Getty Images Market Review Global Equities (as measured by the MSCI All Country World Index) declined 3.20% in the first quarter of 2026, starting the year with solid gains before falling over 7% in March as conflict gripped the Middle East. Energy was by far the top performing Global sector, followed by Utilities and Materials, which were supported by higher commodity prices, particularly for oil...
Getty Images Market Review Global Equities (as measured by the MSCI All Country World Index) declined 3.20% in the first quarter of 2026, starting the year with solid gains before falling over 7% in March as conflict gripped the Middle East. Energy was by far the top performing Global sector, followed by Utilities and Materials, which were supported by higher commodity prices, particularly for oil and gas. The United Kingdom registered a positive return for the period, largely due to its exposure to the Energy sector, while continental Europe traded down on consumer weakness and as higher fuel prices dampened the economic outlook. Japanese equities also posted a small gain for the period, buoyed by the convincing victory of the pro-growth Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in February's snap elections. North America underperformed for the period, partly due to weakness in the Technology sector, while Emerging Markets outperformed Developed, aided by gains in Korea and Taiwan. Value stocks outperformed their growthier counterparts significantly while small cap stocks outperformed larger companies. Higher quality stocks had solid performance for the period, but the profitability factor remained out of favor. QVS Factor Performance The RS Global team's proprietary QVS (Quality, Valuation and Sentiment) Model evaluates over 10,000 global companies in search of the best investment opportunities. It is designed to identify companies that have the potential to consistently create shareholder value, are reasonably valued, and exhibit favorable market sentiment. The model helps us focus our resources, as we conduct additional research only on companies with the strongest model recommendations. Stocks in the highest ranked quintile of the model outperformed stocks ranked in the lowest quintile for the period, led by the Valuation and Sentiment factors, while Quality lagged. Overall returns were also positive in a majority of regions. The model was strongest in Japan, North Americ...
Mayuree Tipnoysanga/iStock via Getty Images AI demand is straining the entire data center supply chain, chips, power, cooling, and grid infrastructure. RACK targets the companies building that foundation. The AI investment opportunity is expanding beyond software, models and platforms. As adoption grows, more advanced workloads require greater compute capacity and the infrastructure to support it....
Mayuree Tipnoysanga/iStock via Getty Images AI demand is straining the entire data center supply chain, chips, power, cooling, and grid infrastructure. RACK targets the companies building that foundation. The AI investment opportunity is expanding beyond software, models and platforms. As adoption grows, more advanced workloads require greater compute capacity and the infrastructure to support it. That demand is making data centers a larger and more important investment theme. Data centers are where chips, memory, servers, networking equipment, electricity and cooling systems come together to power the next generation of digital workloads. As a result, pressure is building across the data center supply chain, from semiconductors and storage to power equipment, cooling technologies, grid infrastructure and real estate. The VanEck Data Center Supply Chain ETF ( RACK ) is designed to provide targeted exposure to this opportunity by investing in companies contributing to the buildout and operation of data center infrastructure. Rather than focusing only on the most visible AI companies, RACK looks across the supply chain to the businesses helping build, power, cool and connect the infrastructure needed to support rising AI demand. The Investment Case for Data Center Infrastructure Looks Different Today For many investors, AI has been discussed primarily through the companies building models, applications and cloud platforms. But the next phase of the theme may depend just as much on the companies supplying the physical infrastructure. Every AI model, chatbot response and autonomous system requires compute infrastructure: servers, chips, storage, networking, power and cooling housed in data centers. As demand rises, the constraints are appearing across several layers at once. This is what makes the current cycle different. It is not just a semiconductor cycle, a power cycle or a real estate cycle. It is a coordinated infrastructure buildout. However, infrastructure cycle...
Veteran Hong Kong theatre figure “King Sir” Chung King-fai has died at the age of 89. Chung’s nephew confirmed his death on Wednesday, saying he had died peacefully in his sleep at home in the morning. “My uncle dedicated his entire life to the theatre, leaving behind a lasting legacy through the generations of students he inspired,” the nephew said through the social media page of free-to-air bro...
Veteran Hong Kong theatre figure “King Sir” Chung King-fai has died at the age of 89. Chung’s nephew confirmed his death on Wednesday, saying he had died peacefully in his sleep at home in the morning. “My uncle dedicated his entire life to the theatre, leaving behind a lasting legacy through the generations of students he inspired,” the nephew said through the social media page of free-to-air broadcaster TVB. “We are deeply aware of the profound respect and affection everyone holds for him....
Bank lending in India is expanding at the fastest pace in nearly two years as companies choose loans over bonds as a cheaper source of financing. Credit growth expanded at 16.2% in the year through May 15, the fastest clip since June 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Local bond sales, meanwhile, fell 11% to 10.9 trillion rupees ($114 billion), Bloomberg-compiled data show. About h...
