Daily News 14th Aug 26
Daily News
S&P 500 Notches Record Close Above 7,800 on Cooler Producer Prices and Falling Oil; Gold Slips Below $4,350; U.S. Vows Unprecedented Economic Measures on Iran
14 August 2026
Today in Brief
Asia trading was mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.44% and the Topix up 0.49%, South Korea's Kospi advancing 1.14% while the Kosdaq lost 0.57%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.93%, mainland China's CSI 300 off 0.12%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 down 0.92%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 notched a fresh closing record of 7,798.99, up 0.65% and above 7,800 intraday for the first time, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81% to 26,803.03 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.13% to 53,839.99, buoyed by a cooler-than-expected July producer price reading and falling oil prices, with Brent crude shedding more than 2% to $87.07 a barrel and WTI sliding more than 2% to $81.25. Gold fell below $4,350 an ounce, extending losses, as softer core producer prices reduced near-term pressure on the Fed, with markets now pricing in around a 35% chance of a September rate hike, down from 55% a week earlier, while crude traded near $81 per barrel as investors monitored diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In other news: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will apply economic measures on Iran "that have never been seen," as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Navy can maintain its blockade indefinitely; Reform UK leader Nigel Farage won a special election to return to the U.K. parliament; Iran's central bank chief said Tehran is set to join the BRICS New Development Bank; a Trump-linked oil venture delayed Greenland drilling plans after a government warning; Reddit shares jumped 11% on its inclusion in the S&P 500; Apple trained its own AI model for the China market with Alibaba's support; Elon Musk disclosed a 48.4% stake in SpaceX worth more than $900 billion; and Google unveiled its Gemini 3.7 Flash AI model for coding and agent workflows.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.44% while the Topix rose 0.49%
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.44% while the Topix rose 0.49%. South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.14%, and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.57%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.93%, while mainland China's CSI 300 inched 0.12% lower. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.92% lower. "The market is appropriately bullish right now," Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at Partners Group, told CNBC's "Closing Bell" in an interview, noting the strength in U.S. corporate earnings. With more than 90% of S&P 500 companies having posted second-quarter results, earnings growth from the year-earlier period is tracking around 50%, according to FactSet.
S&P 500 closes at a new record, buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation data and falling oil prices
The S&P 500 rose to a fresh all-time intraday high on Thursday as oil prices declined and traders digested more inflation data. The broad market index added 0.65% and surpassed 7,800 for the first time ever. The S&P 500 notched a closing record of 7,798.99. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81% to end at 26,803.03, boosted by gains in Meta Platforms, Micron Technology and Netflix. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.13%, or 69.72 points, to 53,839.99. Brent crude futures shed more than 2% to close at $87.07 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures also slid more than 2% to settle at $81.25 per barrel. The moves come as traders weighed falling oil demand while the U.S.-Iran war continues. Wall Street got another look at U.S. inflation on Thursday, with the July reading of the U.S. producer price index — which gauges what wholesalers pay for raw goods and materials — coming in unchanged.
Gold fell below $4,350 an ounce on Friday, extending losses from the previous session
Gold fell below $4,350 an ounce on Friday, extending losses from the previous session as investors locked in profits while assessing the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and developments in the Middle East. Data released Thursday showed US core producer prices increased less than expected in July, offering further evidence that inflationary pressures are not broadly intensifying following Wednesday's subdued CPI report. The softer price data reduces pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates in the near term, with markets now pricing in around a 35% chance of a 25-basis point rate hike in September, down from 55% a week earlier.
Crude oil traded near $81 per barrel on Friday after declining in the previous session
Crude oil traded near $81 per barrel on Friday after declining in the previous session, as investors are on a wait-and-see mode while monitoring diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the ongoing impasse, crude continues to flow out of the Persian Gulf, with some tankers sailing with their transponders switched off, although vessels navigating Hormuz remain exposed to persistent threats. The US also claims that as much as 9 million barrels of oil per day is currently transiting the waterway, while the capacity of US forces to escort tankers continues to expand. On the demand side, the IEA cut its global oil demand outlook this week, warning that prolonged conflict and elevated prices are increasingly weighing on consumption.
U.S. to use economic tactics on Iran 'that have never been seen'; Navy works to relieve troubled carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
The U.S. will be applying economic measures "that have never been seen on Iran," according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "It will be a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports," Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax, without elaborating further. His statements come as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly said late Thursday stateside that the U.S. military can keep a naval blockade of Iran going "indefinitely." The Navy will rotate ships in and out "as we have, and we'll continue to," Hegseth told reporters.
