Top Stories This Morning: Oil Prices Drop 5%, CXMT Hits New Records, OpenAI Builds a Mega Data Center
Oil prices fell amid renewed hopes that tensions between the U.S. and Iran would ease / Photo: Unsplash/Maksym Kaharlytskyi
Oil prices fell sharply following reports that Iran was prepared to halt its attacks, while the U.S. refrained from launching new strikes. Meanwhile, shares of Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT soared by about 500% on their first day of trading, and the company’s market capitalization reached approximately 3.5 trillion yuan ($517 billion). Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of July 27.
Oil prices plummeted amid a lull in the U.S.-Iran conflict
Oil prices fell sharply following reports that Iran is prepared to halt its attacks, provided the U.S. refrains from launching new strikes. Brent fell nearly 5% on Monday morning to $92.1 per barrel, hitting a low of $89.6. WTI lost 5.2% of its value and traded at $84.6, according to CNBC. According to Reuters, Tehran has informed Washington that it will adhere to the principle of “tit-for-tat”: if the attacks cease, Iran will also halt its operations.
The U.S. has suspended its airstrikes to give diplomacy a chance, said U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN Mike Waltz. HSBC noted that rising oil prices have heightened expectations of a longer period of high Fed interest rates, but inflation expectations remain subdued thanks to signals from the central bank regarding its commitment to fighting inflation.
CXMT shares soared by more than 500% on their first day of trading
Shares of Chinese memory chip manufacturer Changxin Technology Group (CXMT) rose by more than 500% on their first day of trading on the STAR Market, and the company’s market capitalization reached about 3.5 trillion yuan ($516.8 billion), according to CNBC. During its IPO, the company raised 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion), marking the largest offering in Asia so far this year.
The growth was driven by expectations of further AI development and China’s policy of import substitution for semiconductors, the TV channel notes. According to Morningstar, CXMT could become one of the main beneficiaries of this strategy, although its technologies still lag behind those of global leaders. Experts caution, however, that the current high profitability of memory manufacturers is cyclical in nature and should normalize over time.
European space startup is preparing to raise more than $300 million
European space startup The Exploration Company is in talks to raise at least $300 million at a valuation of over $2 billion as part of a new funding round, the Financial Times reports, citing sources. The funds are planned to be used to develop reusable space capsules, with which the company hopes to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. One of the first investors could be the Scaleup Europe Fund, established with the support of the European Commission and managed by the Swedish firm EQT.
Founded in 2021, the company is developing the Nyx family of reusable spacecraft to deliver cargo—and eventually people—to low Earth orbit. The startup has already raised approximately $160 million in funding, and its investors include Balderton, Bessemer, Cherry, Plural, Partech, and Vsquared.
Nvidia may provide OpenAI with $250 billion in guarantees to build a data center
Nvidia is in talks to provide OpenAI with financial guarantees totaling approximately $250 billion for the construction of a large data center in Ohio, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources. The project, which is being developed by SoftBank’s energy division, could cost more than $500 billion and would mark a step by OpenAI toward building its own AI infrastructure instead of leasing capacity from Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle.
Nvidia's guarantees should help attract funding for the project and ensure long-term demand for its chips. In addition, the company is discussing the possibility of financing OpenAI’s purchase of Nvidia accelerators worth up to $350 billion. The first phase of construction, with a capacity of about 800 MW, is scheduled to be completed by 2028.
What's Happening in the Markets
— Japan's broad-based Topix index rose 1.3%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%.
— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index fell 0.3%.
— In South Korea, the KOSPI rose 0.8%, and the KOSDAQ rose 2.2%.
— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.4%.
— Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.5%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.9%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.7%.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
