Public Markets 3 Days

Last updated: July 31, 2026, 5:30 PM ET

Market Movements and Corporate Deals

U.S. stocks higher as Amazon's earnings helped sustain the artificial-intelligence recovery. surged Apple on the latest earnings reports. U.S. stocks, with the Nasdaq jumping 2.8%, as Microsoft’s robust earnings report restored momentum to the artificial-intelligence boom. Apple shares hits supply chains and growth, with the chief executive stating the impact of memory prices is set to worsen. Tech stocks are with the iPhone maker selling off after its latest forecasts disappointed investors.

KKR is nearing a deal to buy medical device maker Integer Holdings for over $4 billion. A deal for the medical-device company could be finalized soon. Healthcare company Holdings has been targeted by an activist hedge fund established by an Elliott Management alumnus. NXP is in talks to buy a $3.3 billion designer of camera chips for self-driving cars, a deal that would occur amid a consolidation wave sweeping semiconductors as they position for the AI revolution.

BlackRock’s “Widow Treasury ETF has slid to a 2004 low, as concerns around sticky inflation continue to batter fixed-income markets. Bond investors’ angst is rising due to the Fed’s lack of guidance. The yield on government bonds, which underpins borrowing costs from mortgages to business loans, remained elevated over concerns about the Federal Reserve’s efforts to contain inflation. Costs hedge against a deeper selloff in U.S. bonds are soaring, with bond traders paying the highest premiums since March to protect against a further climb in longer-dated yields. Treasury yields East tensions linger and central banks struggle to curb inflation. Treasury yields rise as oil resumes rally, with the WSJ Dollar Index rising as the greenback strengthened against the yen.

KKR is nearing a deal to buy Integer Holdings, a medical device company that has been a target of an activist hedge fund. Couche-Tard’s CEO expects shareholder pressure to raise its $8.7 billion takeover bid for Żabka Group. Intercontinental Exchange is set to buy bond platform Market Axess for $5.7 billion, marking a significant step into fixed-income trading. Intercontinental Exchange betting on a shift toward electronic fixed-income trading with its $6 billion Market Axess deal.

Economic and Regulatory Landscape

The Federal Reserve has met at least eight times a year for decades, and reducing the number of meetings would represent the biggest change since Kevin M. Warsh became chairman. divisions over whether to raise interest rates intensified at Kevin Warsh’s second meeting as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Fed decided to hold rates, causing the dollar to fall. Emerging-market currencies gained after the Federal Reserve steady, pushing the U.S. dollar lower following mounting speculation that policymakers would use this meeting.

The U.S. Treasury is exploring bringing some of its cash pile into the roughly $13 trillion market for repurchase agreements, reviving a two-decade-old idea and sparking debate around its potential to reshape funding markets. The U.S. Treasury is warning banks that it might intervene in the dollar-yen exchange rate, as the yen has weakened substantially against the dollar in recent years to near multidecade lows. Japan’s authorities from confirming market intervention after the yen’s sharp rally, while also hinting at some support from overseas.

Companies are seizing on what many describe as a highly favorable regulatory environment for businesses under the Trump administration. Trump administration is repurposing federal land for AI data centers, including converting a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants. California governor has expressed concerns about the state antitrust suit against Paramount, suggesting that blocking the $81 billion deal could harm Hollywood jobs.

Sector-Specific Developments

Trucking and logistics stocks are poised for their worst month in over a year, weighed down by mounting concerns over a recent legal decision that can hurt industry brokers, alongside disappointing economic data. U.S. natural futures were returning gains that followed a below-estimate weekly storage injection. European natural prices are poised for their biggest monthly gain since March as the war in the Middle East continues to disrupt global energy supplies. Oil futures U.S. trading and were on track for hefty gains for July, which saw the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding fall apart and Iran resume attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. BP is drilling business up for sale as part of its efforts to streamline operations.

Exxon Mobil Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp. have plowed blowout debt reduction rather than huge buyback increases, signaling Big Oil’s caution about the longevity of war-driven price rallies. Valero Energy reported that its earnings surged in the second quarter, thanks to sturdy fuel demand. Shell has been running its refineries at full tilt during an oil-price surge, a strategy that has helped drive a surge in profits. The United Arab Emirates’ state-oil company will base its official selling prices on the prompt-month Platts Dubai benchmark starting from November 1. Abu Dhabi abandoned its bid to build a global oil benchmark, returning to pricing its crude against the Dubai benchmark after Iran’s war exposed problems with Murban futures.

