Public Markets 8 Hours

Last updated: August 26, 2026, 2:53 AM ET

Equities

UK stocks were poised to extend their winning streak to seven days as the FTSE 100 opened higher, buoyed by strength in commodity-linked shares. Across Asia, the picture was more mixed, with the Nikkei falling 0.4% as chip-related stocks dropped ahead of Nvidia's earnings. In Sydney, shares of Domino's Pizza Enterprises tumbled the most since February, sliding 13% after the fast-food chain reported a further decline in sales across several markets.

In China, record short bets have been placed against AI model companies Z.AI Co. and Mini Max Group Inc. ahead of their earnings, reflecting growing investor concern over the country's heated AI rivalry. Meanwhile, Chinese steelmakers face a profit squeeze through year-end as elevated raw material costs compound weakness in demand. Adding to the pressure on listed companies, President Xi Jinping's unprecedented tax clawback is hammering firms, with Heilongjiang Agriculture Co. set to report its first-ever first-half loss after more than two decades as a public company.

Commodities & FX

Copper extended gains after closing at a record high on Tuesday, as short-term supplies continued to look tight despite an easing of last week's severe market squeeze. Gold slipped in Asian trade, with markets waiting for Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh to clarify his views on when the central bank is likely to react to inflation at the annual Jackson Hole gathering. The metal had earlier held a five-day gain as traders turned their focus to the Fed's rate path.

Oil fell in early trade on signs of Middle East talks that could lead to reduced supply disruptions. The Singapore dollar was steady against its US counterpart amid reduced geopolitical risks in the region. Australia's second-largest pension fund has built its biggest overweight position in the yen in years, betting that markets are underpricing Bank of Japan interest rate hikes.

Rates & Credit

The US Treasury is on a collision course with the Fed as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's increased purchases of debt threaten to undermine central bank chief Kevin Warsh's bid to tame inflation. Citadel Securities' Frank Flight, who last month warned of a "cruel summer" for US bond investors, has now reversed his bearish call on long bonds, citing crowded bearish positioning and improving fundamentals. In China, lenders have started pricing bonds off the overnight funding cost, indicating it is increasingly the benchmark for the financial system.

The market for synthetic risk transfers has boomed, with insurers now piling into deals allowing banks to offload default risk through unfunded structures. However, Mark Walter's troubles are disrupting the insurance world's hottest trade, with investors questioning a $4.1 billion takeover of Brighthouse Financial. Institutional investors are also backing Blackstone and KKR evergreen funds for wealthy individuals, a shift that could threaten the traditional 10-year fund model.

Deals & IPOs

SoftBank Group is talking with investment banks about a potential $10 billion to $20 billion bond offering to help refinance a loan for its investment in OpenAI. In India, options turnover on the NSE fell to the lowest in a year on monthly expiry day, reflecting stricter trading rules and the introduction of closing-auction sessions. The government has emerged as a force in India's equity fundraising boom, with Modi's administration well-placed to meet its divestment target.

Purple Style Labs, the operator of Bollywood-backed wedding fashion retailer Pernia's Pop-Up Shop, will sell shares in an IPO next week. Fast-fashion retailer Shein is preparing to list in Hong Kong at a quarter of its peak valuation, down from $100 billion to around $27 billion. China's YMTC aims to overtake Samsung and SK Hynix in the flash memory race, setting out Nand production ambitions in investor meetings for a $5 billion Shanghai IPO.

Singapore-based insurer Great Eastern Holdings is backing Granite Asia's inaugural private credit fund, the latest example of an insurance company pushing into the asset class. The British Business Bank's small business loans have hit £4 billion, though executive pay has jumped at the state-owned bank amid questions over its underwriting of commercial banks' lending.

Companies

Nvidia's $200 billion "balance sheet-as-a-service" model faces scrutiny as vendor finance risks grow. XPeng's co-president Brian Gu believes robots will eventually be more profitable than the company's core electric-vehicle business as Iron mass production starts. Saga's over-fifties holidays are finally turning silver into gold, with the company's cruise-focused turnaround paying off after swapping insurance underwriting for selling other companies' policies.

Deloitte will pay the US administration $21.5 million to settle a probe into "discriminatory" practices, one of several professional services businesses targeted by the American Alliance for Equal Rights. The DOJ investigation used a novel application of a federal law meant to police federal contractors. Interpath's chief executive Mark Raddan has been fined over confidentiality breaches before the restructuring firm's sale by KPMG to private equity group HIG Capital.

Geopolitics & Policy

The US has threatened sanctions for any country or entity that engages with Iran's gold, digital assets, aviation, shipping and tech industries in what it calls "Economic D-Day." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has singled out Bank Melli, Iran's largest lender, saying every foreign branch must be shut down. Indian refiners are widening their oil search as Ukrainian attacks hurt flows from Russia, their top supplier.

