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Markets
Warsh's Fed shrinkage plan hits Treasury debt wall
Warsh wants a smaller Fed footprint, but heavy Treasury issuance, a 5.8 per cent deficit and still-crucial reserve balances complicate that retreat.
Powell interim Fed role sparks fresh fight before Warsh takes over
Jerome Powell's temporary role before Kevin Warsh takes over the Federal Reserve has become a new flashpoint over independence, board authority and how markets will read the transition.
Warsh confirmed Fed chair as US inflation hits 3.8 per cent
The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve in a 54-45 vote, the most divisive in the institution's history, as April consumer prices rose 3.8 per cent — the fastest pace since May 2023.
Gilt yields hit 1998 high as Streeting quits to challenge Starmer
UK 30-year gilt yields surged to their highest level since 1998 on Wednesday after Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned to launch a leadership challenge against Prime Minister Keir Starmer, rattling bond markets already strained by the Iran war and a global energy crunch.
UK gilt yields surge to 28-year high as pressure mounts on Starmer
Thirty-year UK government bond yields climbed to 5.81 per cent on Monday, their highest since 1998, as financial markets priced in the growing likelihood of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's departure following a wave of Labour MP defections.
UK 30-year gilt yields surge to highest since 1998 as Starmer fights to stay on
British borrowing costs hit a near three-decade high on Monday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer battled to contain a Labour rebellion triggered by disastrous local election losses, with the 30-year gilt yield reaching 5.80 percent and the pound sliding.
Stocks Climb to Records Even as Oil, Yields and Volatility Rise Together
U.S. equities reached fresh all-time highs on Monday despite surging crude prices, climbing Treasury yields and elevated volatility — a rare configuration that has historically preceded sharp reversals.
SpaceX IPO Tests Limits of Market Liquidity Depth
SpaceX plans a $75 billion IPO at a $1.75 trillion valuation. The record listing could drain investor capital from smaller issuers and reshape market flows.
Bond Market's Warsh Trade Falls Apart as Oil Fans Inflation Risk
The $31 trillion Treasury market is reversing its most telegraphed bet of 2026 as surging oil prices and sticky inflation force traders to scrap rate-cut expectations ahead of incoming Fed chair Kevin Warsh's confirmation.
Iran war could force Fed to raise rates, Pimco warns
Pimco economist Tiffany Wilding says the Federal Reserve's next move is still likely a cut but warns the Iran conflict could force a hike if energy supply disruption proves prolonged, as central banks worldwide freeze their easing cycles.
Burry warns semiconductor rally echoes dot-com bubble final phase
Michael Burry, the investor who predicted the 2008 housing crash, has warned the AI-driven semiconductor rally mirrors the final months of the 1999-2000 dot-com bubble, disclosing put options on Nvidia, Palantir and chip ETFs representing 80 per cent of his hedge fund portfolio.
Yardeni lifts S&P 500 target to 8,250 as earnings defy macro risks
Ed Yardeni raised his year-end S&P 500 target to 8,250, the highest on Wall Street, and boosted the odds of his Roaring 2020s thesis to 80 per cent, betting that resilient corporate earnings will overwhelm risks from the Hormuz closure and elevated bond yields.
Bowman warns Fed capital rules shifted corporate lending into private credit
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said post-2008 bank capital rules created a "perverse incentive" that drove corporate lending from regulated banks into the $1.4 trillion private credit market, and outlined a Basel III recalibration to bring some of that activity back.
Cash piles top $8.2 trillion as US equity benchmarks set records
Money parked in US money market funds reached an all-time high of $8.2 trillion in early May as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite traded near records. The simultaneous build in cash and equities is unusual in modern market history.
Federal Reserve quickly running out of reasons to cut interest rates
The Federal Reserve is quickly running out of reasons to cut interest rates after April payrolls rose by 115,000 and inflation resumed its climb to 3.3 per cent. A growing bloc of hawkish dissent on the FOMC and revised bank forecasts now point to an indefinite hold, boxing in incoming chair Kevin Warsh.
Aramco Q1 profit rises 26pc as pipeline offsets Hormuz closure
Saudi Aramco reported a 26 per cent rise in first-quarter adjusted net income to $33.6 billion, beating analyst estimates. The crude price surge that followed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz flowed through to the state oil giant's bottom line.
