External headlines on July 28: Trump said that if negotiations break down, he will strike hard at Iran; Apple regains the top spot in the world in terms of market capitalization; Nvidia’s revolving financing raises concerns again
Global financial media last night and this morning The headlines of common concern include: Trump calls US-Iran "active negotiations" and warns of resumption of strikes if failed Satellite images show thick smoke at Saudi oil facilities, sending traders on edge LVMH fashion leather goods business barely returns to growth as conflict in Middle East curbs demand Apple surpasses Nvidia and regains top spot in global market capitalization after more than a year Nvidia’s new round of over $750 billion in AI deals revives concerns about circular financing Where will the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield go? State Street Investigates Bessant's Focus on Financial Metrics U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States was in "active negotiations" with Iran and that an agreement on the conflict was possible, but he warned that the United States would resume military strikes if the talks failed to bear fruit. "We're having a good conversation," he said. "I think it's possible for things to move forward, and if it does, great; if not, we're back to where we were two days ago." "You can't bribe them. You've got to beat them, and we're going to beat them hard," Trump said of Iran at a campaign rally in Michigan late Monday. "But let's see how that plays out. Right now, there are very friendly negotiations going on." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said on Monday that the two sides were still transmitting information through intermediaries and that Iran had not given up diplomatic channels, but reports that Iran requested negotiations were "fabricated." Oil traders carefully analyze satellite images. Images show that thick smoke has appeared over many Saudi oil facilities in the past 48 hours, but it is almost impossible to judge from this data whether recent attacks by Iranian-backed armed groups have affected Saudi energy production. Images captured by the EU's Sentinel-2 Earth Observation Satellite show that the Abqaiq crude oil processing plant experienced flare venting (Translator's Note: Flaring venting refers to sending excess or emergency combustible gases that need to be discharged to the flare tower for burning). The facility is a key hub in Saudi Arabia's oil production and export system, with a daily crude oil processing capacity of approximately 7 million barrels. In 2019, the Houthi armed forces attacked Abqaiq facilities, causing Saudi Arabia's crude oil production to be halved. The brand's LVMH fashion and leather goods division barely registered sales growth last quarter as conflict in the Middle East dampened wealthy consumers' willingness to shop. The French luxury goods group said on Monday that sales at its fashion and leather goods division, the group's largest and most profitable business unit, grew 1% organically, below the 1.52% forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg. This is the first time revenue in the segment has increased in two years. The luxury goods industry has been in a long-term downturn. First it was Asian consumers who had long driven the industry's growth, cutting back on spending, and more recently wars that reduced demand in Middle Eastern malls such as Dubai. LVMH said that without the conflict, the group's quarterly sales would have increased by 4%, instead of the 3% actually recorded. LVMH's first-half recurring operating profit was 8.69 billion euros ($9.9 billion), higher than analysts' expectations. Operating profit margin was 22.5%, basically the same as the same period last year. , becoming the company with the highest market value in the world. This is the first time since April 2025 that the iPhone maker has led the AI chip giant in market capitalization. Nvidia shares fell on Monday $4.77 trillion . AI chip stocks fell overall as investors worried about the high costs associated with AI construction. Nvidia has maintained its position as the world's number one market capitalization since it took the market capitalization crown from Microsoft in June 2025, briefly touching it in October last year. Meanwhile, Apple shares rose $4.95 trillion, So far in 2026, Apple has gained . Apple's performance outperformed the broader market as investors recognized its strategy of restraint on AI capital expenditures - Apple prefers to rent computing power rather than build its own data centers. Nvidia is advancing a new round of artificial intelligence-related transactions with a potential scale of more than $750 billion. That has further accelerated the pace of investment, but skeptics warn such deals may be artificially driving up demand and valuations across the industry.
Nvidia said that the cooperation with the South Korean conglomerate SK Group announced last Friday night means that the scale of business transactions between the two parties will exceed US$500 billion. As the world's most valuable company, Nvidia is also discussing providing a guarantee of up to US$250 billion to help OpenAI rent computing power for a data center project in the United States. It would be one of the largest financing deals between the chipmaker and a customer. Wall Street heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to investor Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame have warned for months about the "circular" nature of such agreements: Nvidia provides financing or takes equity stakes in companies and projects that use its chips. But the pace of such deals is still accelerating. The risks of these transactions are that they can distort demand, prompt bad decisions, and can magnify losses if AI fails to bring profits to investors who have invested hundreds of billions of dollars. The most heated discussion at State Street's investment arm, which manages $6 trillion in assets, is the outlook for the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a financial indicator that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent values. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m still scratching my head at times,” State Street Chief Investment Officer Lori Heinel said in an interview last week. “This is the most debated issue among us internally.” When entering 2026, State Street expected yields to fall to 3.5% or even lower during the year, but instead they continued to rise. Yields topped 4.7% last week for the first time since the month Trump began his second term. The gains underscore how Iran's war has upended economic expectations by pushing up oil prices and stoking inflation fears.
Nvidia said that the cooperation with the South Korean conglomerate SK Group announced last Friday night means that the scale of business transactions between the two parties will exceed US$500 billion. As the world's most valuable company, Nvidia is also discussing providing a guarantee of up to US$250 billion to help OpenAI rent computing power for a data center project in the United States. It would be one of the largest financing deals between the chipmaker and a customer. Wall Street heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to investor Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame have warned for months about the "circular" nature of such agreements: Nvidia provides financing or takes equity stakes in companies and projects that use its chips. But the pace of such deals is still accelerating. The risks of these transactions are that they can distort demand, prompt bad decisions, and can magnify losses if AI fails to bring profits to investors who have invested hundreds of billions of dollars. The most heated discussion at State Street's investment arm, which manages $6 trillion in assets, is the outlook for the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a financial indicator that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent values. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m still scratching my head at times,” State Street Chief Investment Officer Lori Heinel said in an interview last week. “This is the most debated issue among us internally.” When entering 2026, State Street expected yields to fall to 3.5% or even lower during the year, but instead they continued to rise. Yields topped 4.7% last week for the first time since the month Trump began his second term. The gains underscore how Iran's war has upended economic expectations by pushing up oil prices and stoking inflation fears.