Nvidia answers, and the rest of the ledger stays open

A day spent waiting, then the number

Wednesday in New York was organised entirely around one set of accounts. The Wall Street Journal described investors bracing for less-than-perfect Nvidia results and pulling stocks lower into the close; earlier in the session the same paper had US equities merely mixed, with Nasdaq futures softer and oil extending its falls. Euronews had called it the report the entire market was waiting on.

The shares climbed after hours once the figures were out. By the Asian morning the Journal was calling the results a strong validation of the AI infrastructure trade, with the Nikkei up 0.7% led by chip stocks. Elsewhere in the region the reaction was less tidy: Asian markets closed mixed.

The wider AI story is not uniformly bright. Ruth Sunderland, writing in This is Money, treated the near-collapse of an AI hedge fund as a scary trip down memory lane. OpenAI, meanwhile, is the sole investor in its own latest venture fund, according to the Journal. Bill Gates used a Guardian interview to argue for jobs that should be "human-reserved" as artificial intelligence advances.

In mainland China the trade has been going the other way. The South China Morning Post reported dividend stocks back in vogue as the AI theme fizzles and bond yields fall, and a separate piece put US$83.3 billion of outflows from mutual funds, with the chip sell-off helping private funds gather assets instead.

Inflation, gold and the price of borrowing

The Federal Reserve's preferred gauge showed core prices up 3.3% in the year to July, CNBC reported. The dollar and Treasury yields had both edged higher in the hours before the release.

Gold rose, which the Journal attributed to what it called the dollar debasement trade drawing investors in. The metal has already shown up in company results: Hochschild Mining's shares jumped after earnings more than doubled on higher gold and silver prices, covered by both the Journal and This is Money.

Sovereign borrowing was the other theme. The Guardian asked whether the Trump Treasury is panicking over the level of US debt. In London, City A.M. reported economists urging the Bank of England to halt its bond sales as borrowing costs climb — a call about the mechanics of quantitative tightening rather than about rates.

Domestic pockets featured too. Sky News set out an income tax blow for retirees who deferred their state pension. The BBC reported Jersey earnings rising 1.2% after inflation.

Listings, and the war in the oil price

Aggreko, the UK-based power supply firm, has filed for a New York float — described by This is Money as a blow to the City. Nils Pratley took the opposite view of a different case in the Guardian, arguing that the London market dodged a bullet with Shein, which went to Hong Kong instead. City A.M. carried a piece on why investors should not rush at the next blockbuster IPO.

Hong Kong's pipeline keeps filling. Two more Chinese robotics firms are eyeing listings there, the South China Morning Post reported, and Amos Food plans a Hong Kong listing to expand its sweets business. DeepSeek is nearing a pre-IPO funding round with a 2027 debut taking shape, according to people cited by the paper. In Britain, Sky News said the large domestic fund managers are competing to run a £1bn Scale-Up Fund.

The Iran war continues to split corporate results. CNOOC booked a record first-half profit on high oil prices. Gatwick's profits fell after a steep decline in passenger numbers. Crude itself softened: City A.M.'s live blog had oil below $90 with US-Iran talks reported as close, and Antofagasta leading a FTSE 100 rally.

Company news closed out the day. Vistry shares surged on £350m of government affordable homes funding. Prudential announced a US$300m buy-back as new business profit growth slowed. Applied Nutrition warned that whey costs and weight-loss drugs would eat into profit.