Bloomberg — Week of 2026-06-27 to 2026-07-03#

Story of the Week#

The volatile ceasefire between the US and Iran dominated global markets, with early-week tit-for-tat military strikes in the Strait of Hormuz giving way to a renewed truce and indirect peace talks in Qatar. The safe passage of commercial shipping lanes prompted a massive unwinding of the war-driven energy shock, driving global oil prices sharply lower and prompting Citigroup to forecast crude could slump to $60 a barrel by year-end.

Markets & Economics#

[Fed’s Warsh Charts New Course, Ends Forward Guidance] · Source: June hiring slowed sharply to just 57,000 nonfarm payrolls, cementing market expectations that a patient Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh—who formally abandoned forward guidance this week—will hold off on near-term rate hikes.
[Yen Hits Four-Decade Low in Historic Slide That’s Rattled Japan] · Source: Options traders are paying steep premiums to hedge against unpredictable government intervention after the Japanese currency plummeted to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986.
[Tech Selloff Extends as Meta Sparks AI Capacity Fears] · Source: An aggressive tech sector selloff roiled global markets as investors questioned the financial sustainability of the AI boom, though highly volatile South Korean semiconductor stocks mounted a 5% recovery by Friday.
[Bitcoin ETFs Set for Worst Month With $4 Billion in Outflows] · Source: Bitcoin slid below $60,000 amid record ETF withdrawals and Michael Saylor’s financing overhaul at Strategy Inc., raising deep anxieties over reliable corporate demand for the token.
[German Inflation Eases as Oil Retreat Tames Prices in Europe] · Source: Cooling global energy costs dragged down euro-zone inflation metrics, though European Central Bank officials warned that underlying price pressures and second-round inflation effects will take time to fully manifest.

Business & Industries#

[Comcast to Spin Off NBCUniversal in Surprise Strategy Reversal] · Source: Completely unwinding a decade-old conglomerate strategy, Comcast announced formal plans to carve out NBCUniversal and Sky into an independent, publicly traded media company.
[Samsung, SK Hynix to Spend $880 Billion on Chips, Data Centers] · Source: South Korea unveiled a sweeping 1,350 trillion won national strategy anchored by domestic tech giants to cement its global leadership in artificial intelligence hardware and digital infrastructure.
[US Lifts Export Restrictions on Anthropic’s Fable 5] · Source: The US government cleared Anthropic’s advanced AI models for wider distribution, while rival OpenAI reportedly initiated preliminary talks to grant the US government a 5% equity stake to secure Washington’s strategic backing.
[Williams Said to Near $5.5 Billion Deal for Momentum Midstream] · Source: Pipeline operator Williams Cos. is in advanced negotiations for a $5.5 billion acquisition of rival Momentum Midstream, while supermarket giant Kroger agreed to purchase Midwest grocery chain Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion.
[LVMH Wins Court Case Over Logo Used by China Tea Chain] · Source: The French luxury giant won a landmark $1.5 billion trademark infringement judgment against a Chinese milk tea brand, igniting domestic social media debates over the future of intellectual property enforcement.

Policy & World#

[Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship in Blow to Trump] · Source: A flurry of landmark US Supreme Court decisions preserved the Federal Reserve’s independence by blocking the ouster of Governor Lisa Cook and upheld birthright citizenship, while simultaneously expanding presidential authority to fire heads of other independent agencies.
[America’s Farmers Need USMCA More Than Ever] · Source: The US opted against renewing the $2 trillion USMCA trade pact, shifting instead to rolling annual reviews that inject massive long-term uncertainty into North American manufacturing and agricultural supply chains.
[Japan and India Deepen Strategic Ties] · Source: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed over 100 bilateral agreements in New Delhi, deepening defense, technology, and economic cooperation to deliberately counterbalance China’s regional dominance.
[Burnham Vows Economic Boost by Taking Fiscal Power Out of London] · Source: Andy Burnham is aggressively positioning himself for the UK Labour leadership with unconventional proposals, including floating war bonds to fund the military and promising sweeping regional devolution of fiscal powers away from Westminster.

Opinion & Analysis#

[The AI Rally Is Running Out of Road] · Source: Bloomberg Opinion warns that the artificial intelligence stock melt-up currently ticks every box defining a classic financial bubble, signaling to investors that an imminent and painful market rotation is ahead.
[‘Dark’ Trading Is Doing a Lot of Damage in Europe] · Source: Analysts caution that the rapid migration of European equity trading from public exchanges into the opaque “dark” realms of investment banks is severely undermining broader market transparency.