US Equities Slide on Alphabet Results and Middle East Oil Risk

CNBC, 23 July 2026

US equities fell on Thursday as oil prices surged amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, while investors weighed quarterly results from two of the largest companies in the world, with Alphabet's fuelling concerns about increased artificial intelligence spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 506.93 points (–0.97%) to 51,711.65, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.21% to 7,408.30 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.15% to 25,137.69. The tech-heavy index was weighed down by a 7% drop in Alphabet and a 14% loss in Tesla. Despite the session's weakness, Deutsche Bank's chief US equity strategist noted that S&P 500 earnings growth is running near 30%, with consensus projecting growth in the 20% range for both Q3 and Q4.

AI CapEx Scrutiny Intensifies as Alphabet Spurs Semiconductor Debate

Intellectia AI / Distilling Intelligence, July 2026

The Alphabet print re-opened a broader debate on AI infrastructure spending. Meta has invested tens of billions in AI infrastructure and now believes it has surplus capacity worth monetising — a signal that the frantic capex cycle that drove semiconductor stocks to all-time highs may be approaching an inflection point where supply begins to catch up with demand. Meanwhile, SK Hynix announced it was delaying its HBM4 memory expansion in favour of higher-margin DDR5 production — a supply-chain shift that investors interpreted as evidence of moderating AI-driven memory demand growth. On the policy side, the week's defining structural theme remained the institutionalisation of AI semiconductor infrastructure as national industrial policy, including TSMC's $100B US commitment and Japan's METI-backed NVIDIA AI factory.

Federal Reserve Holds Rates; July 28–29 Meeting in Focus

Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Report, July 2026 / Forbes, July 2026

The FOMC has maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 3½ to 3¾ percent since the beginning of the year, noting that economic activity is expanding at a solid pace and that inflation remains elevated relative to the Committee's 2% goal, in part reflecting supply shocks in the energy sector. Since the start of the year, Treasury yields have risen and the market-implied expected path of the federal funds rate has moved up, with the largest increases at shorter maturities as market expectations of a higher funds rate path pushed up real interest rates. The next FOMC meeting is scheduled for 28–29 July, with strategists at JPMorgan Chase expecting the Fed to keep interest rates steady through the end of 2026 as inflation continues to run above the central bank's long-term target.

Private Credit: Fundraising Resilient as Q2 Direct-Lending Volume Drops

Alternative Credit Investor, 10 July 2026 / Reuters via 93.3 The Drive, 9 July 2026

US direct-lending volume fell approximately 55% quarter-on-quarter to $33.59 billion in Q2 2026 from $74.67 billion in Q1, the lowest level since Q2 of the prior comparable period. Institutional capital-raising nonetheless remained robust: Crescent Capital Group stood out as the firm raising the largest amount for a single fund, collecting $10.8bn for its fourth US direct lending fund, attracting commitments from more than 100 institutional investors globally. Barings also announced it had secured more than $19bn over a two-year fundraising period for its global direct lending strategy, with deployment activity targeting 355 transactions globally. Regulatory scrutiny of the sector is also expanding: the ECB has expanded its private-credit probe to more than 20 banks and introduced annual reporting requirements, according to Private Equity Wire.

APAC Equity Markets: Mixed YTD Picture Ahead of Key Data

ETF Trends, 20 July 2026 / Investing.com, 23 July 2026

Japan's Nikkei 225 leads major APAC indices with a 27.4% year-to-date gain through 20 July, followed by Canada's TSX (+10.2%) and the US S&P 500 (+8.7%). Conversely, India's BSE SENSEX has struggled the most, down 8.8% for the year, while China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng recorded losses of 1.9% and 4.3% respectively. In Hong Kong specifically, JPMorgan estimates that non-HKID mainland buyers represent only 5.5% of transaction volume and 7.2% of value, limiting the practical impact of Beijing's tightened cross-border capital flow rules, with Q2 transaction data due in July set to provide the first clean read on whether stricter enforcement is affecting volumes. Separately, confidence in Asia-Pacific capital markets has reached its highest point since ASIFMA's survey was first published, with two-thirds of financial firms planning regional expansion over the next three years, according to the 2026 ASIFMA/KPMG survey.

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