S&P 500, Nasdaq hit records as crypto gets House win

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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Market moves: Wall Street notched new record highs, driven by strong profit reports from major companies and better-than-expected economic data. The S&P 500 rose 0.62% and the Nasdaq hit another record closing 0.74% higher at 20,884.27. TSMC posted a record quarterly profit on strong AI demand, helping lift tech stocks. PepsiCo shares jumped on revenue and profit beats, and United Airlines shares also rose after reporting stronger-than-expected profit and rising demand. Netflix shares rose ahead of its quarterly earnings, while Amazon is cutting hundreds of AWS jobs amid AI-related costs, according to Reuters. The House passed a stablecoin bill seen as a first step toward legitimising the crypto industry, after days of Republican infighting had stalled broader legislation, with the fate of two other crypto bills unclear. Meanwhile, in an interview, Kevin Warsh, a top contender to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, said “we need regime change in the conduct of policy” and backed rate cuts, aligning with Trump’s calls for drastically lower interest rates.(Bloomberg)(Capital Brief)

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Creator cash: Uber signed a multibillion-dollar agreement to buy more than 20,000 customised Lucid Gravity SUVs fitted with Nuro’s autonomous driving technology, in its largest robotaxi investment to date. The deal includes a USD300 million ($462.5 million) investment in Lucid, giving Uber a 5% stake, and a separate, undisclosed but “significant” investment in Nuro, along with a seat on its board. The robotaxis will be built at Lucid’s Arizona factory and rolled out from 2026 over six years. The FT estimates the total commitment at roughly USD2 billion. Lucid shares, which had lost about 95% of their value since 2021, rose as much as 47% following the announcement, its biggest intraday jump. Uber shares were little changed. Elsewhere, Substack raised USD100 million in funding led by BOND and the Chernin Group. The funding values the company at USD1.1 billion, almost 70% more than its 2021 valuation, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources. Substack said it will invest the funds in “better tools, broader reach, and deeper support for writers and creators,” and in its app, which now has millions of users. (Capital Brief)(Uber)(Substack)

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Settled suit: Mark Zuckerberg and Meta directors (current and former) agreed to settle claims seeking USD8 billion ($12.34 billion) over damages they allegedly caused the company through violations of Facebook users’ privacy. The details of the settlement have not been released. Meta shareholders had sued Zuckerberg, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and other company officials in efforts to hold them liable for billions of dollars in fines and legal costs incurred by the company in recent years. Shareholders had pushed for the 11 defendants to use their personal wealth to reimburse the company. Prompted by the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, the US FTC fined Facebook USD5 billion in 2019 after it found that the social media platform failed to comply with a 2012 agreement to protect users’ data. Andreessen was scheduled to testify on Thursday, while Zuckerberg and Sandberg were due to testify next Monday and Thursday respectively. (Reuters)(Bloomberg)(WSJ)(Capital Brief)

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Private threat: Public markets are “under threat” after global IPOs fell to their lowest level in five years, exchange executives warned in an open letter led by the World Federation of Exchanges. IPOs dropped 22% from 1,459 in 2020 to 1,133 in 2024, with the WFE citing complacency about the “vitality and durability” of public markets. It said a worrying dislocation has been caused by the rise of private capital and alternative assets like cryptocurrencies, along with declining liquidity and valuations. The slowdown is most acute in Europe and Asia. “Companies are staying private longer or bypassing public markets entirely. Investors are looking elsewhere,” WFE CEO Nandini Sukumar said. The WFE pledged to lead a global campaign to reverse the IPO drought, with actions including aligning public and private markets, creating policy incentives to list, reducing market fragmentation and championing trust in public exchanges. (World Federation of Exchanges)(FT)

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Restructuring buyout: Teneo agreed to buy PwC’s Australia Business Restructuring Services unit to create a new local financial services advisory business in Australia. While terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Bloomberg reports that Teneo is separately holding talks to bring in a new investor at a valuation of slightly above USD2 billion ($3.1 billion). CVC Capital Partners owns about 60% of the company, while management owns about 40%. Around 80 members from the PwC restructuring arm will join Teneo, including Stephen Longley, who has led the team for the last four years and will become head of financial advisory, Australia. Teneo plans to continue its global expansion, which will see it open a new office in Brisbane while increasing its Sydney and Melbourne presence. Bloomberg reports that Teneo is on track to generate USD750 million in annual revenue. AFR first reported on Teneo's talks with PwC late last year. (Teneo)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)(AFR)(Capital Brief)

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Dangerous currents: A former senior Australian Army officer warned that Australia’s undersea cables are dangerously exposed to foreign sabotage, as Beijing seeks to expand its influence over middle powers through technology partnerships, including in AI. Retired Brigadier Ian Langford said recent incidents in the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Taiwan — largely suspected to be the work of Russia and China respectively — had “confirmed as fact” that submarine cables are now an active target for coercion and sabotage by hostile states. Undersea cables are a particularly acute vulnerability for Australia, with a network of just 15 subsea cables carrying 99% of Australia’s international internet traffic including classified communications and data. "Damage to these cables could disrupt communications, banking, and defence operations. Experts warn that such sabotage could have catastrophic effects on national security," said Langford. (Capital Brief)

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Money bags: CoStar’s Australian president-in-waiting and former Domain CEO, Jason Pellegrino, is bracing for a payday that could swell to roughly $7.5 million, provided the US property giant’s takeover offer is accepted at a shareholder vote next month. Pellegrino, who will return to lead a delisted Domain as president of CoStar’s Australian subsidiary if the acquisition is approved as expected, holds 991,874 share rights that are due to vest before the shareholder vote on 4 August. In a report recommending that Domain shareholders approve CoStar’s offer seen by Capital Brief, influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) noted that Pellegrino’s share rights are scheduled to vest and be exercised by 2 August. The firm said he could be entitled to receive a cash payment. “Given the substantial premium of the all-cash consideration of $4.43 for Domain shareholders…and in the absence of a superior offer, a vote FOR this proposal is warranted,” ISS stated. (Capital Brief)

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Youth vote: The UK government will lower the voting age to 16 for all UK elections, as part of a landmark overhaul of the country’s electoral systems. The government announced the update on Thursday, saying the move will bring UK-wide elections in line with Scotland and Wales. The voting age in England and Northern Ireland is currently 18. The government said that the decision will allow young people, who already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military, the right to vote on issues that affect them. The reform was featured in last year’s Labour manifesto and will also see voter IDs be extended to include bank cards and the use of more digital options to support voters and polling staff. The FT writes that extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds is widely expected to benefit centre-left and leftwing parties more than those on the right. (UK Government)(FT)(BBC)(Reuters)