Business

Goldman Sachs has refreshed its list of companies most likely to reap real productivity gains from artificial intelligence, and the top names are not the usual AI suspects. CoStar Group leads the 53-stock basket, followed by Dollar Tree, eBay and a cluster of insurance brokers. The screen lands with a sobering backdrop: despite two-thirds of the S&P 500 talking about AI on earnings calls, just 2% of companies have quantified any impact on their earnings.

The Japanese yen slid to a two-week low against the US dollar on Wednesday, extending a rough start to the week as investors piled into the American currency ahead of key US inflation data. The dollar climbed to ¥159.46, its highest level since July 31, while the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz kept safe-haven demand for the greenback alive.

Brent crude has gained roughly $10 in less than a week. That kind of move in a compressed timeframe draws attention fast, and right now it has plenty -- from equity desks in Paris to rate-watchers in Washington. The catalyst is a deepening diplomatic rift between the United States and Iran, and the fallout is landing directly on inflation expectations ahead of a critical stretch of US economic data.

NVIDIA has struck agreements with six of the world's largest financial institutions to mobilize up to $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure, a move that positions data center GPUs as investable assets on par with roads, pipelines, and power grids.

Intel announced Monday, August 10, 2026, that it is selling $15 billion in common stock in a public offering, one of the largest equity raises in the chipmaker's history. The move comes as AI-driven demand accelerates and CEO Lip-Bu Tan pushes forward an aggressive capital investment cycle. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup are jointly managing the offering. Underwriters also hold a 30-day option to buy up to an additional $2.25 billion in shares, which would bring the total raise to as much as $17.25 billion if exercised in full.

Oil prices moved higher Monday after Iran laid out a demanding list of conditions it says must be satisfied before it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil supply passes. Brent crude traded near $83 to $84 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate held close to $78. Iranian officials made clear that restoring normal shipping through the strait would require the United States to end its blockade of Iranian ports, lift broad economic sanctions, unfreeze Iranian assets held abroad, and pay compensation for damages Tehran attributes to American military and economic pressure. The demands represent a sharp escalation from Iran and raise serious questions about how quickly either side can build on a memorandum of understanding reached in June, which had briefly suggested a diplomatic path forward was within reach.