplane parts company, in a deal worth about ¥100 billion ($640 including debt.

Technology and AI Developments

The A.I. revolution is stalling because companies don’t want to admit that integrating the technology is expensive and slow and requires human effort. Opinion suggests AI companies need to drill for resources, as that appears to be the only way to prevent energy costs from exploding. A new field of “tokenomics” has emerged to measure the return on all the money companies are pouring into artificial intelligence. The AI race has fueled a wave of founder poaching and startup acquisitions, sometimes leaving venture investors in the lurch. State ownership of AI companies is a bad idea, as it would not increase the government’s powers to control those companies, and the opposite is more likely. Tech workers have proudly worn nerdy company-branded gear for years, but this generation of hot companies is getting fancy with its merchandise. Artificial Intelligence is helping people write corridos within hours, accelerating a century-old tradition of memorializing tragedy through song.

Market Trends and Economic Indicators

The dollar index turned positive as pro-yen intervention faded, with the dollar partially reversing its decline against the yen. The dollar extended its slide as a joint US-Japan intervention to support the yen added to losses triggered by last week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The U.S. and Japan are seeking to contain tremors that could be triggered by a cratering Japanese currency. The yen’s sharp rally sparked a selloff in Japanese equities Monday, but the currency failed to breach the level that many companies use as the basis for their profit forecasts, giving stocks scope to recover. The rally in the yen is set to bolster a number of other Asian currencies based on their relatively high correlations, according to Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Bank Plc. The dollar dropped further as the yen rebound extended the Fed-driven slide. The WSJ Dollar Index turned positive as pro-yen intervention faded. Treasury yields declined as geopolitical fears eased. Treasuries climbed to start the week on oil and Bessent’s yen pledge, buoyed by tumbling oil prices and assurances that tens of billions of dollars in Japanese currency interventions won’t be funded from sales of U.S. debt. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said interest rates remain well positioned as inflation should ease during the second half of the year. Citadel Securities says the bull market drivers are “firmly intact” after a reset in retail investors’ speculative trading. Momentum-style equity investing is poised to rebound from a sharp retreat as sectors with strong earnings replace chip stocks in leading the market’s gains, according to Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson. The momentum trade just gave investors a taste of the pronounced profit-and-loss swings they can expect if they fail to hedge or diversify, a warning that’s reinforced by growing inflation risks.

Energy and Commodities

Oil prices fell sharply as President Trump signaled a return to diplomacy with Iran. Oil futures settled lower as the U.S. gave talks another chance and suspended plans for major attacks against Iran. Oil exports from Venezuela plunged in July due to weaker demand from India after a pause in the Iran war unlocked Middle Eastern barrels trapped in the Persian Gulf. Oil production in Brazil reached a record high in June as rising supplies from producers a world away from the Middle East cushioned disruption from the fallout of the war in Iran. India increased levies on exports of oil products to bolster domestic fuel stockpiles while global supplies remained tight despite a pause in fighting between the US and Iran. Shipbroker Clarkson Plc expects its full year performance to be “materially ahead of market expectations” after delivering a record first-half performance boosted by “exceptional volatility” caused by the Hormuz disruption. Tungsten mining helps explain the state of worldwide conflict, with the tungsten market acting as a century-old prediction market for war. Copper is pouring into the US at the fastest rate in at least 12 years as traders position ahead of President Donald Trump’s decision on tariffs on refined imports.

International Markets and Finance

The Indian government is looking to sell at least a 2.5% stake in Life Insurance Corp. as part of its plan to meet the minimum public float rules, seeking to raise at least $1.3 billion. India’s new system to discover end-of-day market prices got off to a confusing start, with traders trying to make sense of a spike in the NSE Nifty 50 Index stemming from the shift. India’s largest exchange was severely hit by the central bank’s tighter funding rules implemented last month, with spending on derivatives slumping to a 17-month low. Pakistan’s inflation eased last month, though policymakers remain wary that higher energy costs could reignite price pressures. A state-owned power producer in Laos sold $300 million of triple C notes on Monday, a rare transaction in the Asian dollar bond market. A Chinese municipal borrower said it has enough funds to repay 1.08 billion yuan ($160 in offshore notes due next week, after people familiar with the matter said a plan to refinance that debt hit a snag. The recalibration of an attempted takeover deal reflects a more risk-averse approach from Beijing in China’s mining M&A market. First Hold Co plans to raise about 1.4 trillion naira ($1 through a share sale after the Central Bank of Nigeria gave the nation’s biggest lender approval for the move. Manila Electric Co. the Philippines’ largest power distributor, was ordered by the regulator to refund 9.5 billion pesos ($156 , representing excess charges to customers.

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