Global Stock Markets
China recorded a strong 23.9% year-over-year surge in July exports driven by chip shipments, while the U.S. dollar strengthened toward 158.36 yen following hawkish Federal Reserve commentary and rising oil prices. Meanwhile, Russia faces worsening labor shortages and elevated inflation estimates as its Central Asian migrant workforce contracted 15% in the first half of 2026.
Russian retail giant M.Video saw hardware wallet unit sales jump 107% quarter-over-quarter in Q2, while competitor Wildberries posted an 84% year-over-year surge in H1 unit sales as citizens prepare for new crypto regulations. According to coindesk.com, Russian investors are purchasing physical devices to store their private keys offline, moving assets into self-custody before the government tightens control over centralized exchanges. Russia’s new crypto framework takes effect September 1, setting a 300,000-ruble annual buying cap for tested retail investors and preserving a total ban on domestic payments. A longer transition period running until July 1, 2027, will eventually force all crypto transactions through regulated entities and prohibit digital depositories from transferring funds directly to personal non-custodial wallets. Self-custody eliminates exchange default risk, but it forces retail investors to assume full technical liability. Hardware devices do not bypass state withdrawal limits. Highlighting those security vulnerabilities, a firmware flaw disclosed by wallet manufacturer Coinkite on July 30 weakened seed generation and triggered more than $116 million in estimated crypto losses.
Iran finalized a temporary framework with Oman to establish designated shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to revive transit through a bottleneck that handles roughly 20% of global crude oil supply. Under the proposed two- to four-month agreement, inbound vessels will travel along routes near the Iranian coast while outbound ships use an Omani lane, with no transit or service fees imposed. Traffic through the gateway has collapsed. Consultant Kpler recorded just eight vessel crossings on August 5—five tankers and three bulk carriers—down from more than 100 ships daily before fighting broke out in late February. The drop in traffic has driven up global fuel prices, forced trade rerouting across regional logistics hubs, and left over half of recent transits operating without reliable AIS tracking signals. Normalizing flow will require consecutive weeks of incident-free transits, as an LNG tanker lost propulsion after being struck by an unknown projectile on August 2 while the U.S. maintains a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
JBS agreed to form a joint venture with PT Danantara, an arm of Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, securing up to $2.5 billion in equity to fund protein production across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. JBS will contribute 100% of its existing Australian and New Zealand businesses into a Dutch holding company created for the deal. PT Danantara is acquiring a 25% stake in the entity, paying $800 million at closing for an initial 9.64% holding and deploying the remaining amount over three years. Once the fund's equity contribution is complete, the joint venture plans to raise up to $2.5 billion in debt financing to bring total capital to $5 billion. The structure gives JBS off-balance-sheet expansion capital. Analysts at J.P. Morgan noted the structure allows JBS to sustain its M&A agenda while conserving cash on a constrained balance sheet. For the first two years, PT Danantara's funds must be deployed strictly into Indonesia's domestic protein sector. The partners agreed to a five-year lock-up period and intend to eventually take the joint venture public via an IPO.