Public Markets 8 Hours

Last updated: June 2, 2026, 11:30 PM ET

Equities Extend Record Run on AI Optimism

U.S. stocks notched their longest winning streak in a year, with all three major indexes closing at records for five consecutive sessions — a feat not seen since February 2017. The rally was driven by renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, with Asian equities poised to track Wall Street higher and India's IT sector soaring after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang soothed fears of AI-led disruption. March-quarter earnings from Indian outsourcing giants point to a gradual growth recovery, according to Centrum analysts. Tech companies are flooding the market with $675 billion in equity, capitalizing on voracious investor demand for anything connected to the AI build-out.

SpaceX IPO Looms Over Markets

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to set IPO terms as early as Wednesday, with Reuters reporting the company aims to raise $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares at $135 each. The listing is targeting a roughly $1.75 trillion valuation, which would rank among the largest public debuts in history and generate hundreds of millions in fees for underwriters. The space-sector pipeline is deepening: Applied Aerospace & Defense already raised $650 million in its own offering this week. Chinese investors are anxious about missing the SpaceX listing after Beijing warned brokers against facilitating overseas share sales, even as Beijing expanded outbound investment curbs to explicitly cover individual investors for the first time — a shift that tightens the screws on capital flight and raises compliance barriers for tech founders and ordinary citizens alike who have long relied on creative workarounds to bypass the $50,000 annual transfer limit.

Energy Markets on Edge as Hormuz Talks Stall

Oil prices climbed on signs that U.S.-Iran negotiations are faltering, with an exchange of attacks between the two nations threatening to complicate efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the transit route for roughly a fifth of global crude supply. Treasury yields held steady as the geopolitical impasse showed no visible progress. Gold, meanwhile, edged lower after robust U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep rates elevated, though technical charts suggest the metal's backdrop has improved in recent weeks, according to Stone X analysts.

Currency Markets Brace for Intervention

The yen paused its slide just shy of the 160 level against the dollar as traders refrained from testing Japanese authorities' resolve to defend the currency. Taiwan's central bank is pushing deeper into foreign-exchange markets to suppress volatility as the AI boom widens the island's current-account surplus, while the Singapore dollar consolidated against the greenback, though a resilient U.S. growth narrative could cap further gains. Japanese government bonds fell on a technical correction after Tuesday's broad rally across sovereign notes. Bond bears remain firmly positioned for higher yields ahead of Friday's critical U.S. payrolls report, having only modestly trimmed extreme shorts.

Credit Strains and Corporate Dealmaking

QXO Building Products' $3 billion junk-bond sale drew more than triple that amount in demand, showing investors are still hunting for yield even as cracks appear elsewhere in private credit. Cliffwater's flagship $31 billion retail-focused fund faced 17% redemption requests and moved to limit withdrawals — the latest sign of investor flight from the sector. Brazil's Raizen is preparing a final $13 billion debt restructuring proposal for creditors as soon as Wednesday. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's heir apparent Greg Abel signaled his dealmaking ambitions with a pair of Berkshire Hathaway megadeals in a single weekend, and Hong Kong's Jardine Matheson is seeking a roughly A$1.5 billion loan to fund its takeover of Australian imaging firm I-MED Radiology Network.

Retail and Tech Earnings Impress

Game Stop shares surged as much as 13% in after-hours trading after the retailer posted its highest quarterly profit ever on $835.3 million in sales driven by collectibles, alongside a $2 billion buyback authorization. Victoria's Secret swung to a $47.7 million first-quarter profit on strong bra sales, lifting full-year guidance. Ulta Beauty reported an 11% revenue increase across all major categories. In enterprise software, Palo Alto Networks' CEO Nikesh Arora pushed back against "Saa S-Pocalypse" fears after revenue growth topped expectations, while GitLab announced layoffs affecting 14% of staff — 350 employees — and exits from 22 countries as part of an AI-focused restructuring.