Brent oil price passed $100/barrel last Thursday, pushing global government yields to year-to-date highs

Global equity markets for the period 17–24 July 2026, covering the sell-off in AI-exposed growth stocks amid capex and cash-flow concerns, a renewed spike in oil prices following Middle East escalation, and continued strength in Q2 corporate earnings across the US, Europe, and Asia. Covers performance across major indices including the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, STOXX 600, and MSCI Emerging Markets, with sector-level detail on energy, defence, technology, and financials.

From tightening oil chokepoints to mounting AI-related debt and a widening credit-market divide, energy, capital and geopolitics are telling a single story of scarcity and strain. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

U.S. equities ended mostly lower, pressured by doubts over the payoff from heavy AI capex and a sharp jump in oil prices. The Nasdaq lagged (-2.13%) while the Dow, S&P 500, and Russell 2000 fell more modestly. Corproate earnings dominated a thin macro week, with 86 S&P 500 names reporting. Alphabet and Tesla both sold off on elevated capex and softer cash flow reinforcing the broader unease about big tech's AI spending. On the geopolitical side, stalled ceasefire efforts in the Middle East sent brent oil to $100. Energy shares benefited; travel and consumer names suffered. The spike in oil prices revived inflation concerns, pushing Treasury yields up and nudging market pricing toward a possible Fed hike.

Andy Burnham was invited by King Charles III to form a government on Monday, July 20, becoming Britain's 59th Prime Minister...

Rising energy prices amid renewed tensions in the Middle East, and fiscal policy fears in the UK keep long-term rates under pressure

Meanwhile, Wall Street's long-term earnings expectations for the S&P 500 are now at record levels. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

US stocks sold off on, led by chips. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% on the week, the Nasdaq 2.9% and the Dow 0.9%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) dropped almost 9%, its third weekly decline in four weeks, and the SOX sits roughly 18–20% below its June highs. Among the reasons, Beijing-based Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter open-weight model that reportedly matched or outperformed several leading US models, trailing only Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6. Investors read it as a second "DeepSeek moment," reviving doubts about US AI capex and chip valuations. The Tech rout spread across Asia with both Japan and Korea momentum unwinding.

June brings relief, while Warsh testifies to be tough on inflation

Renewed geopolitical tensions around the strait of Hormuz bring back interest rate volatility