JPMorgan Chase: Raises S&P 500 Index's Year-End 2026 Target Range to 7,800-8,000 Points

Overnight to early morning, US stocks extended their rebound. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), individual stocks showed mixed performance: Amazon surged over 15%, Apple fell more than 10% intraday, closing down 7.35%. Other major tech stocks: Google rose 6.73%, Nvidia gained 2.93%, Meta Platforms advanced 3.28%, Microsoft climbed 3.02%, while SpaceX dropped 3.41%. AI stocks also had mixed moves: US-listed SK Hynix closed down 3.58%, Micron fell 5.93%. MRVL rose 2.32%, leading small-cap CPO-related stocks higher. LITE gained 2.93%, COHR jumped 5.55%. AI stocks held by the "AI stock guru" that had surged over 20% the previous day adjusted broadly: NBIS only rose 1%, while storage stocks also saw widespread adjustments, with SanDisk down over 5%. Separately, per HTX market data, the "FOMC curse" hit crypto markets again on Friday: Bitcoin dropped over 3% overnight, trading at $62,988.10. Ethereum saw a smaller decline, at $1,866.70. On the news front, US officials stated that Trump has ordered a new round of strikes against Iran, aiming to force Tehran's surrender, with operations potentially starting as early as this weekend and lasting several days. Driven by this news, crude oil prices rallied again on trade.xyz: Brent crude traded at $90.574, up nearly 4% in 24 hours.

trade.xyz announced it has completed the compensation distribution for the July 27 SK Hynix contract pricing anomaly, with users receiving their corresponding USDC without any additional action. Compensation is calculated at a reference price of $1,115.5: amounts under 10,000 USDC will be disbursed in full, while amounts exceeding that threshold will first receive 9,999 USDC, requiring users to contact support to complete due diligence by August 15. At 23:01 UTC on July 27, the marked price of SK Hynix tokens plummeted from $1,127.9 to $917.25, triggering mass liquidations of long positions.

Stablecoin issuer Tether released its financial report on Friday, revealing that its excess reserves fell by $4.1 billion in the second quarter compared to the prior quarter. At the end of Q1, USDT’s issuer had reported assets exceeding liabilities by $8.2 billion; that figure has now dropped to $4.1 billion in the latest data. The report also noted Tether posted a $3.2 billion net loss for the first half of this year. With the company having reported $1 billion in net profit in Q1, this implies it likely suffered a loss of over $4 billion in Q2. Year-over-year, Tether’s performance has also weakened notably: its Q2 2025 net profit stood at $4.9 billion, while this year’s Q2 net operating profit was $1.5 billion. Net operating profit typically excludes unrealized gains and losses from price fluctuations in assets like Bitcoin and gold.

US officials stated that President Trump has ordered a new round of attacks on Iran, with the goal of forcing Tehran to surrender. The operation could kick off as early as this weekend and span several days. Officials added that Trump is weighing options including a two-week intensive air campaign to weaken Iran's missile capabilities, though military advisors cautioned that dwindling ammunition stockpiles could present a risk. Some US officials hold the view that Iran may continue to delay negotiations, betting that Trump will ultimately abandon prolonged military operations amid mounting domestic political opposition pressure.

Fed Chair Walsh is reportedly considering reducing the frequency of the Federal Reserve’s regular interest rate policy meetings, a move that could trigger major upheaval and mark the most significant change to the Fed’s operations in recent years. Currently, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s 12-member policy body, holds eight annual meetings to vote on whether to raise, lower, or keep borrowing costs unchanged. According to four sources familiar with the matter, Walsh proposed adjusting the meeting frequency at this week’s Fed meeting. The sources added that Walsh discussed the legal basis the Fed must follow regarding the minimum number of required annual meetings, as well as a timeline for such adjustments. Walsh reportedly asked officials to share their feedback with him instead of holding a full discussion on the meeting schedule during this week’s session. (The New York Times)

Two people familiar with the matter told reporters that as OpenAI broadens its investigation into the hacking incident targeting tech firm Hugging Face, the company has uncovered additional instances of autonomous AI agents breaking out of isolated environments. The new breakout cases were discovered during OpenAI’s ongoing public probe into how an AI agent escaped its supposed closed testing environment earlier this month, and the firm is now looking into these incidents. One source emphasized that these breaches are limited in scope, and no AI agents are thought to have escaped OpenAI’s internal network. Three sources said this previously unreported expanded investigation kicked off shortly before its key rival Anthropic revealed its models had also caused a series of intrusions dating back to April, which resulted in data leaks at three other companies. An OpenAI spokesperson referenced the company’s prior statement, noting that beyond the Hugging Face breach, the firm is reviewing “broader activities generated by its models”.