Overnight Headlines 6th August 2026

 

Morning Pack

Thursday 6 August 2026 · Market data captured around 05:56 BST · Calendar times GMT

Overnight headlines

1. Biggest US law firms explore selling stakes to private equityFT
2. Major hedge funds targeted in wave of attempted cyberattacksBloomberg/Yahoo
3. Trump has called Warsh repeatedly since he became Fed chairWSJ
4. At least half a dozen senior NHS leaders linked to PalantirFT
5. Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos doubles down on European chemical-sector sharesFT
6. Meta AI model hacks another company during cybersecurity testingReuters
7. Wall Street hit by wave of AI-powered ‘vishing’ cyberattacksInvesting.com

Asia-Pacific

INDEX	PRICE	NET	%
Nikkei 225	65,631.31	-669.13	-1.01%
Shanghai	3,878.92	+0.49	+0.01%
Shenzhen	14,070.776	-73.428	-0.52%
Hang Seng	25,463.51	-452.31	-1.75%
ASX 200	9,260.80	+33.00	+0.36%
KOSPI	6,295.88	-302.38	-4.58%
STI	5,638.62	+57.25	+1.03%
NZX 50	13,949.04	-48.14	-0.34%

US cash close

INDEX	CLOSE	NET	%
Dow	54,349.12	+263.24	+0.49%
Nasdaq	26,363.439	-221.554	-0.83%
S&P 500	7,723.55	-12.97	-0.17%
Russell 2000	3,019.188	-17.787	-0.59%
VIX	15.81	-0.69	-4.18%

US pre-market futures

CONTRACT	PRICE	NET	%	FAIR-VALUE OPEN
Dow fut.	54,609.0	+115.00	+0.21%	+69.88 (+0.13%)
S&P fut.	7,760.75	+11.25	+0.15%	-2.80 (-0.04%)
Nasdaq fut.	29,557.0	-58.00	-0.20%	-120.79 (-0.41%)
Russell fut.	3,027.5	+2.10	+0.07%	-6.69 (-0.22%)

US Treasuries

MATURITY	YIELD	CHANGE
US 2Y	4.187%	+0.8 bp
US 5Y	4.324%	0.0 bp
US 10Y	4.611%	-0.6 bp
US 20Y	5.162%	-1.2 bp
US 30Y	5.161%	-1.2 bp

FX

PAIR	PRICE	NET	%
USD/JPY	157.73	-0.01	-0.0063%
EUR/USD	1.1548	-0.0003	-0.0260%
GBP/USD	1.3456	-0.0010	-0.0743%
USD/CAD	1.4013	+0.0005	+0.04%
USD/KRW	1,419.09	-2.00	-0.1407%

Commodities

CONTRACT	PRICE	NET	%
WTI Sep	74.81	-0.41	-0.55%
Brent Oct	79.15	-0.30	-0.38%
Gold	4,262.39	+14.98	+0.35%
Nat gas Sep	2.670	-0.018	-0.67%

Market commentary

Asia: Semiconductor weakness dominated, with the KOSPI down 4.58% and heavy pressure across Korean chipmakers. Hong Kong also lagged, while Australia and Singapore advanced.

US: The Dow reached another record close, but technology and communications weakness pulled the Nasdaq lower. Futures are mixed, with Dow contracts firmer and Nasdaq contracts softer on a fair-value basis.

Rates/FX: The Treasury curve is little changed to slightly richer beyond seven years. USD/JPY remains near 157.7, keeping intervention risk and Japan-US policy signalling in focus.

Energy/risk: Oil is modestly lower despite fresh shipping-security headlines. Gold remains supported, while cyber incidents affecting hedge funds and advanced AI testing add to the risk backdrop.

Economic calendar — GMT

TIME	CUR.	EVENT	FORECAST	PREVIOUS
00:35	USD	FOMC member Daly speaks	—	—
06:00	EUR	German factory orders MoM (Jun)	0.5%	1.9%
08:00	EUR	ECB Economic Bulletin	—	—
08:30	GBP	S&P Global Construction PMI (Jul)	40.0	38.4
12:30	USD	Continuing jobless claims	1,790K	1,782K
12:30	USD	Initial jobless claims	203K	197K
12:30	USD	Nonfarm productivity QoQ (Q2, prelim.)	0.6%	0.3%
12:30	USD	Unit labour costs QoQ (Q2, prelim.)	2.2%	1.8%
15:30	USD	Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q3)	—	—
20:30	USD	Fed balance sheet	—	6,738B