Trump ally Nigel Farage wins special election to return to UK parliament
Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's right-wing Reform UK party, has won re-election to parliament in a vote he triggered himself last month by stepping down amid controversy over his finances. Farage, who has previously been praised by U.S. President Donald Trump and was a figurehead in the U.K. campaign to leave the European Union, faces a parliamentary investigation over failure to declare a £5 million ($6.7 million) donation from a Thailand-based crypto investor. The probe was suspended following his resignation on July 7. Mainstream parties boycotted the byelection, leaving Farage's main opponent as costumed, serial candidate "Count Binface," who came second.
Iran looks to ramp up economic alliance with BRICS nations as war with U.S. drags on
Iran is set to join the BRICS New Development Bank, the country's central bank chief said Thursday, as Tehran seeks to shore up its economic alliances almost six months into its war with the U.S. and Israel. The BRICS alliance was set up in 2006 by founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It has since expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, with various other nations — including Belarus, Cuba and Nigeria — joining as partner countries. Iranian state media reported Thursday that Abdolnasser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran, had announced Iran would soon become a member of the BRICS bank. Hemmati is currently in India ahead of next month's BRICS summit, according to Iran's Tasnim News Agency.
Trump-linked oil venture delays Greenland drilling plans after government warning
A Texas-based company with links to President Donald Trump has delayed plans to drill for oil in Greenland, after the Arctic island's government issued a "strong warning" to its joint venture partner for bringing equipment ashore without permission. Greenland Energy Co., a Nasdaq-listed oil and gas exploration firm, said Wednesday that it was now working toward a targeted permit timeline for winter 2027, delaying its plans to try to unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the Jameson Land Basin on Greenland's east coast. London-listed 80 Mile, the joint venture partner of Greenland Energy for the project, also confirmed the delay to drilling plans following talks with Greenlandic authorities.
Reddit stock jumps on inclusion in S&P 500
Reddit shares rose 11% in extended trading on Thursday on the social media company's inclusion in the S&P 500. The company will join the index on Aug 18, replacing AvalonBay Communities, according to a release from S&P Dow Jones Indices. Companies often see their stocks climb when they're added to major indexes because fund managers who trace the benchmarks have to buy shares to match the changes. Reddit, which hosts online forums on thousands of topics, becomes only the second pureplay social media company in the S&P 500. Meta, one of the world's most valuable companies is the other. Pinterest and Snap both went public long before Reddit, but they're smaller by market cap. Twitter was in the S&P 500 until it was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022. It's now called X and is owned by SpaceX
Apple trains its own AI model for China market with Alibaba's support, sources say
Apple has trained a large language model specifically for the China market, three people familiar with the matter said, a departure from the iPhone maker's strategy of relying on third-party models to power AI features in the country. The AI model was developed in partnership with Alibaba Group and trained with the Chinese tech giant's support, the people said, declining to be named as the information is sensitive and not public. Apple's training of its own China-specific model has not been reported before. The company had previously leaned towards domestic partners' models to bring generative AI to iPhones and other devices sold in China, where U.S. models such as Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT, which Apple pairs with its own technology in its home market, are not available. Apple and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk discloses 48.4% stake in SpaceX in regulatory filing
Elon Musk held a 48.4% stake in SpaceX as of June 30, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday, valuing his holding at more than $900 billion at current market prices. The rockets-to-AI company went public on June 12 after a record-setting IPO that raised $85.7 billion and vaulted the company's market cap past $2 trillion. However, its valuation has since retreated as enthusiasm faded. Here are more details: Musk owns 6.42 billion shares, and exercises sole voting and dispositive power over them, the filing showed. He has held more than 82% of SpaceX's voting power since the IPO, emphasizing the extent of his sway over the company. The stake comprises 849.5 million Class A shares held by trusts where Musk is a trustee, 3.92 billion Class B shares held by those trusts, 1.30 billion restricted Class B shares held by Musk and 350 million Class B shares issuable upon exercise of stock options.
Google unveils Gemini 3.7 Flash AI model for coding, agent workflows
Alphabet's Google launched Gemini 3.7 Flash on Thursday, its latest AI model designed for software coding and automated business tasks, but offered no details on when its flagship Pro model will be released. Investors have been closely watching for Gemini 3.5 Pro, Google's premium model, as a test of whether its DeepMind AI unit can keep pace with rivals Anthropic and OpenAI. Google had said in July Gemini 3.5 Pro was being tested with partners and would be coming "soon". The company is pitching the model as a lower-cost option for businesses building autonomous AI systems that can plan tasks, use software tools and complete multi-step workflows with less human intervention.
