Public Markets 3 Days

Last updated: July 17, 2026, 2:30 AM ET

AI and Tech Stocks Face Selloff Amid Valuation Concerns

Chip and memory stocks in a fresh bout of Wall Street turbulence as investors pulled away from companies that have led the market higher this year. The broader selloff in technology shares dragged down emerging-market equities, which were headed for a weekly decline. Taiwan stocks amid broad losses in Asia's chip sector, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s results fueling worries over heavy spending and a weaker outlook. China's artificial intelligence companies are poised to deliver robust earnings, but elevated expectations after a months-long rally are raising the bar for tech stocks to climb further. A measure of investor sentiment on China technology hardware is flashing its most bearish reading in over four years as the rally in chip stocks rapidly cools. ASML raised its forecasts as the AI boom drives chipmaking demand, with shares climbing as the Dutch company struck a bullish tone on the durability of the AI boom.

Global Markets React to Geopolitical Tensions and Economic Headwinds

Gold rose early but remained below the psychologically important $4,000 mark, with central bank buying likely to remain a structural driver. However, gold was on track for its biggest weekly loss since early June as renewed hostilities in the Middle East raised the odds that the US Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates to contain inflation. Industrial metals retreated on Friday as traders weighed the likelihood of higher interest rates and their negative impact on demand. Base metals also saw declines, with traders assessing the Fed's rate outlook. Nickel climbed to a three-week high as expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes faded, while uncertainty over mining policy in top producer Indonesia. Wheat extended a decline as traders took profits, against a backdrop of Black Sea supply risks and weak US export demand.

IPO Market Shows Mixed Signals Amid Corporate Dealmaking

The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., the operator of the world's largest derivatives exchange by trading volume, has received a rare ‘sell’ recommendation just as it gears up to launch its IPO as it gears up. Howden Group, the London-based insurance broker chasing an initial public offering by 2030, is in talks to raise several billion pounds in new private capital as it seeks to maintain its breakneck growth as it seeks to maintain. Eoptolink Technology Inc., a Chinese maker of optical transceivers, has filed confidentially for a multibillion-dollar listing in Hong Kong as it explores a listing. Kopi Kenangan, the celebrity-backed Indonesian coffee chain counting Serena Williams and Jay-Z among its investors, has held talks with banks to explore a potential listing that could value it at up to $1.0 billion as it explores a listing. SpaceX's fall from its post-listing peak to below its IPO price in just a month on the market for newly public companies, dragging a key gauge of this year’s debuts down with it. ABB acquired UK engineering group Rotork in a £4.1 billion deal, adding to the wave of interest from foreign buyers in London-listed companies. Dassault Systèmes is in talks to buy drug trial software company Aris Global from a Swedish buyout group for about $2 billion as it explores acquisition.

Automotive and Transport Sectors Navigate Challenges and Opportunities

Volvo Car expects growth in Europe and a recovery in the U.S. to spur significantly stronger sales in the second half of the year, despite continued challenges in China as it expects growth. Alcoa cut its full-year alumina guidance, citing issues at its Pinjarra, Australia refinery, and said alumina prices remained stable despite uncertainty about global shipments driven by the war in Iran as it cuts guidance. Lucid has brought in turnaround advisers as EV sales slump, with the Saudi-owned carmaker hiring Alix Partners to help ‘strengthen operations’ as it hires advisers. AT&T and Verizon are looking beyond the family plan, with new wireless service options potentially breaking up multiline plans and landing carriers a bevy of long-term customers. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. said it will challenge a consumer court order asking the nation’s largest carmaker to replace a vehicle over alleged damage from ethanol-blended fuel as it fights order.

European Markets and Companies Face Regulatory and Technological Shifts

Sweden’s EQT expects strong fundraising momentum as it posts higher net profit, with the buyout group reporting rises in net profit and revenue for the first half aided by higher fee-generating assets as it expects momentum. Brussels is seeking climate versus industry trade-offs in the ETS revamp and is also seeking bigger, simpler banks in a competitiveness overhaul as it seeks trade-offs. The EU climate chief backs support for heavy industry while delaying emissions curbs, confirming planned reductions in carbon permits will be softened as it backs support. Revolut and Spotify investor warns Europe over reliance on U.S. tech, with the founder of VC firm Lakestar having raised a $300 million ‘resilience’ fund to back European dual-use and defense tech start-ups as it warns Europe. Hotel group Accor hired a law firm to investigate the conduct of CEO Bazin, with a report finding no wrongdoing after probing allegations of impropriety in Accor’s dealings with associates of Bazin as it investigates CEO. UBS is trying to crack the American market at last, with the Swiss group wanting to be valued as a global wealth manager rather than a European bank but lagging far behind Wall Street rivals as it tries to crack.

US Political Landscape and Economic Policies Under Scrutiny

President Trump claimed that China had tried to acquire American voter data, but possessing such information would not allow votes to be manipulated as he claimed. Multiple investigations, audits, recounts, and court proceedings examined the 2020 election, none finding the widespread voter fraud that President Trump claimed tilted the vote as investigations refuted. The Trump administration has dismantled election security efforts, and since his return to the White House, the lead federal partner for states on election security has lost around a third of its workforce as it dismantled efforts. Many of President Trump’s attempts to curtail mail voting have been blocked by the courts, and before Trump, Republicans actually embraced absentee voting. The Trump administration is set to impose new tariffs on Brazil, accusing the country of unfair trade practices, with the tariff set to replace ones struck down by the Supreme Court as it imposes tariffs. The Treasury will begin minting $1 gold Trump coins featuring the president’s face, with critics questioning legality and arguing President Trump is using currency to celebrate himself as it mints coins.

Commodities and Energy Markets Navigate Supply Disruptions and Fed Outlook

Two U.S.-sanctioned tankers carrying cooking fuel are U-turning and zig-zagging in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, part of a flotative of vessels laden with Iranian energy exports facing an aggressive blockade as tankers U-turn. Chevron will explore a pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump’s speech tonight expected to include election-interference claims as it explores pipeline. The U.S. war against Iran enters a new phase, with the focus now on the Strait of Hormuz, though it remains unclear how far the U.S. military will go to exert control. The latest flare-up of tensions over the Strait of Hormuz is threatening fresh global supply disruptions way beyond oil and gas as tensions threaten. Europe’s scramble for gas ahead of winter gets harder, with the Strait of Hormuz having previously carried around 20% of global liquefied natural gas flows, while Iranian attacks have wiped out 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity. French power exports surged to a record in the first half of 2026 as a rebound in nuclear output and rising renewable generation left the country with a big surplus of low-cost electricity to sell across Europe as exports surge.