G20 member states have adopted the "Carolina Principles", backing the U.S. AI "light-touch regulation" approach.

August's US ADP Employment Report came in below expectations. Trump stated he is prepared to launch another strike on Iran. As markets assess the impact of renewed US-Iran military strikes, oil prices swung higher then lower: WTI crude oil briefly topped the $90 per barrel mark during the session, but quickly pulled back, erasing all intraday gains, and closed down 0.28% at $89.12 per barrel; Brent crude settled 0.11% lower at $94.30 per barrel. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), US stocks closed on Wednesday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.56%, the S&P 500 gained 0.46%, and the Nasdaq added 0.45%. NVIDIA (NVDA.O) and Oracle climbed 3%, SK Hynix (SKHY.O) and Micron Technology (MU.O) rose over 2%, while Dell (DELL.N) surged 15.7%. According to HTX market data, Bitcoin is currently trading at $77,195, down 0.13% in 24 hours.

Broadcom’s adjusted net revenue for its third fiscal quarter reached $29.59 billion, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $29.45 billion. Semiconductor solutions revenue for the same quarter came in at $20.84 billion, exceeding the forecast of $20.51 billion. AI semiconductor revenue hit $16.7 billion, versus analysts’ expectation of $15.93 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter stood at $3.32, outperforming the $3.23 consensus estimate. Broadcom projects its fourth fiscal quarter revenue will be around $34.8 billion, while analysts had forecast $35.05 billion. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), Broadcom (AVGO) saw its U.S. stock drop by over 6% in after-hours trading, with the decline narrowing to 1.35%.

Microsoft (MSFT.O) announced it will start disclosing quarterly sales of its Azure cloud business, a move that ends the company’s long-standing practice of only reporting Azure’s revenue growth rate without revealing specific figures. Microsoft said that given Azure’s scale and importance, now is the appropriate time to boost transparency. This adjustment marks Microsoft’s first major overhaul of its core financial reporting structure since 2015. The company merged its original Intelligent Cloud business and Productivity & Business Processes segment into the "Agents & Infra" division, while its More Personal Computing segment was adjusted to the "Devices & Consumer" division. Microsoft noted that artificial intelligence is transforming how it builds products and operates, blurring boundaries between offerings and reshaping its business model. The company previously disclosed that Azure’s sales for the fiscal year ending in June exceeded $100 billion, up from $75 billion in the prior fiscal year, accounting for roughly 30% of Microsoft’s total revenue. The new reporting structure will officially take effect when Microsoft releases its fiscal 2027 first-quarter financial results.

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, Snowflake (SNOW.N) raised its full-year sales forecast after releasing quarterly results, noting accelerating adoption of its AI-assisted coding tool CoCo, which pushed the company’s post-market share price up more than 21%. Snowflake projects product revenue of approximately $6.07 billion for its fiscal year ending next January, an upward revision from its May forecast and above the analyst consensus of $5.86 billion. Product sales account for roughly 95% of the company’s total revenue. The firm added over 2,000 new CoCo user accounts in the quarter, bringing total adoption to 9,100 accounts. Snowflake is a software company that helps enterprises organize and analyze data in the cloud, and is integrating AI capabilities into its platform. For the quarter ended July, Snowflake’s product revenue rose 37% year-over-year to $1.49 billion, beating analyst expectations of $1.42 billion; its remaining performance obligations (a metric measuring future order volume) stood at $9 billion, below the average analyst forecast of $9.37 billion.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday local time, shows U.S. economic activity has grown moderately since early July. Among the 12 Federal Reserve districts, 10 recorded slight to moderate growth, while 2 saw no change. Consumer spending edged up, though consumers have become more price-sensitive: high-end spending remained strong. Auto sales underperformed due to weak confidence, high oil prices, and rising financing costs. Manufacturing activity picked up in most districts, with some citing robust demand for defense and data center-related orders. Labor market growth slowed, with only a slight overall increase; labor demand held steady in sectors like manufacturing and construction, but declined in retail and hospitality. On the price front, most districts reported moderate increases in overall price levels, with persistent cost pressures from energy, transportation, raw materials, and tariffs. Businesses’ outlook for the broader economy remains positive, though they remain attentive to uncertainties stemming from energy prices, policies, and international conflicts.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday local time, shows U.S. economic activity has grown moderately over the past two months, with demand for data centers standing out particularly. The Fed described the economic outlook as “positive,” but uncertainties from energy prices and geopolitics have led to divergent confidence levels across industries. In the consumer sector, high-end spending remains solid, but shoppers have become far more price-sensitive. Business contacts in several Fed districts noted that this heightened price sensitivity has limited firms’ ability to pass rising input costs on to end consumers. Meanwhile, prices have risen moderately faster across most Fed districts. On the jobs front, U.S. employment has edged up slightly. Labor demand has been uneven. The report noted that healthy labor demand remains common in manufacturing, construction and some service sectors, while demand has fallen in retail and hospitality. Manufacturing activity expanded across most Fed districts, driven primarily by demand for defense and data center orders. The report’s references to AI and data centers also highlight the prominent role these two investment areas play in current economic activity: AI is mentioned 19 times, while data centers are cited 25 times.