Here is your Global Markets wrap for this week ending Aug 8, 2026:
1. Stocks - Best Week Since April, Records Everywhere
It was a breakout week after months of choppy AI trade.
US: The three major indexes posted their biggest weekly gains since the week of April 13. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 5.2%, S&P 500 rose 3.6% and the Dow added 3%. Final tallies: For the week, the S&P 500 gained 3.58%, the Nasdaq rose 5.19%, and the Dow climbed 2.96%.
• S&P 500 closed at a fresh record high on Aug 7 at 7,737 points, its first record in two months.
• Drivers: ◦ Soft jobs report: US nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly shed jobs in July, which reduced the perceived chance of a Fed rate hike in September.
◦ AI earnings: Palantir surged ∼30% and Caterpillar beat expectations, lifting tech. Information technology rose 2.1%, consumer discretionary 6.6%. ◦ Geopolitics: Hopes for a US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz eased oil fears.
Europe: STOXX 600 also made history - closed 0.3% higher at a record 660.25 points, marking a fourth consecutive weekly advance. Technology shares added 1.9% and were the best performing sector on the STOXX 600 this week. Companies in the index are expected to report Q2 earnings growth of more than 22%, strongest since Q3 2022.
Flows: Investors poured a net $21.15 billion into global equity funds for the week ended Aug 5, following $27.72B the previous week.
2. Crypto - Bitcoin Back to $65KConsolidation finally broke to the upside.
• Bitcoin: Trading around $64,900 this morning, trending towards breaking the $65,000 mark for the first time this month, then rose slightly to $65,000, with prices up about 1.2% over 24 hours to $65,144.90. Earlier in the week it was little-changed at $63,700.
• Context: The Bitcoin ETF saw $252 million inflows this week, while the Ethereum ETF continued to see outflows.
• Overhang: Strategy (MicroStrategy) disclosed it sold 1,638 bitcoin for $104.73M last week, its third sale ever.
• Gold comparison: Gold futures rose more than 2% to around $4,400 an ounce, trading near their highest levels in two months, while bitcoin played catch-up.
Market mood is sideways but constructive - BTC dominance dropping slightly as altcoins outperformed.
3. Startup Funding - Physical AI Dominates
Investors poured into a varied lineup of large rounds this week, targeting sectors including physical AI, biotech, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure and fintech.
Top 5 U.S. Rounds this week:
• Atoms, $1.7B, physical AI: Uber founder Travis Kalanick's LA-based startup led by Andreessen Horowitz - by far the largest financing of the week
• Meshy AI, $400M: Foundation models for 3D generation at $1.5B valuation
• Sila, $300M: Battery tech, silicon anode plant expansion
• Etched, $300M: AI chip/inference startup at $10B pre-money, Sequoia-led
• Augustus, $180M: Fintech providing dollar accounts access, Tiger Global-led at $1B valuation
Outside US:
• Firmus: Australian AI factory builder raised $2B equity, valuation now over $10.5B with Nvidia, Coatue, Blackstone backing.
• DeepSeek: Chinese AI startup reportedly resumed funding round seeking nearly $8B.
Takeaway: AI infrastructure + physical AI are eating the funding chart, but enterprise pain-point plays (healthcare revenue cycle, cyber) still raising $100M+ rounds.