liveUpdated 9 minutes ago
In stock news, Alphabet beat on revenue but raised its AI spending forecast again, sending its stock lower after hours.
By Shaurya Malwa, Omkar Godbole, Stephen Alpher, and Helene Braun|Edited by Stephen Alpher
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“Unfortunately, now [the Houthis] are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night,” said President Trump minutes ago in a Truth Social post.
“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” he continued.
Oil continues 5% higher for the day, with Nasdaq 100 futures dropping to session lows, down 1.3%.
Bitcoin is also near the day’s low at $65,100.
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As expected, the ECB left its benchmark rates unchanged at its just-concluded policy meeting.
The central bank’s posture, though, remained hawkish: “The full inflationary impact of the energy shock has yet to play out,” said the governing council in its statement.
In other economic news, weekly U.S. initial jobless claims plunged all the way down to 187,000 versus 212,000 expected. It’s a number so low (lowest since 1969) that one wonders whether there was a data-collection snafu.
In any case, it all adds up to more pressure on the bond market and on the Federal Reserve to raise rates. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is up five basis points to 4.71%, its highest level of the year.
The Fed meets next week and expectations of a rate hike have surged to nearly 40% from roughly nil just days ago.
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Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon voiced support for the Clarity Act, saying the legislation would help establish a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets and allow the market to develop more effectively.
“The CLARITY Act — like all legislation — is not perfect,” Solomon told Politico. “But I think one of the most important things that it does is that it creates a level playing field to enhance market stability and allow these markets to develop appropriately.” He added that he was “very supportive of moving the CLARITY Act forward, so we can get some market structure in place and start to move the innovation process along.”
His comments come as Republican senators circulated updated text of the bill ahead of a possible Senate floor vote next week.
Solomon’s remarks are consistent with comments he made in February, when he criticized the economic effects of excessive regulation. “When you burden this system with excessive regulation, you start to extract capital,” he said. While emphasizing the need for thoughtful oversight, he added: “It’s got to be done thoughtfully, and we’ve got to get it right.”
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The Bitcoin Security Consortium is “an initiative dedicated to supporting the long-term security and resilience of the Bitcoin network, backed by an aggregate $15 million in member pledges over the next three years,” reads a Thursday morning press release.
Founding members are Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy, and Strategy.
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U.K.-based The Smarter Web Company announced the sale of about 178 of its bitcoin, raising roughly $11.7 million to fund repayment of convertible debt held by the TOBAM Group.
The company now holds 2,700 bitcoin.
“We do not currently believe [convertible debt] represents the right capital solution for The Smarter Web Company,” said CEO Andrew Webley.
While the amounts are small, it’s yet another data point in the bottoming process as the 2025 bitcoin treasury company mania devolves into a series of BTC sales, executive departures, reverse stock splits, and outright liquidations.
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Oil supply fears are rising again after Iran-backed Houthis claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
WTI crude oil has soared nearly 5% to $91 per barrel, its highest level since early June.
That’s put the bond market under even more pressure, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield up 4 basis points to another cycle high of 4.70%. The 2-year yield has risen to 4.33%, with traders now having priced in nearly a 40% of a Fed rate hike next week.
Nasdaq 100 futures are lower by 0.75%, led by a 4% decline in Google after its earnings report last night. Bitcoin (BTC) is down 0.5% over the past 24 hours at $65,500.
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Institutional demand is back and how.
The U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have pulled in nearly $1 billion in investor money over a period of seven straight trading days.
Investors have allocated almost $500 million this week alone, the best performance since early May, according to data source SoSoValue.
Bitcoin’s recently price topped $66,000 for the first time since mid-June and was last seen at around $65,680.
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Bitcoin traded near $65,400 on Thursday, down 0.3% on the day and up 1.4% on the week, per CoinDesk data.
The market stayed quiet through Alphabet’s earnings, the report the whole week had been waiting on for a read on AI spending.
Alphabet delivered a split verdict. Revenue rose 24% to $119.8 billion and cloud grew 82%, both ahead of expectations, but the company lifted its 2026 capital spending forecast again, to $195 billion to $205 billion from $180 billion to $190 billion, citing a “supply-constrained” scramble to meet AI demand.
Its stock fell after hours as investors weighed the heavier spend against slimmer free cash flow.
Alphabet’s own shareholders may not like a fatter bill, but more capital pouring into AI infrastructure is what chip stocks have rallied on. Asian chipmakers rose again on Thursday, with the Kospi up 3.6% and Samsung and SK Hynix both up more than 2% on bets they will capture some of that spending.
The majors were flat. Ether held near $1,916, XRP at $1.13 and Solana at $77, with Hyperliquid the outlier, down 11% on the week. Oil kept climbing, extending a July rally that has revived inflation worries.
The next test is the Fed on July 28 and 29.
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Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
22 hours ago
Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Why it matters:
Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.