SpaceX briefly overtakes Amazon, Microsoft in third-day surge

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

1.

Sky high: SpaceX jumped for a third straight day, briefly overtaking Amazon as the world’s fifth most valuable company and also topping Microsoft. Some of the price action has been driven by the relatively small number of SpaceX shares available to trade, with only about 4.2% accessible on day one. Tuesday New York time also marked the start of trading for SpaceX options, with more than one million contracts changing hands by early afternoon, Bloomberg reported. The surge came as SpaceX formally agreed to take over AI coding startup Cursor in an all-stock deal valuing it at USD60 billion ($84.9 billion), moving to close the gap with AI coding rivals. “For the past few months, SpaceXAI has been jointly training a model with Cursor, which will be released in Cursor and Grok Build soon,” the company said. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. SpaceX would pay a termination fee of USD10 billion if the deal collapses under specific circumstances and USD4 billion if it fails due to antitrust issues, the company’s regulatory filing said. SpaceX shares closed 4.83% higher at USD201.80. (Capital Brief)(SpaceX)(Bloomberg)

2.

Warsh watch: US stocks were mixed overnight as a selloff in technology shares dragged down the S&P 500 and Nasdaq while the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a record high. After a ferocious rally on Monday that sent the Nasdaq surging more than 3%, investors were seen taking a breather ahead of the first Federal Reserve rate decision under Kevin Warsh. Investors rotated into economically sensitive sectors and sold richly valued technology stocks, with technology the biggest S&P 500 laggard, and financials the biggest gainer. The S&P 500 lost 0.57%, the Nasdaq shed 1.15% and the Dow rose 0.64%. Oil prices fell about 5% for a second day to a three-month low as details emerged of an interim US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz including allowing Iran to sell oil. Brent crude settled at USD78.96 a barrel. Investors widely expect the Fed to hold rates at the 3.50% to 3.75% range tomorrow, though they will watch Warsh’s comments closely. Separately, Goldman Sachs managed more than USD1 trillion of announced M&A so far in 2026, on the back of its role as lead left underwriter on SpaceX’s IPO. (Reuters)(Bloomberg)(WSJ)

3.

Comeback kings: After a scathing royal commission pushed the banks to offload their wealth and advice businesses almost a decade ago, there’s growing talk of a comeback. Australian Banking Association chair Simon Birmingham (who as a finance minister in the Morrison government voted against convening that royal commission) told Capital Brief his conversations with banking CEOs show growing interest in returning to wealth management, as the sector vies for a greater slice of Australian retirement savings. What they’re most concerned about, he said, is the lack of affordable, accessible financial advice for Australians and the risk that creates. His comments follow ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos last week arguing banks had become too reliant on net interest margins and had to find a way back into parts of customer needs like wealth management and insurance. Capital Brief’s Jack Derwin has the full story, including what the recent collapses of First Guardian and Shield mean for the comeback case. (Capital Brief)

4.

Countless times: The first seed investor in Canva conceded in closed-door talks that the wave of AI-related IPOs currently consuming Wall Street and the languid market performance of software stocks could complicate the Australian software company’s long-awaited plans for a public listing. In a recorded video session leaked to Capital Brief, Bill Tai — the venture capitalist who wrote Canva’s first cheque at a USD3 million valuation — also revealed Canva had knocked back several acquisition attempts by its rival Adobe “countless times”, and suggested Anthropic or another AI giant could look to acquire the company. “I do wonder what the ramifications are of all these gargantuan IPOs coming up in terms of the sucking of capital,” Tai told his firm’s own investors. He went further on Anthropic, whose valuation he noted had quickly climbed to nearly USD900 billion, suggesting it could pay USD500 billion for Canva and have the deal still be accretive. (Capital Brief)

5.

Last mile: Australian healthtech startup Everlab closed a $65 million Series A round, betting that AI has made it economically viable to deliver the kind of personalised preventative care that once cost upwards of $50,000 a year. The oversubscribed round was led by Airtree Ventures, with participation from European fund Plural, existing investors Left Lane Capital and b2venture, and angel investors including Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins. It brings the three-year-old Melbourne startup’s total raised to $80 million. The raise marks a deliberate shift in how Everlab describes itself: less as a high-end preventative diagnostics service and more as a full-stack healthcare platform, with co-founder and CEO Marc Hermann saying its ambition had expanded considerably since its last round a year ago, driven by what AI has made possible. The funding will primarily go towards expanding “last mile delivery” (turning a diagnostic finding into an actioned outcome) as Everlab takes its platform to the UK. (Capital Brief)

6.

Warning shots: A Russian warship was accused of firing warning shots towards a UK-registered yacht in the English Channel, with the UK Ministry of Defence confirming it was investigating reports of an incident, the Financial Times reported. The 40ft yacht alleged the Russian naval vessel fired warning shots nearby at a distance of about 500 yards, but no injury or damage resulted. The incident took place outside UK territorial waters, roughly 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, and the yacht had since continued on its voyage, according to reports. UK defence figures said the warship involved was the Admiral Grigorovich, which has been operating near the UK coast escorting vessels in Moscow’s shadow fleet in recent months. The BBC reported the small, motorless yacht had drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions, and a UK government source told the publication a couple in their 60s were onboard. The Russian Defence Ministry said the yacht had been on a “dangerous approach”, with its crew firing into its path with rifles after several attempts to contact it by radio and after launching warning flares. The Russian Defence Ministry said its sailors had acted in accordance with international shipping regulations. (FT)(BBC)

7.

Pump action: Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock won’t stand in the way of any extension to the fuel excise, just two weeks before the $2.5 billion relief package is set to lift. After confirming an expected interest rate hold yesterday, Bullock insisted Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ decision won’t factor into the central bank’s thinking, telling reporters she wouldn’t cast a view on the fuel excise in terms of helpful or not, and striking her customary careful tone about fiscal policy. The Albanese government is mulling whether to stick and twist before 30 June, the date its halving of the excise is set to lift. It has knocked roughly 26.3 cents a litre off petrol prices, at a heavy $2.5 billion cost for three months. Welcoming the rate hold, Chalmers immediately faced a barrage of questions on the discount, which he insisted “won’t go on forever”, pushing back at claims an extension would make Bullock’s inflation fight harder. (Capital Brief)

8.

CGT theatre: Fund manager Geoff Wilson came armed with supporters and placards as the capital gains tax fight became the political spectacle Labor probably hoped to avoid. Wilson fought hard to have his voice heard at a Senate committee hearing into the Albanese government’s controversial CGT reforms. Initially excluded, the man who led a ferocious campaign against Shorten-era Labor tax reforms targeting franking credits and superannuation kicked up a huge fuss, and the government relented. So it was somewhat surprising to hear him dismiss the merits of the event altogether, branding the hearing “a bit of a farce”. He brought supporters from his own Wilson Asset Management, as well as real estate figures, brokers, economists and academics, who had attended a discussion group he organised next door at the Sydney Masonic Centre, complete with placards reading “Scrap the CGT hike” and “End the war on aspiration”. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected an AFR report that he planned to fast-track amendments to the legislation, saying he would let the inquiry take its course and introduce further legislation in the second half of the year. (Capital Brief)