WTI and Brent crude slid sharply; WTI fell below $79/bbl, down 2.67% intraday, while Brent was off about 3.6% at $82.2/bbl.

PBOC data show at end-Q2 2026 RMB inclusive small and micro loan balances totaled 38.52 tln yuan, up 8.3% YoY, 3.1pp faster than aggregate lending, and rose 1.95 tln yuan in 1H. Farmers’ operating loans with single-borrower credit below 5 mln yuan stood at 10.21 tln yuan, increasing 399.8 bln yuan in 1H. Student loan balances were 350.9 bln yuan, up 31.1% YoY.

Concerns about returns on AI investments are denting sentiment toward the mega-cap techs that powered this year's rally. On Tuesday the Nasdaq-100 fell 1.6% and was poised to close in a correction (defined as a 10% decline from the peak), having reached that threshold in just 38 trading days. By contrast, the pullback prior to March took more than 100 trading days to fall 10% from its October 2025 high.