Chile registered its weakest second quarter of copper production in data going back to 2007, underscoring the challenge facing the world’s biggest supplier as aging mines struggle to lift output. The trading arm of Chinese copper giant CMOC Group Ltd. is pushing into iron ore with a deal to finance a mining company in Brazil. Zijin’s $4 deal with Allied Gold has collapsed due to objections from Chinese regulators.

Company and Fund Performance

Amazon increased AI spending to $220 billion this year, up from its April expectation of $200 billion in 2026. Ares Management a growing number of large private-markets firms defying a market slowdown with quarterly growth in both fundraising and capital deployment. Ares Management Corp.’s $29 billion flagship private credit fund reported an increase in troubled investments in the second quarter, as the industry grapples with exposure to businesses vulnerable to economic downturns. Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness in July, prompting the firm to tell investors it would "fight another day" after selling the bulk of its stocks to Citadel. Griffin’s Situational Awareness hedge fund, behind Wall Street’s AI trade, is selling off assets to Citadel.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s profit again as rising commodity costs offset robust revenue growth and a healthy jump in exports. Novo Nordisk shares dropped 10% after a cardiovascular drug trial disappointed investors, as the Danish drugmaker attempts to diversify beyond its blockbuster obesity treatments. Sony boosted its outlook as its music and image-sensor businesses fuel profit growth, even as its game division remained lackluster. Abb Vie lowered its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to account for its acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, while logging higher profit and revenue in the recent quarter. AXA backed its 2026 views after first-half earnings rose, with the French insurer reporting a rise in earnings over the first half and reaffirming its targets for the year.

Global Economic and Political Developments

Colombia has launched a program to accumulate as much as $4 billion in international reserves, moving to weaken the nation’s currency from a seven-year high. India’s plan to boost inflows into the country has had a strong start, with the central bank Governor reporting that banks have garnered $32 billion under the announced measures. Hong Kong’s imports of gold surged to the most since late 2014 in June, driven by preparations for the city’s recently solid demand from mainland China.

The U.S. said it had no role in redirecting the first Qatari liquefied natural gas shipment to transit the Strait of Hormuz in more than three weeks. U.S.-Iran talks "ongoing" to normalize the situation, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Iran sent aid to Russia for its war against Ukraine, raising questions about whether that conflict and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran are converging. Ukraine’s Black ports are being ravaged by a new type of Russian missile, the Banderol, characterized by its low cost.

Legal and Regulatory Challenges

Former Congressman George Santos than $35,000 to settle allegations that he manipulated a wager on prediction market platform Kalshi. New York General Letitia James’s office stated that Kalshi’s prediction market meets the legal definition of gambling because users are betting on events outside of their control in a game of chance. Bonds issued Extenet a company that operates miniature cell towers, are in default after missing interest payments, and the firm also engaged in cash management violations.

The problems plaguing the Justice Department's case against Minnesota anti-ICE protesters have hurt the government’s chances and undermined the bonds of trust that prosecutors have traditionally enjoyed in court. The U.S. sees Iran as likely behind the cyberattack on Minnesota water systems, though investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary and there were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.

Market Infrastructure and Trading

The UK Financial Conduct Authority it will allow to be published on UK equities trading, a move that could encourage more activity on the London Stock Exchange. Trading in most Brazilian assets was suspended due to technical issues at the country’s main stock exchange, a halt that nearly halved the local market session. rise bond e-trading underpins NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange’s $6 billion Market Axess deal. MEMX LLC, an exchange operator backed by Jane Street and Morgan Stanley, will combine with equity options market BOX, giving Canada’s leading stock exchange control of the merged entity.

New Zealand Australia are expected to transition to next-day settlement of stock transactions by 2030, once key clearing and settlement systems are ready. reporters will answer questions about the rise of nonstop trading and its market implications in a Live Q&A on Tuesday, August 4 at 2 p.m. BST.

Other Notable Developments

Coast Guard head stated that "decisive action" would be taken to ensure brain injuries caused by rough seas are recognized, treated, and prevented. migrants who crossed into Ceuta attributed their arrival to lax Moroccan border protocols, but Europe’s anti-immigrant politicians blamed Spain’s migrant-friendly policies. Far-right politicians capitalizing on the situation in Ceuta.

California governor has expressed concerns about the state antitrust suit against Paramount, suggesting that blocking the $81 billion deal could harm Hollywood jobs. Time’s “The Odyssey” translation by Emily Wilson has ignited a debate among classicists and commenters, with Wilson panning Christopher Nolan's screenplay for the movie version in an essay.