On May 29, 2026, Jefferies said crypto and blockchain IPOs could collectively become a $1 trillion public market within five years, pointing to rising institutional focus on blockchain as financial infrastructure. The bank highlighted tokenized real-world assets surpassing $29 billion by April 2026 and cited multiple firms advancing listing plans in 2026 alongside ongoing U.S. regulatory discussions.

Cumulative aligned sustainable debt climbed to USD 6.8 trillion by the end of 2025, with annual issuance topping USD 1 trillion for a third straight year. Green bonds represented 64% of aligned GSS+ issuance in 2025 and totalled USD 653.5 billion, while Europe accounted for 45% of annual volume and surpassed USD 3 trillion cumulatively.

On May 21, Asia-Pacific equities climbed after Nvidia’s record quarterly results lifted regional tech shares, with Japan and South Korea leading while China and India lagged. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at 61,684.14 (+3.14%) and South Korea’s Kospi finished at 7,815.59 (+8.42%), as SoftBank rose nearly 20% and Samsung gained 8.5% following a labor dispute resolution.

SoftBank Group shares rose nearly 20% on May 21 and gained another 12% on May 22, lifting its market value by more than $61 billion across the two sessions. The move followed NVIDIA’s May 20 results and was amplified by SoftBank’s exposure to Arm Holdings and its roughly 13% stake in OpenAI, though analysts highlighted holding-company NAV discounts and leverage risk.

On May 23, 2026, Meta said it lifted its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $125-$145 billion, nearly doubling its 2025 capex of $72.2 billion, even as it posted record Q1 results. Q1 revenue rose 33% to $56.3 billion and profit climbed 61% to $26.8 billion, but the shares fell 6% after hours as investors questioned when AI spending will translate into returns.

On May 20, 2026, NVIDIA reported Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.6B, an 85% year-over-year increase, with Data Centre revenue at $75.2B (+92%) and Edge Computing at $6.4B (+29%). EPS came in at $1.87 versus the $1.76 estimate, and the board authorized $80B in additional buybacks while raising the quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.25 per share. For Q2 FY2027, the company guided revenue of $89.2B to $92.8B and said the outlook excludes China data centre compute revenue.

On May 17, 2026, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya said Anthropic’s Claude refused a stock-screening prompt while xAI’s Grok, Google’s Gemini, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT returned results. The post, shared on X, triggered renewed debate over whether strict safety constraints could hurt competitiveness as Anthropic reports annualised revenue rising from $9 billion (late 2025) to $30 billion by April 2026.

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy are in advanced discussions about a merger that would create a combined utility valued at roughly $400 billion including debt, with a structure described as primarily stock-based. A formal announcement could arrive as early as May 18, 2026, while the deal would still need FERC and multiple state approvals that analysts expect could take 12 to 24 months.

On May 15, 2026, a broad risk-off move hit global markets after South Korea's KOSPI sank 6.1% and chipmakers sold off, dragging S&P 500 futures down 0.8% and Nasdaq 100 futures 1.1%. Oil rose sharply, with Brent at $108.75 and WTI at $104.42 as traders weighed potential disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. Bond yields climbed across major markets, with the US 10-year nearing 4.52% and Japan's 20-year yield reaching its highest level since 1996.