Energy volatility permanent after Hormuz closure, warns IEA
The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the oil supply disruption from the Strait of Hormuz closure is not a temporary shock but the new baseline for global energy markets, as prices, bond markets, and fertiliser supply chains reel from the largest supply disruption in modern history.
AI lifts S&P 500 to record as valuations outrun earnings
Wall Street ended the week with the S&P 500 at a record 7,209 and the Nasdaq at 24,892, the latest peaks in an AI-led rally that has carried US equity valuations to their most stretched levels since the dot-com era. Earnings beats have closed only part of the gap.
Warsh nomination as Fed chair raises bull-market unwind risk, analysts warn
Kevin Warsh's arrival as Federal Reserve chair on May 15 sets in motion forces that could unwind the equity rally. His agenda to shrink the $6.7 trillion balance sheet and negotiate a new Treasury-Fed accord collides with Trump's demand for rate cuts.
African oil producers face revenue risk as UAE quits OPEC
African oil exporters face a revenue squeeze while import-dependent economies stand to gain from lower fuel costs after the UAE exited OPEC on 1 May, ending 59 years of membership in the producers' group.
Powell to stay on Fed board after chairmanship, breaking 75-year norm
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he will stay on the Board of Governors after his term as chair ends 15 May, citing an open criminal inquiry into the central bank's $2.5bn building project. The decision breaks a 75-year tradition.
Fed inflation tracker warns prices accelerating as Iran war fuel shock persists
Cleveland Fed nowcast shows headline PCE at 3.73 per cent in April and a Q2 pace above 5 per cent, narrowing the path to any 2026 rate cut. Goolsbee says cuts may slip to 2027.
NewSquare trims $14.8m QTEC position after 60% technology run
NewSquare Capital cut its $14.80m position in the First Trust QTEC ETF to just 0.03 per cent of assets, according to a 13F filing. The trim follows a 60 per cent technology rally and stretches QTEC's P/E above 38.
US consumer sentiment hits record low as gas prices eclipse jobs data
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 48.2 in May, the lowest reading since the survey began in 1952, even as employers added nearly twice the number of jobs economists had expected in April.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records on AI and earnings optimism
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record highs on Friday, lifted by AI chipmaker gains and a first-quarter earnings season running well ahead of estimates.
SK hynix HBM capacity hits zero as Big Tech offers fab funding
SK hynix told customers its high-bandwidth memory output is sold out and that Big Tech buyers are offering to fund new fabs and ASML lithography purchases.
Fed warns rising risks even as financial system holds firm
The US Federal Reserve's May Financial Stability Report flagged geopolitical conflict, an oil supply shock and AI-related leverage as the top concerns of market contacts. The central bank said the financial system remains resilient, with banks well capitalised.
Broadcom slides 4% as OpenAI custom chip financing stalls at $18bn
AVGO shares fell about 4 per cent on Thursday after The Information reported Broadcom and OpenAI are at an impasse over $18bn in first-phase financing for the planned custom-chip rollout.
Nvidia AI equity bets top $40 billion as circular-deal scrutiny grows
Nvidia's stakes in OpenAI, Corning and IREN top $40 billion, sharpening debate over whether the chipmaker is building a moat or funding a closed loop.
Micron surges 38 per cent in a week on AI memory demand
Micron Technology shares surged 38 per cent over five trading sessions to close at a record $746.81 on Friday, pushing the chipmaker's market capitalisation past $840bn. The rally was driven by AI-fuelled demand for high-bandwidth memory, which is sold out for the whole of 2026.
UK borrowing costs fall and pound rises as Starmer vows to stay on
UK government bond yields fell and sterling strengthened on Friday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would remain in office despite heavy losses for Labour in local elections that saw Reform UK make major gains.
Baidu chip unit Kunlunxin files for Shanghai IPO alongside Hong Kong plan
Baidu's AI chip arm Kunlunxin has filed for a Shanghai STAR Market IPO in addition to a separate Hong Kong listing already in train, with Baidu's Hong Kong shares closing up 5.75 per cent on the news.
Oil rises above $102 as US and Iran trade fire in Strait of Hormuz
Brent crude rose 2.64 per cent to $102.70 a barrel on Friday after the US and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz in the most serious confrontation since the ceasefire took effect in early April.
