Market News

Utilities stocks show early recovery as AI power demand grows

Utilities are showing early signs of recovery, but the opportunity depends on whether returning investor interest spreads beyond a handful of AI power stocks. 

Sector assessment: Through the September 8, 2026 U.S. close

Utilities stocks are beginning to attract attention again after a difficult summer. In investingLive’s latest sector-rotation assessment, the group has moved from Cooling Off to Early Accumulation, supported by improving fund demand, better performance against the broader market and wider participation. This is an early improvement signal, with sustained leadership still to be established.

The investment question is becoming more interesting: can a sector…

Reuters is reporting that China AI startup DeepSeek has tapped CITIC Securities to kick start their IPO process, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The tech firm is said to be preparing to begin the process this year with the IPO set for Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market exchange.

So far, the sources say that the timing of a potential offering and the amount that DeepSeek might look to raise as well as valuation targets have all not yet been determined.

Just be wary that DeepSeek is in the midst of a funding round that would value the firm at around ¥500 billion or roughly $75 billion since July.

Before that, it raised about $7.4 billion in June with a post-money valuation of over $50 billion - according to filings from…

There are just a couple of expiries to take note of on the day, as highlighted in bold below.

They are both for EUR/USD layered close by at 1.1600 to 1.1615. Both the strikes are decently relevant and could attract increased two-way interest if EUR/USD drifts lower ahead of the cut.

Collectively, they could behave as more of a short-term support and/or magnet zone for price action. In essence, the expiries at the 1.1615 level will act as the first layer with an added layer provided by the 1.1600 to draw or anchor price action to the downside.

And the relevance of the expiries is only amplified by ties to the technical side of things.

The 100 and 200-hour moving averages for EUR/USD are seen at 1.1611-20 currently. So, that could also help to…

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As we continue to move along through the week, oil prices are knocking on the door of $100 again.

This morning, Brent crude is already printing above $99 and is within touching distance of the psychological threshold. That as US-Iran tensions continue to intensify. Meanwhile, WTI crude is trading above $94 - its highest level since June.

During the course of this war, it is not to say that we haven't been here before. But this time, the concern is that it will be harder to dismiss the rise in oil prices as merely being a geopolitical risk premium.

The technical picture

Oil prices slumped back in June towards $70 when the US and Iran were slated to strike a deal and then move forward with nuclear discussions. However, it didn't take long for…

Both readings landing in line with or above forecast removes the immediate deflation-scare risk that was in play after July's shortfall, but the composition of the beat matters more than the headline. NBS attributing the CPI rebound to rising energy prices rather than a broad pickup in consumption keeps the underlying demand story unchanged from the preview: this looks like a cost-side rebound layered on top of the same soft consumption picture flagged by yesterday's import miss and the still-contractionary services PMI. The PPI beat is the more constructive leg for traders watching industrial demand, since factory-gate deflation easing faster than expected supports the case that the manufacturing recovery signalled by the private PMI…

• China inflation rebounds on energy costs, but the demand story hasn't changed - recap
• KOSPI tops 7,000 on AI optimism even as Middle East risk weighs
• Iran claims strikes on US destroyers, tankers crossing Hormuz
• Central bank buying keeps UBS bullish on gold's long game
• Gold's Iran-war paradox: why bullion keeps stumbling as the conflict widens
• China August CPI 0.8% y/y (expected 0.8%, prior 0.5%)
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.7769 (vs. estimate at 6.7042)
• Trump bans Canadian autos, dairy and alcohol in trade war escalation
• Why a Gulf oil shock moves Brent harder than WTI, and what that reveals
• Dorsey's Block applies for federal bank charter to custody bitcoin and stablecoins
• RBA weighing further rate rise this month as Dep gov Hauser…

If confirmed, (direct hits on US Navy Destroyers is a big if) direct strikes on US Navy destroyers combined with claimed attacks on eighteen commercial and oil vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz would represent a serious escalation for shipping and insurance risk through one of the world's most critical oil chokepoints. Brent, priced off seaborne crude that has to physically pass through such corridors, would be expected to react faster and more directly than WTI to any credible disruption of Hormuz transit. Gold's reaction is the more interesting open question given the pattern seen through the past week, where the metal largely deferred to rate expectations rather than rallying on safe-haven demand; a strike directly on…

The divergence between Asian tech-heavy indices pushing higher and Wall Street closing lower overnight highlights how the AI and semiconductor narrative is currently outweighing Middle East-driven risk aversion in regional equity positioning, at least for now. Institutional and corporate buying driving the KOSPI's move through 7,000, against retail and foreign selling, suggests domestic conviction in the earnings story rather than broad-based foreign inflows. If oil prices and the Middle East conflict continue escalating, as suggested by overnight developments, this AI-versus-geopolitics tension is likely to remain the key swing factor for Asian equities in the sessions ahead, with any deterioration in the AI narrative removing the…

UBS's core message for positioning is a separation between near-term price action and long-term allocation, arguing the current pullback reflects a shift in Fed rate expectations rather than any deterioration in gold's structural case. That framing matters for how traders read further weakness: if UBS's view holds, dips driven by yields or dollar strength would be treated as entry points by strategic allocators rather than signals to reduce exposure. UBS's revised call for a 50 basis point Fed hike this year, if it plays out, would likely keep real yields and the dollar as headwinds in the near term, meaning any tactical bounce in gold may need a shift in that rate outlook rather than a geopolitical trigger alone.

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Earlier:

• Gold's…

The immediate test is whether tonight's missile strikes on two US Navy destroyers, claimed by Iran but unconfirmed, and the earlier barrage on US bases in Jordan are severe enough to break the pattern that has held through the past week of escalation, where gold fell sharply on the first major strike but barely moved on a subsequent, more serious one. If the inflation channel keeps dominating, oil pushing higher, rate-hike odds firming, real yields and the dollar rising, gold could extend its slide even as headline risk intensifies.

A break in that pattern, a genuine safe-haven bid overriding the yields story, would signal traders see this specific escalation as materially different in scale or duration from what preceded it. Either…

The escalation lands as USD/CAD has shown little reaction so far in Asian trade, with the pair holding a narrow range rather than pricing in fresh trade risk. That relative calm may not last once European and North American desks get a fuller look at the scope of the bans, which touch autos, dairy and alcohol alongside the wider tariff and government-contract measures. For oil, the direct read-through is limited since crude is not named among the affected categories, though a further deterioration in the broader US-Canada relationship keeps a modest risk premium in play for North American energy trade and cross-border logistics. Equity and currency desks are more likely focal points than crude in the near term, with the three-week…