☕️ Oil nears $100 after US strikes Iran tankers

Good morning. Markets are closed today for Labor Day. Here's what's making news.

In today's newsletter:

🛢️ Oil nears $100 after US strikes Iranian tankers

📉 Stocks slip as strong jobs report fuels rate-hike fears

🏦 Beijing races to shore up slowing economy

🎬 Robinhood defies AMC over stock tokens

🗳️ Anthropic delays IPO to just before US midterms

Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 12 corporate news, and 📑 6 research & reports.

📊 Before The Bell

• Oil pushed toward $100 a barrel after US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers over the weekend, with Brent up 0.63% to $96.89 and WTI up 0.72% to $92.14 in early Asian trade.
• The strikes near Kharg Island, Jask and the Gulf of Oman were retaliation for Iran targeting two US warships with ballistic missiles, part of a naval blockade that has redirected 92 commercial vessels and disabled 3 since July 14.
• Iranian officials warned that future responses will be "faster, heavier and more painful" and hinted at a new restricted zone, with flows through the Strait of Hormuz disputed, estimated near 5.04 million barrels a day against US claims of over 9 million.

• US stocks slipped yesterday after a stronger-than-expected August jobs report revived fears the Federal Reserve could raise rates, with the Dow down 272 points, or 0.5%, the S&P 500 off 0.4% and the Nasdaq 0.3% lower.
• The economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far above the 55,000 economists expected, pushing market-implied odds of a September 15-16 rate increase to 58% from 49% a day earlier, as strong hiring gives the Fed room to tighten.
• Chip stocks bucked the selloff, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 3.4%, while Lululemon sank 17% after cutting its revenue and profit outlook; attention now turns to the August inflation report due September 11.

• China is directing a $53.6 billion capital injection into three state banks and five insurers, a package smaller than markets expected as Beijing pursues restrained stimulus to prop up a slowing economy.
• The 360 billion yuan boost, the first time insurers have been included, comes as record-low lending margins erode banks' ability to rebuild capital from earnings, with proceeds aimed at absorbing bad loans and funding a coming AI and technology investment cycle.
• Hong Kong-listed shares fell on the news, with Agricultural Bank down 2.7%, ICBC off 2.3% and China Taiping down almost 4%, though Macquarie's Larry Hu says the impact will be limited since weak credit demand, not bank capital, is the real constraint.

• Robinhood has rejected AMC's demand to halt trading in blockchain tokens tied to the cinema chain's stock, testing whether a listed company can control third-party tokenization of its shares under current U.S. securities law.
• The tokens are not actual shares but debt securities issued by Robinhood's Jersey unit, giving buyers economic exposure without ownership or voting rights, and are barred from U.S. residents despite being advertised on Robinhood's U.S. website.
• The clash comes as tokenized stocks jumped from $2.5 billion at the start of 2026 to $13.4 billion by September 1, with Robinhood listing over 190 such tokens; AMC shares rose nearly 21% overnight to $3.07 after CEO Adam Aron's posts.

• Anthropic will start marketing its IPO in mid-October and close the listing just before November's US midterm elections, pushing back its original timeline for what could rank among the largest stock-market debuts ever.
• Some backers peg the company near $2 trillion, up from a $965 billion private valuation, a leap the deal justifies with second-quarter revenue that more than doubled to $11.6 billion and an annualized run rate topping $65 billion by end-July.
• The open question is cost: Anthropic prices its Fable 5 model 2.5 times above OpenAI's rival, and until its prospectus lands later this month with audited numbers, investors lack visibility on margins, cash flow and customer concentration.

🌍 Macro News

• Japan reserves fell a record 6.18% in August after dollar-selling intervention. LINK
• European stocks slipped as oil prices heightened inflation and rate fears. LINK
• Taiwan pitched itself as a reliable democratic chip supplier for the AI boom. LINK
• South Korea will invest $22.3 billion in a Texas gas power plant. LINK
• OPEC’s core producers will keep October oil quotas unchanged. LINK
• Chinese rare-earth suppliers halted US shipments amid retaliation fears. LINK
• ECB considers linking instant payments with Brazil’s Pix network. LINK
• US sanctions Turkish bank over alleged Iranian oil revenue transfers. LINK
• UK house prices posted their first annual decline since November 2023. LINK

🏢 Corporate News

• Oura filed for a US IPO, reportedly targeting $3 billion fundraising. LINK
• NHTSA investigates Tesla’s steering-wheel-free Cybercab robotaxi launch in Austin. LINK
• ByteDance raised a $29.6 billion loan for artificial-intelligence expansion. LINK
• Nscale reportedly seeks $3.5 billion before a potential IPO this month. LINK
• Travis Kalanick’s Atoms is entering robotaxis through hiring and acquisitions. LINK
• Foxconn shares jumped as record revenue reflected strong AI-server demand. LINK
• DeepSeek ordered 160,000 Huawei processors for a gigawatt-scale data center. LINK
• SEC sues ISS seeking records, escalating scrutiny of proxy advisers. LINK
• India’s NSE plans roughly 1,800-rupee IPO pricing for September listing. LINK
• Tata subsidiary launches €14.1-per-share offer for Iveco, board-backed. LINK
• Citadel pursued shale assets, including WildFire Energy, for commodities operations. LINK
• Hackers drained about 4,000 bitcoin from Liquid Network’s shared wallet. LINK

📈 Stocks

📑 Research & Reports

• Aleph's budgeting benchmark report: shows how finance teams actually budget, with benchmarks you can hold your own process against. Download the free report
• PwC projects $31.6 trillion in data-center investment through 2050. LINK
• AI adoption is widespread, but McKinsey finds limited profit gains. LINK
• Payroll benefits lead companies’ planned embedded-finance additions, survey finds. LINK
• EMEA fintech funding fell to $11.3 billion as investors became selective. LINK
• Fed staff warn stablecoins could create double-counting in money supply. LINK
• Goldman maintains 12,000 Kospi target, betting AI memory-chip demand persists. LINK

📅 Market Calendar

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