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The latest slide followed a sharp Tuesday retreat that exceeded the 4% decline reported earlier in the session. Brent settled 5.3% lower at $79.36 a barrel, its first close below $80 since July 13. WTI settled 5.7% lower at $75.77. Both contracts reached their lowest closing levels in three weeks. The Tuesday losses extended Monday’s drop, when Brent fell 7% and WTI declined 5.1%.
Headline inflation across OECD economies eased to 4.2% in June 2026 from 4.6% in May, ending three straight monthly increases. The measure tracks annual changes in consumer prices across the group’s member countries. Inflation declined in 20 economies, increased in six and remained stable or broadly stable in 12. Nine OECD countries recorded inflation at or below 2%, including three where the rate stood below 1%. Energy prices drove much of the monthly easing. OECD energy inflation fell four percentage points to 11.7% year on year, after reaching 15.8% in May. The rate declined in 24 of the 37 countries with available data.
Oil prices surged on July 29, pushing Brent crude above $90 a barrel as renewed Middle East fighting and tighter U.S. inventories lifted global benchmarks. Brent futures settled at $90.74, up $6.65, or 7.9%. West Texas Intermediate gained $5.20, or 6.6%, to $84.46. Both contracts posted their strongest daily advances in several weeks. The contracts had already gained more than 20% during July as regional supply disruptions affected energy markets.
UK solar capacity reached 22.8 gigawatts at the end of June 2026, extending a sharp rise in deployment. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero recorded about 2.076 million installations nationwide. Developers added 27,391 systems during June, contributing 132 megawatts. The latest monthly figures remain provisional and may change as more projects enter the official dataset. The capacity total covers rooftop arrays, commercial systems and large solar farms. It also sets a baseline before new plug-in solar rules take effect.
The valuation shift reflects broader recalibrations across international financial markets as institutional managers re-evaluate capital commitments tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure. While competing hyperscale computing enterprises including Alphabet and Tesla accelerated capital investments toward data centers, robotics, and autonomous transport networks, Apple maintained disciplined expenditure controls over consecutive fiscal quarters. Market participants increasingly view Apple’s disciplined spending approach as a operational buffer, allowing the firm to expand its proprietary Apple Intelligence software ecosystem without incurring high infrastructure depreciation costs. Trading patterns across major equity benchmarks highlighted diverging sentiment between hardware component suppliers and consumer technology platforms. Nvidia shares experienced increased selling pressure alongside wider pullbacks across semiconductor equities, as investors scrutinized the timeline for financial returns on massive artificial intelligence data center investments. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recorded notable weekly declines as market participants reassessed elevated valuation multiples across pure-play chipmakers. Despite persistent demand for graphics processing units, concerns surrounding energy supply constraints, macroeconomic interest rate trajectories, and capital expenditure intensity weighed on semiconductor equity prices.