International markets update:
Global markets present a mixed picture as coordinated efforts to support the Japanese yen face skepticism, while U.S. equities continue their tech-fueled ascent towards new highs.
- Japan and the U.S. staged a fast and furious coordinated intervention to prevent the yen from drifting further. While the currency’s strength is currently holding, analysts express doubts about its long-term sustainability without addressing underlying structural forces.
- U.S. markets demonstrated continued strengthening, with all three major indexes gaining traction. The S&P 500 is now remarkably close, just 0.3%, to its all-time high reached in early June, driven predominantly by technology stocks.
- Amazon shares surged 4% to achieve a new all-time high, pushing its market capitalization over the $3 trillion threshold for the first time. This follows a better-than-expected earnings report last week.
- President Donald Trump criticized energy giants Exxon and Chevron for reporting significant windfall profits in the second quarter. He attributed these gains to rising crude oil prices due to the Iran war, stating he does not approve.
- Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue warned that China is leading the artificial intelligence race, particularly in open-weight models. He suggested China could catch up to U.S. model makers and potentially dominate frontier AI by the end of this year or next.
Stock Market News summarised for the Wall Street Investors Club community.