Global equities fell on Thursday, led by a slide in semiconductor shares after Meta Platforms said it plans to sell computing power, stoking concerns about potential AI overcapacity. U.S. June nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000, well below expectations of 110,000, and earlier months were revised down, pointing to a cooling labor market and reinforcing rate-cut expectations. The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.52% as emerging-market currencies strengthened, while oil prices were little changed and European stocks moved higher.

Ampol chief executive Matthew Halliday said the conflict involving Iran has exposed how vulnerable global fuel supply chains are, underscoring the strategic value of Australia’s two remaining refineries, Ampol’s Lytton and Viva Energy’s Geelong. He said the pair together supply about 20% of Australia’s fuel needs, and the federal government has extended fuel security subsidies through 2030. Halliday said oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are beginning to recover, but renewed kinetic activity has left conditions fragile. The report said it did not identify any confirmed supply outages or an immediate spike in oil prices, and cited no new data or policy moves from bodies such as OPEC or the IEA.

Donald Trump bought 327 stocks on April 8, 2025, including $100,001 — $250,000 of Apple shares. On April 9 he unexpectedly announced a pause in the “Liberation Day” tariffs, sparking a sharp market rally: Apple rose more than 15% in its best day since 1998 and the S&P 500 closed up 9.5%, its eighth-best session on record. The trades were disclosed more than 14 months late and did not appear in regular transaction reports. These details are described in Trump’s annual financial disclosure report.

Brazil’s planning and budget minister said the government will take longer to phase out the 1.12 real-per-liter diesel subsidy than the gasoline benefit to avoid price shocks and fuel shortages. The 0.44 real-per-liter gasoline subsidy is set to be removed within days. The plan comes as Brent crude has fallen from a wartime peak of $118 a barrel to $71.51, though the decline has not been fully passed on to consumers. The government is also weighing whether to cut or end the 12% crude oil export tax introduced in March.

WTI crude oil (CLQ26) fell to a 4.25-month low on Thursday, pressuring ethanol prices and encouraging Brazilian mills to allocate more cane to sugar production and less to ethanol. New York raw sugar (SBV26) fell 0.93%, while London white sugar (SWQ26) briefly hit a 9.75-month high before giving back most gains. The report also cites bullish backdrops including below-normal monsoon rainfall in India and the formation of an El Niño, but says the oil-driven supply shift is the dominant near-term headwind.

U.S. farmers are expected to plant 42.7 million acres of wheat in 2026, down 6% from the prior year and the lowest level since 1877. Winter wheat is forecast at 31.5 million acres, down 5% year over year, as drought, freeze damage, high input costs and uncertainty in export markets curb plantings. USDA’s first 2026/27 outlook put the season-average farm price for wheat at $6.50 per bushel. While stocks are currently sufficient to keep flour mills running, prolonged drought and elevated costs could tighten supplies and lift prices further.

Ripple said its institutional services platform, Ripple Prime, is now available to eligible institutional clients in the United States, enabling over-the-counter (OTC) spot transactions across multiple digital assets including XRP and RLUSD. The service is supported by Ripple’s in-house market-making and compliance infrastructure and is aimed at licensed entities such as banks and hedge funds, not retail users. Ripple described the move as XRP’s first standardized OTC access channel for mainstream U.S. financial institutions, while adding RLUSD—its U.S. dollar stablecoin that is not yet widely circulated—alongside XRP.

By mid 2026, SWIFT is testing an XRP-based bridge liquidity setup through Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity. Santander is using One Pay FX to apply the system across Latin America and Southeast Asia. Standard Chartered has publicly tested and deployed an XRP-based settlement corridor. The move marks XRP’s first entry into SWIFT’s co-validated cross-border payments infrastructure in live business use cases, with no other tokens or alternative technologies cited.