BigBreakingWire

🚨 BREAKING: Ceasefire Hopes Rise, Oil Drops on Iran-U.S. Pause

• Polymarket now assigns a 75% probability of an Iran–U.S. ceasefire by Aug. 31, following reports President Trump paused recent strikes on southern Iran.

• Brent crude fell ~6% to around $91/bbl, WTI dropped below $84/bbl, while European gas prices slid up to 7.8% as supply fears eased.

• The U.S. reportedly paused strikes after 13 days of operations, while Iran's army said Tehran also paused its responses.

• Houthi forces claimed attacks on ARAMCO facilities at Jazan and Yanbu. Saudi Arabia and ARAMCO had not confirmed the claims.

🚨 BREAKING: U.S. Missile Stocks Reportedly Heavily Depleted

• ABC News/CSIS: U.S. has used ~1/3 of key precision-guided munitions.

• THAAD, SM-3 & Patriot interceptors saw the biggest drawdowns, with THAAD reportedly down ~80%.

• Over 1,000 Tomahawk and 1,100+ JASSM long-range missiles were reportedly fired.

• PrSM stocks are reportedly nearly depleted, with 40–70 missiles launched from a stock of about 90.

🚨 BREAKING: $29.6 Billion Flows Into Emerging Market Equity Funds

• Bank of America said $29.6 billion flowed into emerging market equity funds in the week through July 22, marking the second-largest weekly inflow on record.

• China equity funds attracted $21.3 billion, accounting for the majority of inflows as investors rotated away from developed markets.

• U.S. equity funds saw $7.2 billion in outflows, while European equity funds lost $1.6 billion during the same period.

• BofA's July fund manager survey showed cash levels at 3.6%, below its contrarian sell signal, while a record 54% of managers expect a "no landing" economic scenario.

🚨 BREAKING: BitMart to Shut Down Global Crypto Exchange Operations

• BitMart announced a phased shutdown of its global cryptocurrency exchange after reviewing its operating conditions, market environment, and future strategy.

• The exchange has stopped new registrations, crypto and fiat deposits, and new spot orders from July 26, while futures entered reduce-only mode and automated trading services began winding down.

• All spot, futures, and other trading services will end on August 26, 2026, with the platform's trading operations scheduled to fully terminate on January 31, 2027.

• Users will retain limited account access after January 31, 2027, to review records and withdraw remaining assets.

🚨 BREAKING: BofA Sees Fed Rate Hikes as Oil Inflation Risks Rise

• Bank of America warned persistent oil price volatility from shipping disruptions and geopolitical tensions could force central banks to tighten monetary policy.

• BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank now expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, forecasting three 25-basis-point hikes in 2026 instead of rate cuts.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut its 2026 developing Asia growth forecast to 4.9% and expects regional inflation to rise to 4.3%, driven by elevated energy prices.

• BofA said repeated energy price shocks risk embedding inflation, making the traditional "look-through" approach to oil-driven inflation increasingly ineffective.

Tesla shares dropped nearly 20% this week, closing at $313.03. This marks the biggest weekly fall since 2022. SpaceX shares hit $115.07, the lowest point since its IPO last month. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows Musk lost roughly $130 billion in five trading days. He briefly became the first person with a net worth over $1 trillion a few weeks ago. Musk joked on social media that he is now a "former trillionaire."

🚨 South Korea Announces $950 Billion AI Partnership Package

• South Korea's presidential policy chief Kim Yong-bum said Korean conglomerates and global technology firms, including NVIDIA, have agreed to cooperation projects worth $950 billion.

• The package includes a long-term agreement under which SK Group will supply $750 billion worth of high-performance semiconductors to global technology companies, including NVIDIA.

• The partnership is aimed at strengthening the global AI infrastructure and semiconductor supply chain, supporting rising demand for advanced AI chips.

• The announcement follows expanding collaboration between NVIDIA and SK Group on next-generation AI infrastructure and memory technologies.

$NVDA $SKHY

🚨 BREAKING: NVIDIA, SK Group Launch $500 Billion AI Partnership

• NVIDIA said it will partner with SK Group on an AI program worth more than $500 billion to build large-scale AI data centers and develop next-generation memory.

• The agreement includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to secure next-generation memory supply and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI training, AI agents, and physical AI applications.

• SK Telecom plans to build a 2 GW AI data center powered by NVIDIA's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's HBM4 memory.

• The first AI data center is expected to come online in 2027, marking one of the largest AI infrastructure collaborations announced to date.

Trump Threatens EU Tariffs, Launches Section 301 Probe

• President Trump said the European Union has been directly targeting U.S. companies and vowed his administration will not tolerate it.

• Trump announced the U.S. will immediately launch a Section 301 investigation into what he described as EU actions that "plunder" American firms and harm U.S. taxpayers.

