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Markets
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
