UFC Freedom 250, an MMA event staged on the White House South Lawn in Washington on June 14 to mark the US’s 250th birthday, was the first combat sports contest held at the venue. TKO Group said the event produced a US$30 million loss. Executives said it generated US$1 billion in “earned media,” drew 34 million global viewers and added 25 new marketing partners, according to Bloomberg.

Grab lifted its 2026 revenue outlook to US$4.10 billion–US$4.15 billion and announced a US$750 million share buyback programme. Second-quarter GMV rose 21% year on year to US$6.5 billion, supported by growth in active users. The company said it spent US$706 million on customer and driver incentives during the quarter, including more than US$7 million to support driver earnings amid the fuel crisis. Shares of Nasdaq-listed GRAB rose 3% in after-hours trading.

Reddit shares sank 21% on July 31 to close at US$140.67, the stock’s biggest single-day drop since the company went public in 2024, and the shares are down 39% so far this year. The selloff came despite Reddit lifting its Q3 revenue forecast to US$860 million to US$870 million and posting Q2 revenue up 61% to US$805 million, driven mostly by advertising. Investors were disappointed by the lack of fresh progress on major AI-related data-licensing partnerships.

Hydropower basins in southern Brazil recorded rainfall equal to 256% of the long-term July average, lifting reservoir storage to 88% from a critical 30% on April 30. The improvement reflects expectations of heavier rains tied to a severe El Niño event that is forecast to develop. Hydropower is Brazil’s main source of electricity, so the recovery in supply capacity helps ease earlier power tightness. The shift is a regional climate-driven adjustment in energy supply and demand and did not directly trigger moves in global traditional financial asset prices.

Microsoft surged more than 15% in a single session, adding US$450 billion (S$576 billion) in market value in the biggest one-day increase ever for a Wall Street-listed company. Apple, valued at about US$4.9 trillion, recently overtook Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable company. After the Federal Reserve held rates steady on July 29 and June inflation data cooled, traders cut the implied chance of a September rate hike to 59% from 82%, according to CME FedWatch.

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) completed an A-share IPO, raising 66.6 billion yuan, the second-largest IPO in China’s history. By the close on July 27, the company’s valuation reached 3.28 trillion yuan, putting the book value of its state-owned shareholders’ holdings—mainly tied to Anhui province—at about 1.3 trillion yuan. That figure is well above the 2.9 trillion yuan of outstanding bonds issued by Anhui’s local government and its financing vehicles. In the quarter ended March, CXMT posted sharp gains in revenue and profit, reversing a loss in the same period last year.

The UK government announced on July 16 that it would fully nationalise British Steel, which was previously wholly owned by Chinese steelmaker Jingye. China’s commerce ministry said on July 17 that the move amounted to a “forcible takeover” that seriously harmed Jingye’s legitimate rights and interests. The ministry said it had raised the issue under the China-UK Investment Protection Agreement, according to a Reuters report.

SK Hynix completed a US ADR offering on July 10, raising about US$3.4 billion after the deal drew more than seven times subscription. The company held 57% of global HBM revenue share in the fourth quarter of 2025 and is a key supplier to Nvidia. The offering underscores persistent tight supply of high-bandwidth memory for AI servers and also benefits the three main HBM suppliers—Nvidia, Samsung and Micron. Apple’s price hikes tied to memory shortages add to signs of broader supply-chain strain.

Julius Baer’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2026 says gold prices have more than doubled since 2024, pushing up prices for luxury goods. The report says high-net-worth investors in Asia Pacific have increased allocations to precious metals to hedge geopolitical and macroeconomic risks, with platinum gaining traction in China and silver seeing renewed demand in India. It also says more than 70% of Asia Pacific investors increased diversification over the past year, with precious metals—especially gold—seen as the preferred hedge.