On August 27, 2026, Bloomberg's "Horizons Middle East & Africa" reported largely flat equity benchmarks, with S&P futures, Nasdaq 100 futures, and Dow Jones showing little movement. Euro Stoxx 50 futures, however, were up 0.2%, signaling a positive start for the European session. Oil prices continued their three-day losing streak, with Brent crude dropping about 2.6% to $8 per barrel, as Iran and Oman advanced talks on a temporary shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, easing disruption fears.
The program highlighted escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada. The Trump administration is weighing further actions in response to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's "dollar-for-dollar" counter-tariffs. These new Canadian tariffs affect approximately $20 billion worth of annual U.S. exports, including steel, aluminum, furniture, milk, and electronics, primarily impacting battleground states in the U.S. Midwest and California. The U.S. is considering increased tariffs on more Canadian products, carefully balancing retaliation with potential impacts on midterm elections.
Investors are keenly awaiting NVIDIA's earnings report later in the day. Analysts expect a strong quarter with around 99% earnings growth, 99% revenue growth, and a 75% gross margin, potentially marking the fastest growth in over eight quarters. However, the focus will be on NVIDIA's guidance, competitive positioning, and the impact of rising memory costs. While NVIDIA's own margins for the current quarter are not expected to be affected, with free cash flow projected to exceed $210 billion, the surge in memory prices (some tripling this year) could impact customers' margins in 2027, signaling an emerging theme of "AI inflation."
Other market movements included gold, which was up about 7% over the past week, hovering near three-month highs, and Bitcoin, which was edging higher with futures markets suggesting further upside. In other news, OpenAI announced its new in-house "Jalapeno" branded chip outperformed NVIDIA's key processors in tests and will be deployed later this year. Nano Nuclear Energy, a U.S. microreactor company, signed a partnership with the UAE to deploy technology for powering desert data centers and decarbonizing oil and gas fields.
