Public Markets 3d Briefing
×Last updated: August 20, 2026, 11:34 AM ET
Energy & Commodities
Oil futures wsj.com climbed for a fourth consecutive day, with Brent crude settling above $94 a barrel as concerns over stalled talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz pushed the geopolitical risk premium higher. U.S. crude stockpiles wsj.com posted a third straight weekly increase, rising by 4.4 million barrels, while natural gas inventories wsj.com saw their smallest build of the current injection season, sending futures lower. Raw sugar bloomberg.com surged to its highest level in over a year on signs of Indian buying interest, and palm oil bloomberg.com reached a 20-month high driven by rising biofuel demand and El Niño-related supply risks. Copper bloomberg.com held above $14,000 a ton following the Treasury’s surprise bond buyback announcement, while corn futures bloomberg.com broke the $5-a-bushel threshold for the first time in 18 months on tighter-than-expected U.S. supply estimates.
Fixed Income & Currencies
US long-term bonds ft.com slid further despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s intervention, with the 30-year yield climbing as investors questioned the durability of buybacks. US 30-year bonds bloomberg.com erased all post-intervention gains, underscoring market skepticism about the Treasury’s ability to tame yields amid soaring debt levels. Japanese stocks bloomberg.com slumped, with the Topix falling the most since March as rising global bond yields weighed on AI-related equities. Indian bonds bloomberg.com dropped after RBI policy minutes signaled a hawkish tilt, while Korean yield curves steepened to their widest since 2021 on persistent long-end pressure. Emerging-market currencies bloomberg.com hit fresh highs as the “Bessent put” boosted carry trade appeal, even as oil prices nytimes.com surged on renewed Iran tensions. Australian unemployment bloomberg.com rose to 4.5% in July, prompting traders to pare rate-hike bets, while Chinese refiners bloomberg.com snapped up Iraqi crude as more barrels exited the Persian Gulf. Chinese tankers executed rare U-turns in the Strait of Hormuz amid elevated shipping risks, and Hong Kong dollar bloomberg.com neared the weak end of its trading band on surging carry trade demand.
Equities & Earnings
Walmart nytimes.com reported the slowest sales growth in years as American consumers tightened wallets, with Target wsj.com raising its fiscal-year outlook on strong traffic and Estée Lauder wsj.com posting a 63% sales jump as turnaround efforts gained momentum. Deere wsj.com posted higher Q3 profit and sales, though Lowe’s bloomberg.com cut its full-year outlook after missing Wall Street estimates. Hovnanian wsj.com swung to a Q3 loss amid a continually challenging housing market, while Pop Mart wsj.com warned of a potential 2026 sales-target miss as growth abroad cools. Novonesis wsj.com led Europe’s Stoxx 600 after posting organic sales growth ahead of estimates, and Ping An bloomberg.com saw net income surge 36% in H1 as China’s stock rally boosted investment returns. Meta bloomberg.com faced a trillion-dollar risk as its child safety trial began in California, while SK Hynix bloomberg.com may add at least $130 billion in shareholder returns through next year. JD Sports ft.com issued a fresh profit warning as U.S. sales tumbled, sending shares down 15%.
Corporate Actions & Deals
Vylor bloomberg.com launched an investment-grade bond offering to finance a payout to parent Corteva bloomberg.com ahead of its spinoff. PGIM bloomberg.com agreed to purchase up to $3 billion of home improvement loans from Green Sky under a three-year arrangement. Thales bloomberg.com sold a dual-tranche bond to fund its acquisition of maritime robotics firm Exail. CapitaLand bloomberg.com and IOI Properties neared a deal to acquire Singapore’s One Raffles Place for S$2.4 billion. Danone wsj.com secured U.K. competition clearance for its $1.2 billion Huel acquisition. Shein bloomberg.com courted Boyu Capital and UBS as cornerstone investors for its Hong Kong IPO. CVC bloomberg.com and Prudential backed Standard Life’s U.K. pension risk transfer partnership. Dangote bloomberg.com secured $400 million for its Nigeria refinery IPO, and Kazakhstan’s bloomberg.com sovereign wealth fund prepared to ramp up international bond sales.
Geopolitics & Policy
Trump nytimes.com threatened economic penalties on countries doing business with Iran, while Treasury intervention nytimes.com raised concerns about inflation and Fed policy independence. Ethiopia bloomberg.com sold $500 million to support its currency, and Egypt bloomberg.com held rates for a fourth consecutive meeting amid war uncertainty. Ukraine bloomberg.com struck Russia’s Taneco refinery and a Black Sea terminal, worsening Moscow’s fuel shortages. Venezuela bloomberg.com signaled readiness to sign oil deals with U.S. investors, while China bloomberg.com bought Saudi crude in a rare tender amid muted overall imports. Iran tensions bloomberg.com drove oil to three-week highs as Gulf exports persisted despite regional risks.