Bank lending in India is expanding at the fastest pace in nearly two years as companies choose loans over bonds as a cheaper source of financing. Credit growth expanded at 16.2% in the year through May 15, the fastest clip since June 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Local bond sales, meanwhile, fell 11% to 10.9 trillion rupees ($114 billion), Bloomberg-compiled data show. About half of Muthoot Microfin Ltd.’s borrowings now come from banks, helping the shadow lender cut borrowing costs by about 75 basis points, Chief Executive Officer Sadaf Sayeed said in an interview. State-owned Power Grid Corp. of India recently secured a credit facility of as much as 40 billion rupees from the State Bank of India, having last tapped the bond market in December. Sovereign bond yields have climbed 38 basis points to 7.04% since the Iran war began three months ago, and strategists expect further gains as markets price in monetary tightening. Rising benchmark yields have lifted corporate borrowing costs, dampening companies’ appetite for debt sales, even as the RBI is widely expected to keep its policy rate unchanged on Friday. “At present, the bond market is significantly more expensive than bank loans,” said Subramanian Jambunathan , managing director and chief executive officer at Truhome Finance Ltd. Bank loans made up 37% of the mortgage lender’s funding mix as of December, he said. “It does not make sense for us to replace domestic borrowings with bond market funding.” The shift has been particularly visible among lower-rated borrowers, according to Ajay Manglunia , executive director at Capri Global Capital Ltd. “Corporates, especially lower-rated, are getting a 60-70 basis point advantage by borrowing from banks rather than issuing bonds,” Manglunia said. He expects the trend to persist until the Middle East conflict is resolved. Credit demand has exceeded deposit growth for eight straight months, with the gap widening to about 400 basis points as of May 15...
In this article ITX-ES Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images European futures data pointed to a broadly negative open for shares listed in the reg...
In this article ITX-ES Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images European futures data pointed to a broadly negative open for shares listed in the region on Wednesday, as investors weighed U.S. proposals for sweeping new tariffs on 60 countries. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has floated additional tariffs of up to 12.5% on 60 trading partners over their alleged failure to ban goods made with forced labor. The economies in line to be targeted by the measures include China, the European Union and Japan. "The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field," said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Investors are also continuing to monitor developments in the U.S.-Iran war after tensions escalated overnight, with Washington accusing Tehran of launching fresh attacks despite a ceasefire remaining in place. In corporate news, Zara owner Inditex updated investors on its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Sales at the Spanish retail group grew 5.8% from the previous year, coming in at 8.7 billion euros ($10.1 billion) to meet analysts' expectations. Net profit jumped 5.4% year-on-year to reach 1.38 billion euros, in line with estimates. Economic data due today includes a Spanish PMI print, Russian unemployment and business confidence figures, and Austrian GDP data. — CNBC's Anniek Bao contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
In this article 700-HK 300750-CN 300750-CN NTES 9618-HK Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT DeepSeek reportedly has not shared its upcoming AI model with American engineers and instead granted early access to Chinese companies, further intensifying the technological war between the U.S. and China, as of Feb. 26, 2026. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is se...
In this article 700-HK 300750-CN 300750-CN NTES 9618-HK Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT DeepSeek reportedly has not shared its upcoming AI model with American engineers and instead granted early access to Chinese companies, further intensifying the technological war between the U.S. and China, as of Feb. 26, 2026. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its first funding round from investors including Tencent Holdings and CATL people with knowledge of the matter said. The fundraising could value the company after the investment at between 350 billion yuan and 400 billion yuan, or between $52 billion and $59 billion, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. DeepSeek became China's national AI champion and garnered global fame early last year, when its V3 and R1 models drew widespread praise in Silicon Valley and challenged U.S. assumptions about China's AI capabilities. Tencent, CATL set to be biggest external investors The startup's founder, Liang Wenfeng, has committed 20 billion yuan of his own money, the people said, adding that tech conglomerate Tencent is considering 10 billion yuan and battery giant CATL is looking at 5 billion yuan, which would make them the largest external investors in the round. DeepSeek is also in final talks with China's national artificial intelligence fund, gaming developer NetEase and e-commerce giant JD.com , they said, noting that the planned number of investors was fewer than 10. DeepSeek, Liang, NetEase, JD.com and the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, which is the main backer of the national AI fund, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Tencent and CATL declined to comment. The line-up underscores China's efforts to build an increasingly self-sufficient AI industry, from models to the energy infrastructure needed to power them. CATL, best known as a do...
Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. ( CX ) priced $1.5B of its 5.750% senior notes due 2036. The notes will be guaranteed by Cemex’s subsidiary, Cemex Corp. The notes are scheduled to be issued on June 5, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. They will mature on June 5, 2036 and bear interest semi-annually at an annual rate of 5.750%. The issue price is 99.572% of face value. The comapny plans to use f...
Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. ( CX ) priced $1.5B of its 5.750% senior notes due 2036. The notes will be guaranteed by Cemex’s subsidiary, Cemex Corp. The notes are scheduled to be issued on June 5, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. They will mature on June 5, 2036 and bear interest semi-annually at an annual rate of 5.750%. The issue price is 99.572% of face value. The comapny plans to use funds for general business purposes, including paying down debt and other financial obligations, such as some of its credit agreement borrowings. More on Cemex CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CXMSF) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Cemex to sell $555M of Colombia assets to Holcim, others Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Cemex Historical earnings data for Cemex