South Korea’s ultrawealthy investors pared back Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the third quarter, posting net sales of about 864.8 billion won and 718.9 billion won, respectively, the largest sell-offs among domestic stocks. Clients with at least 1 billion won in financial assets recorded combined net selling of more than 1.5 trillion won across the two names, underscoring broad profit-taking. They also shifted toward preferred shares with dividends and covered-call ETFs that make monthly distributions, while some added leveraged ETFs for higher-risk exposure, according to a Korea Economic Daily analysis.

Cboe Global Markets and S&P Dow Jones Indices said they have extended their exclusive licensing agreement by 25 years through 2051, keeping Cboe’s sole rights to trade S&P 500 Index (SPX) options. SPX options posted record 2025 trading volume of 970.6 million contracts, while average daily volume rose 25% year over year, according to Cboe. After the announcement, Cboe shares climbed 5.83%.

AMD said it will acquire AI startup World Labs in an $8.2 billion all-stock deal. World Labs was founded by Fei-Fei Li and focuses on research into physical AI systems. The company raised $1 billion earlier this year in a round that included AMD. AMD expects the transaction to close by the end of 2026.

Nvidia has authorized an additional $150 billion for share repurchases, the largest single increase in buyback authorization on record, taking its total authorization to $235 billion. CEO Jensen Huang said the move reflects confidence in a long-term opportunity driven by AI and accelerated computing. The company’s forward price-to-earnings multiple is about 24 times, close to the S&P 500’s 20-times multiple.

U.S. natural gas futures rose 2.6% on Wednesday, with the front-month contract settling at $3.041 per million British thermal units, an 11-week high. Forecasts for cooler temperatures lifted expectations for heating demand. The market also reflected a drop in daily output this month and higher flows to liquefied natural gas export plants. The contract closed above the $3 per mmBtu level for the first time since early July.

The U.S. Space Force has confirmed that operational weapons have been deployed in orbit, highlighting the growing military importance of space. SpaceX has recently received three major Space Force awards covering space-based moving target indication, launch services and a space data network backbone, with a combined potential value of about $8.05 billion. The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, strengthening the company’s position in military space infrastructure.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday, with Dow futures down 266 points, S&P 500 futures off 28 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lower by 90 points. Ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, markets were pricing a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike, according to CME FedWatch. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed above 5% for the first time since 2023 as oil prices also rose. China reported a 5.2% year-on-year increase in industrial production.

Dynagas LNG Partners reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $16 million, up 16.8% year on year, and adjusted EBITDA of $27.6 million. Voyage revenue rose 6.7% to $41.2 million, supported by higher rates and the start of the Clean Energy vessel’s new time charter. Average daily hire increased to about $71,810 per vessel, while fleet utilization was 96.2%. The partnership also said it had an estimated contracted revenue backlog of approximately $730 million.

Oil rose to $107 a barrel on Thursday, its first time above that level since May, as bond yields jumped. U.S. wholesale inflation increased 0.4% from June to July and was up 5.4% from a year earlier, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will keep raising rates, with markets pricing about a 75% chance of a hike next week. U.S. stocks fell, with the S&P 500 down 0.6%, the Nasdaq composite down 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 350 points. Yields also moved higher after comments from Trump about giving a $5,000 “dividend” to all U.S. adults.