International crude prices rose for a fifth straight session, with Brent nearing $92 a barrel. A surprise build in U.S. crude inventories failed to derail the move. Instead, geopolitical risks around the Strait of Hormuz dominated trading, fueling worries over potential supply disruptions.

With the S&P 500’s second-quarter reporting season nearing its end, a surge in profits tied to AI-related companies has lifted expected year-over-year earnings growth for index constituents to 52%. Technology-sector profits are estimated to have jumped 74%. Excluding gains from stakes in AI companies, second-quarter profit growth would be about 33%, versus 22.3% in the first quarter on the same basis.

U. Y. Fincorp’s promoter group bought 2 lakh shares in the open market, lifting its stake slightly to 71.49% from 71.39% under routine SEBI disclosure rules. The company’s total equity share capital is 1,90,23,8329 shares with a face value of ₹5 each. It also reported net profit of ₹1,961.61 lakh for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 229% year on year.

London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 10,723.02 in intraday trading on Thursday, while the midcap FTSE 250 slid 0.3%. Sentiment in retail stocks weakened after JD Sports issued a downbeat forecast. A rebound in government bond yields added further pressure on the market.

Cryogenic OGS Limited reported FY26 results with profit after tax up 67.2% year-on-year to ₹1,018.27 lakhs, while revenue from operations increased 24.1% to ₹4,082.24 lakhs. EBITDA margin expanded by 481 basis points to 31.7% versus the prior year. Excluding a one-time gain from the sale of land, underlying profit before tax grew 48.2%.

MIT spinout SiTration and BHP, the world’s largest copper producer, have launched two pilots at the historic Copper Cities site in Arizona to test copper recovery technology. The mine produced nearly 400,000 tonnes of copper between the 1950s and the early 1980s. The projects aim to use existing resources to strengthen domestic supply chains while producing copper at the bottom of the global cost curve. Global copper demand is projected to rise by around 70% by 2050, driven by energy infrastructure and data-center buildouts.

Australia has formally implemented a digital platform news bargaining law that levies a 2.5% charge on platforms earning more than A$250mn in annual advertising revenue, whether or not they carry news. Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn fall within the scope, with LinkedIn added in early August. The rate was lifted from an initial 2.25%, while deals with large publishers can be credited at 150% and agreements with small and medium-sized outlets at 200%, subject to a cap of 25% of total liability per deal.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary approval for World Liberty Trust Company to form a national trust charter in Florida, but it does not provide full banking powers and it explicitly walls off the WLFI token. The approval is not a final license, and the OCC can change or withdraw it if circumstances shift. The trust must maintain at least $20 million in Tier 1 capital, including at least $10 million in eligible liquid assets. The preliminary approval will lapse if capital is not raised within 12 months or the trust does not open within 18 months.