Market Brief — September 1, 2026

US equities declined as higher Fed hike odds and rising Treasury yields weighed on risk assets, with the Dow (DJIA) down about 0.8%, the S&P 500 (SPX) off 0.7%, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) lower by 1.0%. European indices also fell after euro-area flash HICP rose to 3.3% year-on-year and ECB officials flagged possible further tightening, leaving the DAX (DAX) down 1.1%, the CAC 40 (FRA40) off 0.4%, and the FTSE 100 (UKX) lower by 0.3%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) ended flat at 0.0% as investors absorbed new Chinese property mortgage restrictions that had triggered a sharp selloff in real estate stocks at the end of August.

Fed policy remained tight as the FOMC kept the funds rate at 3.50%–3.75% with several officials, including Governor Barr, signaling they would back a hike if inflation fails to move toward 2%, and futures priced roughly a two-thirds chance of a 25 bp increase in September. US data were mixed, with ISM Manufacturing PMI easing to 54.6 from 55.6 and below the 55.2 consensus while JOLTs job openings rose to 7.271M from 7.182M, keeping labor conditions firm and helping push the US 10-year yield toward the 4.75%–4.79% area as emerging-market bonds sold off. In Europe, euro-area flash HICP accelerated to 3.3% year-on-year with headline up 0.4% month-on-month and core easing to 2.4%, pressuring EUR/USD (EURUSD) about 0.2% lower to near 1.1595 even as ECB officials such as Nagel highlighted moderating underlying and services inflation.

Shein's Hong Kong IPO traded weakly after pricing at HK$48.56, with roughly 280 million Class B shares sold for about HK$13.6 billion and the stock falling as much as 10% to around HK$43.72, while Binance-listed crypto contracts tied to SHEIN (HK0625USDT) saw an earlier 15% flash drop. Traders also focused on BYD after it reported 440,293 August new-energy vehicle deliveries, up 17.8% year-on-year, with exports surging 134.5% to 189,466 units and accounting for about 43% of total shipments. Energy and emerging-market investors digested a White House designation of NABEP as operator in a U.S.-Venezuela oil pact granting 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with about 65 billion barrels of reserves and a 35% U.S. equity stake, alongside Beijing's 20-point guidance asking Chinese automakers to avoid overseas export price wars. S&P Global completed its acquisition of datacenterHawk and separately closed the divestiture of its upstream energy software portfolio to SLB, while Weatherford completed its purchase of NCS Multistage, Figure closed its acquisition of Kiavi, BLACK PEARL completed a tender offer for all outstanding shares of Selectis Health, Integris acquired First Focus, and TPM finalized a management-led sale of ColorLab. On the announced side, Happiest Minds Technologies agreed to merge with ITC Infotech to form an AI-focused technology services group targeting US$1 billion in revenue by FY28, Yellow Wood Partners agreed to acquire Nestle's holistic health platform of vitamins, minerals and supplements brands in a $1 billion transaction, and Sequoia Financial Group agreed to acquire BSW Wealth Partners, a registered investment adviser with $2.3 billion in assets.