Powell's final week as Fed chair begins as Senate prepares to confirm Warsh
Powell's final week as Fed chair begins with Kevin Warsh's Senate confirmation set for May 11, the DOJ probe of Powell freshly closed, and bond yields, banks and the dollar already trading the handover.
AMD beats on Q1 as data-center revenue jumps 57%, lifting AI chip rally
Advanced Micro Devices reported $10.25 billion in first-quarter revenue and $1.37 EPS on Tuesday, with data-center sales up 57 per cent to $5.78 billion. Shares rose 18 per cent on Wednesday and lit a wider chip-stock rally.
Saudi Aramco trims June Asia crude prices by $4 a barrel as supply jitters cool
Saudi Aramco cut the official selling price of Arab Light crude to Asia by $4 a barrel for June loadings, pulling back from a record May premium. Asian refiners had bet on a deeper cut. They did not get one.
Rupiah hits record low as Bank Indonesia tightens FX rules for third time in two months
Bank Indonesia cut the threshold for undocumented dollar purchases to $25,000 on Tuesday after the rupiah closed at a record 17,445. Reserves are draining across emerging Asia, and the post-1998 playbook is showing its age.
Arm beats on Q4 but stumbles on AGI CPU supply as $2bn data center orders pile up
Arm topped Q4 estimates with $1.49bn in revenue and 60-cent EPS, then watched its US shares give back gains after executives said only the first $1bn of $2bn-plus AGI CPU orders has secured chip supply.
Nikkei tops 62,000 as Tokyo leads Asia rally on Iran peace hopes and AI chip surge
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 5.7 per cent past 62,000 for the first time on Thursday, leading an Asia-wide stock rally as investors priced in an end to the US-Iran war and a fresh wave of AI optimism.
Long bonds crack 5% then ease as Treasury holds $125bn refunding line
The 30-year US Treasury yield touched 5.03 per cent on Monday, its first break above the threshold since July, before pulling back. On Wednesday Treasury kept its $125 billion refunding plan flat and held the line on its forward guidance.
Why Thursday's UK local elections matter for global bond markets
The 30-year UK gilt yield closed at a 28-year high on Tuesday as global investors priced the political premium tied to Thursday's council elections. A heavy Labour defeat could trigger a leadership challenge, force out Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and reset the term premium across developed-market sovereign curves.
Samsung crosses $1tn market value as AI memory boom rewrites Asia chip order
Samsung Electronics crossed a $1tn market value on Wednesday, only the second Asian company after TSMC to reach the threshold, after a 14 per cent share-price jump driven by record memory-chip earnings and tightening AI supply.
Big Tech AI capex now drives three-quarters of US GDP growth
Capital expenditure on AI infrastructure by Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle is now responsible for roughly 75 per cent of all US economic growth in Q1 2026, according to estimates compiled this week. Stop the AI build-out and you print a recession headline within two quarters.
UK 30-year gilt yields hit 28-year high as Iran war and election jitters collide
The yield on 30-year UK government bonds climbed to 5.78 per cent on Tuesday, the highest level since 1998, as the Iran war drove up energy prices and traders weighed a possible leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer after Thursday's local elections.
Powell hands divided Fed to Warsh as 'integrity' speech caps tumultuous chairmanship
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in what was almost certainly his last press conference at the helm, said 'integrity is priceless' and warned the Trump administration's 'illegal attacks' on the Fed risked compromising monetary policy. He will stay on the Board of Governors after his May 15 term ends.
Wall Street closes at record highs as oil eases and US hiring surges
US stock markets closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday after a sharp pullback in oil prices and another wave of better-than-expected earnings reasserted Wall Street's ability to look past the Iran war. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to 7,259.22, a fresh all-time high.
UAE's exit from OPEC redraws the global oil order
The UAE's withdrawal from OPEC, made effective May 1, has knocked the third-largest producer out of the cartel and tilted Gulf geopolitics toward Washington. ADNOC accelerated $55 billion in project awards as it pushes capacity to 5 million bpd by 2027.
Brent retreats below $111 as UAE exit eases supply jitters
Brent crude prices fell 3.6 per cent to $110.4 a barrel on Tuesday as traders weighed the UAE's departure from OPEC against the war in Iran and another round of Iranian missile and drone strikes against Gulf shipping.