• He said EU penalties on U.S. companies will be fully reversed and warned the U.S. expects to impose large tariffs on the European Union at the earliest opportunity.

Trump warns China and Russia against providing weapons to Iran, says "it would be very bad for them."

🚨 BREAKING: IRGC Claims Strike on Amazon Data Centre in Bahrain

• Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) claimed they targeted an Amazon data centre in Bahrain, alleging it supported U.S. military intelligence operations.

• In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the IRGC said the facility was "targeted and destroyed," repeating a claim it had also made on Wednesday.

• Amazon and Bahraini authorities have not commented, and the claim has not been independently verified.

• Iran continues to state that any facility or base used by the U.S. military for operations against Iran is considered a legitimate target for retaliation.

🚨 BREAKING: NVIDIA Expected to Raise Graphics Card Prices Again

• Benchlife reports NVIDIA has notified board partners of price increases for GDDR6 and GDDR7 VRAM kits.

• NVIDIA supplies GPU chips bundled with VRAM as complete kits, which partners use to build custom graphics cards.

• With kit prices set to rise again, add-in board (AIB) manufacturers are expected to pass the higher costs on to consumers.

• The move could lead to higher retail prices for NVIDIA-based graphics cards in the coming months.

🚨 Japanese Yen Slides to Nearly 40-Year Low Against U.S. Dollar

• The Japanese yen weakened past ¥163.98 per U.S. dollar, its lowest level since 1986, as higher U.S. Treasury yields and rising oil prices strengthened the dollar.

• The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to 1.0% in June, but a roughly 275-basis-point gap with the Federal Reserve continues to support dollar assets.

• Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has repeatedly warned that Tokyo "will respond appropriately," though markets have largely ignored intervention warnings.

• The widening U.S.-Japan interest rate gap and Middle East-driven demand for the dollar continue to keep pressure on the yen.

🚨 U.S. Urges BOJ to Raise Rates as Yen Weakness Deepens

• The U.S. Treasury called on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to continue raising interest rates, describing the yen's persistent weakness as undesirable.

• USD/JPY has remained above 163, near a four-decade low for the yen, despite Japan spending a record ¥11.73 trillion on currency intervention.

• According to Bloomberg, BOJ officials are open to raising rates more quickly, with markets pricing in a 72% chance of a hike by October.

• The Treasury's latest foreign exchange report flagged "excessive volatility" in the yen for the first time, increasing pressure ahead of the BOJ's July 30-31 policy meeting.

🚨 BREAKING: AI Memory Chip Earnings Face Crucial Test Amid Market Volatility

• SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Kioxia are set to report earnings, with investors closely watching whether AI-driven memory chip demand remains strong.

• Kioxia is under pressure after its market value nearly halved in recent weeks, highlighting growing volatility and concerns that the AI rally may be overextended.

• HSBC said higher HBM memory prices and the rollout of premium HBM4 chips should support earnings for Samsung and SK Hynix.

• Strong results could help ease concerns about a second-half profit slowdown and reinforce confidence in AI infrastructure spending.

🚨 BREAKING: Brent Crude Hits $100 as Houthi Tanker Attacks Escalate Supply Fears

• Brent crude climbed to $100 per barrel, its highest level since May, after Houthi militants claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

• The attacks have intensified concerns over global oil supply disruptions, opening a new front in the Middle East conflict.

• Shipping through both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb faces growing risks as regional tensions escalate.

• The US and Iran have downplayed prospects for peace talks, raising the risk of a prolonged conflict.

Intel and AMD are signing purchase commitments of up to two years or more with Chinese server customers, according to Reuters.

Strong AI data centre demand has driven server CPU prices sharply higher in 2026, with delivery lead times extending to several months.

The agreements fall outside U.S. export controls on advanced AI chips, highlighting a gap in Washington's semiconductor restrictions on China.

The chipmakers are securing multi-year supply commitments as AI-driven demand continues to tighten server CPU availability.

🚨 S&P Global Energy: Tanker attacks have sharply reduced insurers' willingness to cover ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

• War-risk insurance premiums have surged from 1–3% a few weeks ago to 7.5–10% of a vessel's hull value.

• Some oil tankers are avoiding the Strait of Hormuz due to rising security risks.

• Commercial traffic has dropped sharply, with only 10 ships transiting on Tuesday versus 130+ ships per day before the Middle East conflict escalated.

🚨 BREAKING: Oil Extends Rally After Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Tankers

• Brent crude surged to $96.12 a barrel (+2.35%), while WTI remained near $88 amid escalating Middle East tensions.

• Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed missile and drone attacks on the Saudi oil tankers Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea.

• The UKMTO reported a ship was struck by a projectile near Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, triggering a fire onboard.

Chinese open-weight AI models remain about four months behind closed-weight frontier models in overall capabilities, according to the Epoch Capabilities Index.