Canada has fired back in the trade war against Trump with tariffs of up to 50% on items from aluminum foil to dishwashers to fish. The Trump administration has sent a Saudi nuclear deal to Congress for review, with the prospect that the kingdom could enrich uranium drawing opposition from Democrats. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would defend the International Criminal Court against US pressure, most recently through the sanctioning of its Japanese president.

Markets & Strategy

Today's markets are not as contradictory as they seem, with what looks like a breakdown in historical correlations reflecting a different macroeconomic regime. The multiplying risks of financing data centres are growing as Wall Street players extend themselves to underwrite this colossal new asset class, with risks of $7 trillion in AI data centre investments prompting players to look to limit exposure. Elon Musk's SpaceX faces formidable challenges in its orbital data centre bet, testing both physics and finance in launching millions of satellites into orbit to power AI.

Income investing has big drawbacks, with living on investment income alone no longer constituting a financial strategy for most better-off Britons. Berlin's defence push is drawing global groups to set up shop in Germany, with companies from Norway, Finland and South Korea establishing German offices to tap higher spending. South Korea is challenging China on Arctic trade routes, hoping a polar sea highway will reduce reliance on chokepoints such as Hormuz and revive the ailing city of Busan. A separate report also details Seoul's Arctic ambitions to challenge China's influence in the region.

Politics & Society

In a headache for Republicans, a second Dan Sullivan — a long-shot candidate with the same name as the incumbent Republican senator — advanced in Alaska's Senate race and will be on the ballot in November. Trump-backed Mike Mazzei, a former state senator who lent more than $11 million of his own money to his campaign, narrowly defeated the state's attorney general in Oklahoma's GOP gubernatorial primary. President Trump went all in for Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina's primary runoff, preserving his undefeated streak in Republican Senate primaries this year.

Democrats scored a victory in a campaign finance court case, with an appeals court ruling that Republicans are not entitled to lower political ad rates despite the Supreme Court decision allowing party committees to coordinate with candidates. Everton Blair Jr. won the race to fill David Scott's House seat in Georgia, though he is not competing in the general election for the next full term in the deep-blue district. At Trump's Indy Car race, a VIP invitation became a diplomatic snub when some foreign ambassadors were uninvited after being promised free food, misting fans and shaded seats.

Asia & Emerging Markets

Chinese banks are adopting the overnight rate for bond benchmarking as PBOC reform widens. The National Museum of Korean Democracy, which opened last year, documents an era of brutal suppression, but that dark history has resurfaced in troubling ways. Private equity has helped create a new generation of wealthy Italians, and private banks are in a bidding war to serve them. Four Russian bankers at Gazprombank Luxembourg made millions from EU sanctions as Moscow reeled from western blowback over the Ukraine war.

The London robotaxi launch date has slipped amid TfL uncertainty, with operators playing down the chance of starting this year. Granola co-founder Chris Pedregal says people are starting to question what's actually useful as AI note-taking rises and its privacy implications become clearer. A worker died after an accident with a plane at Montreal airport involving an Airbus A350 operated by French Bee. NYC officials defended their second-home tax rollout, saying they used new data to shrink the pool of properties potentially subject to the tax and extended the deadline for homeowners to prove residency.

Obituaries & Culture

Dolly Parton, the country music superstar whose songs spoke to millions, has died at. Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. Her death hit home for Tennesseans, with one resident saying "she inspired Tennesseans to be better." Parton gave hopeful expression to songs she wrote about the hard times and hard-won triumphs of her life, with her voice and concerns earning her comparisons to an earth angel. A journalist who trailed Parton around the world witnessed many small moments in which she'd gracefully own her power without the slightest hint of fight.

Other Headlines

A surrogate who fled to Texas to avoid an abortion after the fetus was diagnosed with a serious heart problem now wants custody of the baby instead of the biological parents. Prosecution experts shared doubts about Lindsay Clancy's claim that she was suffering postpartum psychosis when she killed her children in 2023, challenging her mental state defense. The rapid rise of cheap one-way attack drones was made possible by a complex global supply chain that keeps leading back to China, transforming war through the Iranian Shahed drone. A global surge in poultry numbers is transforming high streets, diets and landscapes, raising the question of whether the chicken takeover is unstoppable.

Britain can't afford to fail on social care reform, as lack of support for family carers holds back the economy by reducing earnings and high costs distort consumer spending. It is time to think about updating your trust, as geopolitics and evolving family relationships militate towards reconsidering how and where a trust is run. The rise and fall of Eliot Spitzer, the "Sheriff of Wall Street" who exposed bankers' lies, offers lessons on regulatory power and its limits.